Papers of R.S. Blaker

  • This material is held at
  • Reference
      GB 161 MSS. Eng. misc. b. 115, c. 554-62, d. 755-87, e. 705-11, f. 418; Eng. lett. c. 317-23, c. 326, d. 339
  • Dates of Creation
      1916-66
  • Language of Material
      English.
  • Physical Description
      60 shelfmarks

Scope and Content

Literary manuscripts, papers and correspondence of R.S. Blaker, including:  

  • Letters to Blaker, 1916-40
  • Manuscript and typescript drafts of:  
    • 'The voice in the wilderness', published in 1922, and 'The liberators'
    • 'Geoffrey Castleton, passenger', published in 1923
    • 'Enter a messenger', published in 1927
    • 'Scabby Dichson', published in 1927
    • 'Medal without bar', published in 1930
    • 'The needle-watcher', published in 1932
    • 'Night-shift', published in 1934
    • 'Here lies a most beautiful lady', published in 1935
    • 'But beauty vanishes', published in 1936
    • 'David of Judah', published in 1937
    • 'Love went a -riding', published in 1938
    • ' 'I', said the fly', an unpublished novel
    • 'Black Daniel', an unfinished novel
    • Short stories, with a few drafts of plays
    • 'Mr Petrie', a play by Blaker and Sidney Gutman, based on Blaker's novel A voice in the wilderness (London, 1922)
    • Film scripts and scenarios, with related notes, ca. 1936-8
  • Miscellaneous papers, including details of the sales of Blaker's novels, early essays, and agreements and contracts with publishers and film studios, 1919-42
  • Newspaper cuttings, 1912, 1922-38
  • Biographical papers
  • Photographs of Blaker and his friends

Administrative / Biographical History

Richard Sidney Blaker (1893-1940) was an author. Details are given in Who Was Who.

Access Information

Entry to read in the Library is permitted only on presentation of a valid reader's card (for admissions procedures see http://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/specialcollections).

Acquisition Information

The papers were given to the Library by Blaker's brother-in-law in 1974.

Note

Collection level description created by Emily Tarrant, Department of Special Collections and Western Manuscripts.

Other Finding Aids

M. Clapinson and T.D. Rogers, Summary Catalogue of Post-Medieval Western Manuscripts in the Bodleian Library Oxford. Acquisitions 1916-1975. (Oxford, 1991), vol. I, nos. 42959-43018.