(William) John
John Metcalfe graduated with a degree in philosophy from the University of London in 1913. From 1913 until 1914 he taught in Paris. After World War I began in 1914, he joined the Royal Naval Division; he was invalided out in 1915 and enlisted again in 1917, this time in the Royal Naval Air Service. He obtained a commission in 1918 and served with the 29th Group, Royal Air Force, as an armament officer.
After the war, Metcalfe became Assistant Master at Highgate Junior School in London and began writing. In 1925, his first book,
In 1928,
Following his service in World War II, Metcalfe taught at Cranborne Chase School in Dorset and then at Davie's Tutorial School in Hampstead before returning to the United States. After a 1953 writing fellowship at the Huntington Hartford Foundation in California, Metcalfe moved to New York City. In 1954 he worked at Searing Tutoring in New York, and in 1954 and 1955 he taught at St. Bernard's School. He was employed by the National Reading Foundation from 1955 to 1956 and also did some private tutoring. From 1955 to 1958 he taught at the Haithcock School in Greenwich, Connecticut, and in 1959 he began working for the Tutoring School of New York.
Evelyn Scott died in August 1963, after suffering from heart disease, a lung tumor, and mental health problems in her later years. Metcalfe suffered a breakdown after her death and was hospitalized in the Central Islip State Hospital of New York in August, 1964. After his release in October 1964, he returned to England, where he died on July 31, 1965, as the result of a fall.
Metcalfe's work is noted for its bizarre and grim elements. He is recognized for his skill at characterization and his ability to convey atmosphere and create a sense of scene. Although Metcalfe is best remembered as an author of science fiction and macabre stories, he also wrote several novels and some poetry.
Some of John Metcalfe's principal works include
Sources of information about Metcalfe include: Terence Ian Fytton Armstrong,
The John Metcalfe collection consists of manuscripts, notebooks, diaries, legal documents, correspondence, photographs, and scrapbooks dating from 1846 to 1965. The material is arranged in eight series: Works, Notebooks, Diaries, Business and Legal Papers, Family Correspondence, Photographs and Photograph Albums, Scrapbooks, and Miscellaneous.
The John Metcalfe papers provide information on all stages of Metcalfe's life. His childhood years are represented by his unfinished autobiography, family letters, including letters he wrote as a boy, and a notebook he kept at age nine. Manuscripts of works written at different points in his life reflect his development as an author. Metcalfe's short stories and short story ideas are particularly well-represented in this collection. Metcalfe's revision process can be traced through his corrections and variant versions of manuscripts. Although Metcalfe's published novels are not well represented here in manuscript form, his personal copies of his books contain corrections (see the List of Associated Materials).
The papers also document some of Metcalfe's interests and activities. For example, notebooks from childhood on, newspaper clippings of scientific discoveries, and items such as a scrapbook of pressed seaweed reflect his lifelong enthusiasm for science. Faced by poverty and illness in his later years, Metcalfe became concerned with issues of the aging, as shown by clippings about social security, youth serum, etc. Valuable information about the final years of Metcalfe's life can be found in his letters to John Gawsworth.
Information about Metcalfe's father, William Charles Metcalfe, and his wife, Evelyn Scott, who were also writers, can be found in Metcalfe's papers as well.
All correspondents found in the John Metcalfe collection are listed in the Index of Correspondents.
Manuscripts relating to John Metcalfe can also be found in the HRHRC's Evelyn Scott, W.C. Metcalfe, August Derleth, and Terence Ian Fytton Armstrong (John Gawsworth) collections.
Purchase, 1967
Open for research
Katherine Mosley, 1991
The first series includes extracts from reviews of Metcalfe's books,
lists of previous submissions to publishers, working notes, synopses of works,
manuscripts and typescripts, and poetry. Synopses of works include Metcalfe's
Duplicate typescripts of the short stories collected in
The second series consists of mathematics, philosophy, and science notebooks kept by Metcalfe first as a student and later as a teacher. Also included are his training notebooks from his service in both World Wars. The notebooks are arranged in alphabetical order by the titles designated by Metcalfe.
The diaries document Metcalfe's life from 1917 until 1964 with few gaps. Metcalfe's diary entries consist of comments on his daily activities, including his progress on various works, and notes of correspondence sent and received. The diaries from 1957 and 1959 through 1962 also contain some entries by Evelyn Scott.
Business and legal papers consist mainly of correspondence and legal documents concerning Metcalfe's teaching career, his re-entry into the United States following his service in the Royal Air Force, and various financial matters. The management and sale of property Metcalfe owned in London, the Evelyn Scott Fund, bank accounts in New York and London, British and United States income tax records, and United States Social Security benefits, as well as British Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance benefits are represented here.
The fifth series comprises primarily correspondence among members of Metcalfe's family. It is arranged alphabetically by the writer of the letter. Metcalfe's paternal aunt, Mary B. Metcalfe, usually included letters from other family members in her frequent letters to Metcalfe and Evelyn Scott. Letters written by Metcalfe's father, author William Charles Metcalfe, are included here, as is one fragment of a letter written by Evelyn Scott. Of special note are letters written by John Metcalfe to John Gawsworth. All but two of these were written between March 1963 and July 1965, and they document Metcalfe's anguish and breakdown following Evelyn Scott's death in 1963.
Photographs and photograph albums make up the sixth series. The photo albums contain photographs taken by Metcalfe as a boy and portraits of family members. Loose photographs include studio photographs of Metcalfe taken in his later years.
Seven scrapbooks, dating from the 1920s through the 1950s, contain press notices, book reviews, short stories, and clippings on the occult and other subjects. Some of Metcalfe's short stories that are not otherwise represented in the collection, such as “Mildred” and “The Spanish Hat,” can be found here as newspaper and magazine clippings. Another scrapbook, dating from 1926-1930, contains pressed seaweed.
The eighth series includes printed and manuscript musical works; a 1951 memo book of addresses, figures, and foreign phrases; medical prescriptions for Metcalfe and Evelyn Scott; advertisements; and miscellaneous newspaper clippings. A postal receipts notebook from 1946-1947 indicates correspondence sent. Also present is a signed drawing by W. Stanton Foster, inscribed to Metcalfe and Evelyn Scott.