Critical Quarterly issue files

This series is comprised of files containing manuscripts and proofs of published contributions to CQ, largely filed together according to the issue in which they appeared. The sequence begins with Volume 8, Number 4 (Winter 1966), and ends with Volume 31, Number 3 (Autumn 1989), the issue which marked the end of Brian Cox's role as general editor of the journal. Not every contribution to each issue is necessarily included, and not every contribution included is represented in both manuscript and proof form. The emphasis is strongly on poetry, and in many of the issues through the 1970s and early 1980s, manuscripts and proofs of poetry are all that have been preserved. There are, however, a number of critical articles, and from autumn 1986 a good deal of short fiction is also represented. Most of the 'manuscripts' are in the form of original typescripts submitted to CQ, although some consist of reproduced extracts from other publications, and some contributions by Elizabeth Jennings are holograph. Many of these manuscripts have been marked up with instructions to the printers. Most of the proofs have also been corrected and returned by their authors, offering valuable evidence about the textual history of each work. Some covering letters have also been preserved with the proofs. In the list below, the authors represented in each file are named. Researchers are advised to consult the relevant copy of CQ for information about the specific contribution of each writer.

The files numbered CQA1/5/1-68 formed a clear sequence, each dedicated to a single issue of CQ; many of them also contain typed contents pages. Subsequent files have largely been created by the archivist from the rather disordered mass of papers generated after 1984.