Literary papers of Anna Gordon Keown, with related material, including some correspondence

  • This material is held at
  • Reference
      GB 206 Brotherton Collection MS 20c Keown
  • Dates of Creation
      1934-1959
  • Name of Creator
  • Language of Material
      English
  • Physical Description
      1 box; manuscript, typescript, photographs, press cuttings, and printed material. The miniature, 'The Unicorn of the Marshes', is held in a custom-made box covered with red cloth and with a gilt-tooled spine which bears the lettering 'The/ Unicorn/ of the/ Marshes/ Raymond/ Lister,/ R.M.S./ 1958'. The illustrations drawn for Virgil's Second Eclogue are held in a custom-made box covered with cream cloth and with the following gilt lettering embossed on the spine, 'Raymond/ Lister/ Original/ Drawings/ for/ Virgil's/ Second/ Eclogue'. The first illustration bears the imprint 'Cambridge 1958'.

Scope and Content

Comprises: (1) Autograph manuscript and typescript drafts of some of Anna Gordon Keown's literary works, including at least 9 short stories or plays, dated ca. 1948-1955, and held in a red folder; at least 10 poems, undated, also held in a red folder; many undated poems and a few letters dated 1941 held in a green folder; a manuscript notebook of poetry and prose dated 1953; notes for two speeches given by her, one 'In defence of Woolgathering', 25 October 1934, at the National Liberal Club, the other given on 10 March 1937 at the London Central School of Art; and miscellaneous drafts of other individual works, notably, the typescript carbon copy of a novel entitled 'Mr Thompson and the horse', which has been bound up into a volume with a red plastic cover, a draft of a comedy, 'Poor Miss Pim', a poem entitled 'The initiate', another poem on 'The Unicorn', a prose work entitled 'The last holiday', and part of a novel; (2) Personalia relating to Anna Gordon Keown, including a printed blurb for her Collected Poems published in 1953, a black and white portrait photograph of her as a young woman mounted in a black wooden frame with glass, other black and white photographs of her and her husband, Dr Philip Gosse, in their house 'Low Thatch' and of the outside of the house, the Who's who entry prepared for her in the 1952 edition, obituaries of her dated 1957, a miniature, 'The Unicorn of the Marshes', drawn by Raymond Lister, which was given by the artist to her, who bequeathed it to him, and which was subsequently presented by Lister in her memory to the Brotherton Collection in 1958, and a set of 9 illustrations drawn by Lister for a copy of Virgil's Second Eclogue and also later donated in her memory in July 1959; (3) A letter from Dr Philip Gosse to 'the Librarian' [Mr B.S. Page], dated 'Whit Monday 1959', concerning the donation of this manuscript material to the Brotherton Library in memory of his wife.

Administrative / Biographical History

Anna Gordon Keown (1902-1957), the poet, novelist, and playwright (Mrs Philip Gosse). For fuller details of her life and achievements see Who was who, Vol.5.

Access Information

Access is unrestricted.

Acquisition Information

Chiefly acquired by the gift of her husband, Dr Philip H.G. Gosse, in her memory, 1958-1959.

Note

In English.

Additional Information

Some 249 printed books and pamphlets either by, or previously owned by, Anna Gordon Keown, or preserved in her memory by Philip Gosse, form a related part of the collection and are shelved with the above.