Evelyn Waugh:
An Inventory of His Collection at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center
Descriptive Summary | ||
| Creator | Waugh, Evelyn, 1903-1966 | |
| Title | Evelyn Waugh Collection | |
| Dates: | 1843-1994 (bulk 1910-1966) | |
| Abstract | The bulk of the collection consists of manuscript drafts for 100 of Waugh's works, including Brideshead Revisited (1945). Lesser amounts of Waugh's personal papers and correspondence are also present. Books, manuscripts, and art work collected by Waugh and others date from 1843 to 1994. | |
| RLIN record # | TXRC99-A13 | |
| Extent | 16 boxes (6.67 linear feet), 2 oversize bound volumes, 1 oversize folder, and 1 galley folder | |
| Language | English. | |
| Repository | Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, University of Texas at Austin | |
Biographical Sketch
Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh, born October 28, 1903, was the second son of Arthur, a managing director of Chapman & Hall, Publishers, and Catherine Raban Waugh. Reading and writing played a significant role in the home-life of young Evelyn, whose older brother Alec also became a well-known writer. Waugh began writing and illustrating short stories at the age of four, and at the age of nine he and a group of friends produced a creative magazine for their Pistol Troop club.
In addition to his youthful interest in writing, Waugh developed a strong interest in religion. When his brother's escapades made it impossible for Waugh to follow the family tradition of attending Sherbourne prep school, his father found a place for him at Lancing, a school with a strong religious tradition. During his tenure at Lancing, Waugh performed well in his studies, developed into something of a social bully, decided that he was an atheist, and earned a scholarship to Hertford College, Oxford.
When Waugh entered Oxford in 1922 he found his new freedom to be intoxicating. He soon found himself part of a crowd similar to the one he later described in Brideshead Revisited (1945), which included Harold Acton. He did very little studying and left after two years with many experiences and debts, but no degree. After a brief foray into art school he took a series of low-paying teaching positions. In 1927 he began to write steadily and launched himself into a successful career.
The critical success of his first book, a biography, Rossetti: His Life and Works (1928), and the popular success of Decline and Fall (1928) brought Waugh to the attention of the reading public. The financial success of Decline and Fall made it possible for Waugh to marry Evelyn Gardner, called She-Evelyn by their friends. The marriage was short lived, but served as a backdrop for several of Waugh's later works, including Vile Bodies (1930) and Labels: A Mediterranean Journal (1930). Also in 1930, Waugh converted from Anglicanism to Roman Catholicism.
For the next several years Waugh spent his time writing short stories, travel books, a biography of Edmund Campion, and several more novels including Black Mischief (1932), A Handful of Dust (1934), and Scoop (1938). He obtained an annulment of his first marriage and in 1937 married Laura Herbert, with whom he had seven children.
1939 brought the start of WWII and Waugh took the earliest opportunity to join in the defense of England. As part of the Home Guard in 1940 he participated in the fiasco of the Battle of Crete which was the basis for Put Out More Flags (1942). Waugh was not a good leader, despite fearless action in the face of battle, and in 1943 he resigned from his Commando unit. In 1944 he was sent to Yugoslavia as part of a mission to shore up Tito's partisan efforts in the German held territory. During this mission he completed his best known and most controversial work, Brideshead Revisited (1945).
Discharged from the military in 1945, Waugh continued to write and travel. He went to Hollywood in 1947 to work on a screenplay for Brideshead, which fell through when he refused to give up the final say on the script. While he was in California he found a rich source of material: Forest Lawn Memorial Park. This lavish funeral home inspired Waugh to write The Loved One (1948), one of his funniest and most popular books.
Waugh continued to write, though he became increasingly reclusive. Growing health problems related to a lifetime of heavy drinking, smoking, and the use of sedatives to induce sleep, limited public appearances. On a cruise in 1956 he suffered a bout of paranoid hallucinations which formed the centerpiece of his most autobiographical novel the Ordeal of Gilbert Pinfold (1957). Waugh lived until 1966, ending his writing career with the publication of The Sword of Honor Trilogy (1965).
Scope and Contents
Holograph and typescript manuscripts, some bound, and diaries and journals comprise the majority of the Evelyn Waugh Collection, 1843-1994 (bulk 1910-1966). The collection is organized into four series: Series I. Works, 1910-1964 (10 boxes); Series II. Correspondence, 1894-1994 (1 box); Series III. Personal Papers, 1924-1962 (2 boxes); and Series IV. Works by other Authors, 1843-1966 (3 boxes). This collection was previously accessible through a card catalog, but has been re-cataloged as part of a retrospective conversion project.
The Works Series contains manuscripts for 100 works by Waugh, including drafts of Brideshead Revisited, A Handful of Dust, A Little Learning, and Rossetti: His Life and Works, as well as most of his other novels and many short stories, essays, travel books, reviews, and juvenilia, arranged alphabetically by title. Of particular note are several diaries containing some of his first efforts at short stories at age four and continuing through his early days at boarding school. A complete list of his works present in the collection is available in the Index of Works as the end of this guide.
The Correspondence Series is organized into four subseries, arranged alphabetically and chronologically where possible: Subseries A. Outgoing Correspondence, 1921-1966; Subseries B. Incoming Correspondence, 1937-1965; Subseries C. Correspondence by Subject, 1946-1962; and Subseries D. Third-party Correspondence, 1894-1994. The Outgoing and Incoming Correspondence subseries are composed of mostly personal letters between Waugh and friends or acquaintances, including Earl Baldwin, John Betjeman, Dudley Carew, his brother, Alec Waugh, and others, as well as a few business letters with Little, Brown, & Company. The Subseries Correspondence by Subject contains exchanges between Waugh and his agent, Sylvia Pankhurst, and Vincent Whelen, grouped topically. The small Third-party Correspondence Subseries contains a few letters between people other than Waugh, including A.D. Power and Dame Edith Sitwell. The 1994 letter in this subseries contains a scholar's effort to correct biographical data about. There are also two letters written in the 1890s by Arthur Waugh. A complete list of correspondents can be found in the Index of Correspondents at the end of this guide.
The Personal Papers Series contains almost forty years of intermittent journals kept by Waugh. These journals contain day-to-day activities as well as thoughts and musings of the author. In addition to the journals, identity papers, lists and notes, and memoranda of agreement between Waugh and Albatross Verlag are present.
The Works by other Authors Series, arranged alphabetically by author, contains several illuminated volumes from the 19th century collected by Waugh, as well as twentieth century manuscripts written by Harold Acton, Ronald Knox, Alec Waugh, and others. Of particular interest is an album, created in 1854, by John Garland which contains about twenty collages of religious images with text added by Garland. Also included are Stuart Boyle's original pen and ink illustrations for The Loved One and a dissertation by Steven Jervis. A complete listing of these works is available in the Index of Works by other Authors found at the end of this guide.
Restrictions
Access
Open for research
Index Terms | ||
| Correspondents | ||
| Betjeman, John, Sir, 1906- . | ||
| Pankhurst, E. Sylvia (Estelle Sylvia), 1882-1960. | ||
| Power, A. D. (A. David). | ||
| Sitwell, Edith, Dame, 1887-1964. | ||
| Waugh, Alec, 1898- . | ||
| Whelen, Vincent A. | ||
| Albatross Verlag. | ||
| Little, Brown, and Co. | ||
| Subjects | ||
| Authors, England--20th century. | ||
| Catholics, England--Fiction. | ||
| Upper class--England--Fiction. | ||
| Africa--Travel and description. | ||
| England--Social life and customs--20th century. | ||
| Middle East--Travel and description. | ||
| South America--Travel and description. | ||
| Document types | ||
| Diaries. | ||
| Galley proofs. | ||
| Journals. | ||
| Juvenilia. | ||
| Scrapbooks. | ||
| Sound recordings. | ||
Related Material
Other materials associated with Waugh may be found in the following collections at the Ransom Center:
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Separated Material
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Elsewhere in the Ransom Center are 14 Vertical File folders containing printed materials by Waugh as well as criticism of his work, printed post cards, and clippings and other items withdrawn from books in Waugh's library. The Literary Files of the Photography Collection hold over 100 individual photographs of Waugh, his family, friends, and landscapes, in addition to two photo albums. Also included in the holdings are two scrapbooks containing book covers, sketches, and other ephemera collected by Waugh, a home movie, seven cassette tapes of interviews with and about Waugh, and more than 4,000 books from the author's personal library, including a bound manuscript volume of Martin Luther's devotional sayings, 16th or early 17th century (shelfmark HRC Medieval & Early Modern Mss 189). The Art Collection contains 241 works of art by and related to Waugh. These include sketches, illustrations, and prints and are present in a variety of formats: pen and ink, ink wash, graphite and color pencil, and crayon. Of particular note are Waugh's illustrations for Decline and Fall, a bound volume of early drawings by John Wood and a sketchbook by Penelope and Ellen Parry. Some of Waugh's personal effects are also present, including his desk, an inkwell, and two fountain pens. All A.D. Peters materials which were previously catalogued with the Waugh collection have been removed to the A.D. Peters Collection. |
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Administrative Information
Acquisition
Purchases and gifts, 1961-1991
Processed by
Chelsea S. Jones, 1999
Other Finding Aids
A Catalogue of the Evelyn Waugh Collection at the Humanities Research Center was written by Robert Murray Davis (New York: The Whitston Publishing Company: 1981). This catalogue covers all works and letters by Waugh found in this collection, at the time of its publication, as well as general correspondence to Waugh, but omits letters to Waugh contained in the A.D. Peters files, as well as any manuscript material in those files which is duplicated in the Works Series. Additionally, scrapbooks, memoriabilia, manuscript material about Waugh, and items withdrawn from books in Waugh's library are not described in the catalog.
Sources
Dictionary of Literary Biography -- Volume 15: British Novelists, 1930-1959, part 2, M-Z. Bernard Oldsey, Ed. (Detroit: Gale Research Company, 1983). |
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Hastings, Selina. Evelyn Waugh: A Biography. (Great Britain: Sinclair-Stevenson, 1994). |
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Evelyn Waugh Collection--Folder List
Evelyn Waugh Collection--Index of Correspondents
Box and folder numbers are followed by a number in parenthesis which indicates the number of items by that person. A single item is indicated where there is no number in parenthesis following the box and folder number. Where there is correspondence from Evelyn Waugh, the number in parentheses is followed by the phrase "from Waugh." So in the example:
Whelen, Vincent A.--12.10 (5 from Waugh) (2)
there are 5 letters from Waugh and 2 letters from Whelen in Box 12, folder 10.
- Baldwin, Arthur W.--11.3 (27 from Waugh), 11.7
- Beresy Seciso, Constantine--11.11
- Betjeman, John, Sir, 1906- --11.7
- Carew, Dudley, 1903- --11.4 (47 from Waugh)
- Chamberlain, Peter, 1919- --11.7
- Chapman and Hall, Ltd (firm)--11.11
- Compton-Burnett, I. (Ivy), 1884-1969--11.7 (2)
- Connolly, Cyril, 1903-1974--11.2 (4 from Waugh)
- Daily Express (London, England)--11.2 (from Waugh)
- Denley, Gerald--11.11
- Fry, Geoffrey Storrs, 1888-1960--11.7
- Gosse, Nellie Epps--11.11
- Green, Henry, 1905-1974--11.7
- Greenridge, Terence Lucy--11.11
- Haynes, E.S.P. (Edmund Sydney Pollock), 1877-1949--11.11
- Haywood, John, fl. 1951--11.2 (from Waugh)
- Igol, W.J.--11.2 (2 from Waugh)
- Kauffer, E. McKnight (Edward McKnight), 1890- --11.11
- Knox, Ronald Arbuthnott, 1888-1951--11.2 (from Waugh)
- Lancaster, Osbert, Sir, 1908- --11.7
- Lehman, John--11.2 (from Waugh)
- Leppington, Blanche--11.11
- Little, Brown, and Co.--11.6 (2 from Waugh), 11.8 (from Waugh)
- Longford, Elizabeth Harman Pakenham, Countess of, 1906- --11.7
- Longmans Green and Co.--11.11
- Macauley, Rose, Dame--11.2 (from Waugh)
- Neunhaw, Anthony--11.2 (5 from Waugh)
- Pankhurst, E. Sylvia (Estelle Sylvia), 1882-1960--11.8
- Percy, Esm_, 1887-1957--11.2 (2 from Waugh)
- Peters, A.D.--11.9
- Portugal. Embassy (Great Britain)--11.7
- Power, A.D. (A. David)--11.11
- Roberts, F. Warren--11.2 (from Waugh)
- Roberts, Kilham--11.2 (from Waugh)
- Sandiford, I.M., Mrs.--11.7
- Silk, Muriel--11.11
- Sitwell, Edith, Dame, 1887-1964--11.11 (2)
- Spain, Nancy, 1917-1964--11.11
- Stanley, Edward John Stanley, Baron, 1907- --11.7
- Stephens, Margaret, fl. 1946--11.9
- Stopp, Frederick--11.2 (2 from Waugh)
- The Sunday Times, London--11.7
- Troubridge, Vincent Wallace, Sir--11.7
- Turner, George, fl. 1950--11.2 (from Waugh)
- Watkin, Aelred--11.7
- Watt, W.P.--11.7
- Waugh, Alec, 1898- --11.6 (52 from Waugh)
- Waugh, Arthur, 1866-1943--11.11 (2)
- Waugh, Evelyn Gardner--11.11
- Waugh, Joan Chirnside--11.2 (4 from Waugh)
- Whelen, Vincent A.--11.10 (5 from Waugh) (2)
- Wright, David, fl. 1960--11.2 (from Waugh)
Evelyn Waugh Collection--Index of Works
- The American Epoch in the Catholic Church--1.3
- Appeal for aid for Saint Joseph's Home, Edmonton--1.3
- Basil Seal Rides Again or The Rake's Regress--1.4-5
- Black Mischief--1.6
-
Brideshead Revisited
- Instructions for filming--2.1
- Preface, contents and other front matter--2.1
- Typescripts--1.7, 2.1-2, 2.4
- Uncorrected proofs--2.3
- Volume marked with various edits--2.5
- Broadcast to an Un-named Listener--1.3
- Charles Ryder's Schooldays--2.6
- Compassion--1.3
- Conversion; a Play in Three Acts--1.3
- The Cynic--2.7
- The Decline and Fall--3.1
- The Defense of the Holy Places--1.3
- Edmund Campion--4.1-2
- Eldorado revisited: Portrait of a Dependency--3.10
- An Englishman's Home--3.10
- Fan-fare--3.10
- First Faltering Steps-1. Drinking--3.10
- The Grand Tour IV: The French Riviera--3.10
- A Handful of Dust--4.3
- The Hopeful Pontiff: Pope John XXIII--3.10
- Labels; a Mediterranean Journal--3.10
- Life and Death--3.10
- The Life of Ronald Knox--5.3
- A Little Hope: front matter--3.10
- A Little Learning--5.4, 6.1-.3
- Love Among the Ruins--A Pilgrims Progress: a Tale of the Near Future--3.10
- The Loved One--6.4-5
- Men at Arms--7.2
- The Metamorphosis of Miss Mitford--3.10
- Mgr. Ronald Knox: The Best and the Worst--3.10
- My Father-Father and Son--3.10
- Notes on Catholic writers--3.10
- Note on the state of English literature--3.10
- Ode on the Intimations of Immaturity--3.10
- Officers and Gentlemen--7.3
- An open letter to His Excellency the Cardinal Archbishop of Wesminster--8.1
- The Ordeal of Gilbert Pinfold--8.2
- Period Piece: The Case of Lord Cornphillip--8.4
- The Pistol Troop Magazine--8.5
- Pius XII: Autumn 1944--8.3
- Prefaces to:
- A Selection from the Occasional Sermons of the Rt. Rev. Ronald Arbuthnott Knox by Evelyn Waugh--8.6
- Book by McInerny--8.6
- Carson was Here by Anthony Carson--8.6
- Count Bohemond by Alfred Duggan--8.7
- The Man of Property by John Galsworthy--8.6
- Rosa Lewis by Daphne Fielding--8.6
- The `Thomas Moore' edition of A Spiritual Aenied [sic]--8.6
- A Progressive Game--8.3
- Reviews of
- The Adonis Garden by Daphne Fielding--8.8
- Blessed and Poor by Daniel Pezeril--8.8
- Books on Oxford--8.8
- Edith Stein by Sister Teresia de Spirito Sancto--8.8
- The End of the Affair by Graham Greene--8.8
- First and Last Loves by John Betjeman--8.8
- Hemlock and After by Angus Wilson--8.8
- The Kindly Ones by Anthony Powell--8.8
- Kipling's Mind and Art edited by Andrew Rutherford--8.8
- Max by Lord David Cecil and Letters to Reggie Turner by Max Beerbohm--8.8
- The Prince of Darkness by J.F. Powers--8.8
- Ronald Knox's translation of the Old Testament--8.8
- Roxburgh of Stowe by Noel Annan--8.8
- Taken Care Of by Edith Sitwell--8.8
- Victorian Furniture by R.W. Symonds and B.B. Whimley and 19th Century England Furniture by Elizabeth Aslin--8.8
- Voices at Play by Murial Spark--8.8
- William Rothenstein by Robert Speaight--8.8
- Rossetti: His Life and Works--9.1
- Scoop--9.2-3, Galley Folder 1
- Scoop: Memorandum for Messrs. Endfield & Fiss--8.3
- Scott-King's Modern Europe--9.3
- Sloth--8.3
- Speech on Ronald Knox at unveiling of bust--8.3
- Status Questions--8.3
- Sword of Honor--10.1-2
- A Timid Call to Order--8.3
- Toast to Ronald Knox--8.3
- Tourist in Africa--10.3
- Turistico--8.3
- Unconditional Surrender--11.4
- Untitled works
- Article for Nash's Magazine--1.1
- Articles on
- Athens--1.1
- The First Hundred Thousand by Ian Hay--1.1
- Helena--1.1
- Monte Carlo--1.1
- P.G. Wodehouse--1.1
- St. Francis Xavier and Goa--1.1
- Venice--1.1
- Satiric dialogues--1.1
- Tribute to Ronald Knox--1.2
- Vile Bodies--10.5
- While the Going Was Good: Preface--8.3
- Work Suspended: Postscript--8.3
- Work Suspended I: My Father's House--8.3
- Work Suspended II: A Birth--8.3
- Waugh in Abyssinia--11.1
Evelyn Waugh Collection--Index of Works by other Authors
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Unidentified Authors:
- Address to G. Wyndham Murphy on the occasion of his resigning... --13.15
- Address to Oswald Mosley upon his coming of age--bound volume shelved at end of collection
- Bridge scores--13.14
- Mathematical figuring--13.14
- Notes and fragments of a letter--13.14
- Notes on Justinian--13.14
- Terms of Westbridge House Treaty--13.14
- To My Child--14.1
-
Identified Authors:
- Acton, Harold
- English Realism in Early Victorian Art--14.1
- Belloc, Hilaire
- Unpublished verses--13.14
- Boyle, Stuart
- Original illustrations for The Loved One--14.2
- Castle, Wilfred
- T.F.: Notes on Anglican churches in Cannes--13.14
- Davis, Robert Murray
- Guy Crouchback's Children--13.14
- Harper's Bazaar and A Handful of Dust--13.14
- Garland, John Bingley
- "To Amy Lester Garland--A legacy left in his lifetime for her future examination by her affectionate father"--Oversize Volume 1
- Jervis, Steven Alexander
- "The Novels of Evelyn Waugh: A Critical Study"--14.4-5
- Knox, Ronlad
- The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ According to Matthew--14.6
- Waugh, Alec
- The Lonely Unicorn--14.7
- "My Brother Evelyn"--15.1
- Myself When Young--15.2
- Notes on Arthur Waugh--13.14
- Waugh, Arthur
- One Man's Road--16.1
- The Thames--Oversize Volume 2
- Waugh, J.H.
- Souvenir album celebrating the coming of age of Viscount
- Weymouth--15.3
- Wood, John
- The Artist--15.4
- Acton, Harold