Papers relating to Louis MacNeice and Mary Wimbush
Bodleian Library, University of Oxford
Original catalogue by Judith Priestman. EAD version by Rachael Gardner
2016
Department of Special Collections
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Abstract:
Letters and papers of Louis MacNeice (1907-1963) and Mary Wimbush (1924-2005).
Extent: 0.44 Linear metres, 4 shelfmarks
Language(s) of Material: English
Biographical history
Frederick Louis MacNeice CBE (1907-1963) was a British poet and playwright, and part of the Auden Group. Mary Wimbush (1924-2005)
was an English actress who worked in film, television, theatre and radio. MacNeice and Wimbush were in a relationship from
1958 until MacNeice's death in 1963.
Scope and Content
Letters, manuscripts, photographs and miscellaneous papers of Louis MacNeice and Mary Wimbush, 1929-2002.
Acquisition
Purchased from Mark Todd in 2006-2007.
Preferred Form of Citation
Oxford, Bodleian Library MS. Eng. c. 7879
Personal name(s) (NCA Rules)
MacNeice | Frederick Louis | 1907-1963 | poet and playwright
Wimbush | Mary | 1924-2005 | actress
Subject(s)
English poetry -- 20th century
Descriptive List
Letters from Louis MacNeice to Mary Wimbush
Date: 1960-1963, n.d.
Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 7879
Language(s) of Material: English
Extent: 26 leaves
Scope and ContentComprises:
- (fols. 1-6) letter of 4 Apr 1960, with (fols. 2-5) a fair copy autograph poem ‘Good Dream (for you darling)’
- (fols. 7-8) 11 Apr 1960 [franked]
- (fols. 9-10) 21 May [franked]
- (fols. 11-12) 26 Jul 1960 [franked]
- (fols. 13-15) 27 Aug 1960 [franked]
- (fols. 16-18) 2 Sep [1960; franked 3 Sep 1960]
- (fols. 19-22) 22 Sep 1961 [franked], with (fol. 20) a fragment ‘I love you forever – L.’ written on the flap of a Senior Service
cigarette pack
- (fols. 23-5) two undated letters titled ‘My dearest of Maries & of everyone’, with envelope inscribed ‘Mary’; and ‘January
2nd. Belfast. My dearest love’
- (fol. 26) a picture postcard, franked Belfast [26?] Jun 1963, addressed to ‘Mrs MacNeice’
Letters and papers of Mary Wimbush
Date: 1962-2002, n.d.
Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 7880
Language(s) of Material: English
Extent: 103 leaves
Scope and Content(fols. 1-87) Letters of condolence after MacNeice’s death, arranged alphabetically by signature, including:
- (fol. 4) Wilfred Blunt
- (fol. 14) Nest Cleverdon
- (fol. 15) Sylvia Coleridge
- (fol. 23) H. B. Fortuin
- (fol. 26) Val Gielgud
- (fol. 29) Margaret Gardiner
- (fols. 30-31) Grizelda Hervey
- (fols. 32-3) John Hilton
- (fol. 36) Beatrix Lehmann
- (fol. 38) Cecil Day-Lewis
- (fol. 39) Jill Day-Lewis
- (fol. 40-43) Mercy MacCann
- (fol. 46) Charles Monteith
- (fols. 57-9) Isabella Gardner Tate
- (fol. 63) Eric Walter White
- (fol. 64) Ruth Winawer (Jones)
Newspaper cuttings, 1962-2002, and undated, including:
- (fols. 88-98) obituaries and tributes
- (fols. 99-102) articles featuring MacNeice, 1962 and n.d.
- (fol. 103) article by Ned Sherrin about 'The Archers', mentioning Wimbush in the
Evening Standard, 23 Dec 2002
Miscellaneous MacNeice papers
Date: 1937-1963, n.d.
Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 7881
Language(s) of Material: English
Extent: 170 leaves
Scope and Content(fols. 1-5) Five MacNeice manuscripts and typescripts, n.d.:
- (fols. 1-2) two foolscap leaves, on one side a holograph pencil draft of an undated letter, ‘Dear Headmaster’; on the other,
MacNeice notes in red biro
- (fol. 3) unamended carbon typescript poem, ‘Apple Blossom’, signed ‘L.’
- (fols. 4-5) unamended carbon typescript poem, ‘The Wiper’, signed Louis MacNeice’
(fols. 6-7) Faber and Faber Christmas card signed T.S. Eliot, 1959
(fols. 8-9) two letters to MacNeice from Peter du Sautoy, 1950, accompanying a proof copy of
The Agamemnon of Aeschylus (Faber, 1936)
(fols. 10-121) Six BBC scripts, cyclostyled typescripts unless stated otherwise; transmitted 1963:
- (fols. 10-72)
Persons from Porlock, 30 Aug 1963, annotated throughout by MacNeice
- (fols. 73-82)
Listening and Writing. Making a Radio Play, 1963; a few annotations by MacNeice
- (fols. 83-105)
Carpe Diem, carbon typescript; a few annotations by MacNeice
- (fols. 106-7)
The Death of Louis MacNeice by Victor Price. BBC External Services Productions, 4 Sep 1963
- (fols. 108-9)
An Appreciation of Louis MacNeice by W.R. Rogers. European Service, 11 Sep 1963
- (fols. 110-21) ‘Louis MacNeice’, beginning ‘I saw comparatively little of Louis’
(fols. 122-33) Miscellaneous MacNeice manuscripts:
- (fols. 122-7) ‘Country Weekend’, carbon typescript poem signed ‘Louis MacNeice’, with a few amendments in his hand
- (fol. 128) Irish itinerary, 24 Aug – 4 Sep, in MacNeice’s hand
- (fols. 129-33) typescript book review of Dylan Thomas
Under Milk Wood and
The Doctor and the Devils, signed twice by MacNeice (once cursive, once caps), with a few amendments by him
(fol. 134) a copy of MacNeice’s birth certificate, 13 Sep 1957
(fols. 135-63) Photocopies of two MacNeice British passports, issued in 1937 and 1960
(fols. 163a-170) Photographs of MacNeice, 1937-1955. Folios 166a and 170 are negatives
Louis MacNeice books and pocket diaries
Date: 1929-1962
Shelfmark: MS. Eng. d. 4007
Language(s) of Material: English
Extent: 4 items
Scope and ContentTwo books and two pocket diaries:
- Blind Fireworks (Gollancz, 1929). First edition, with dust jacket.
- The Agamemnon of Aeschylus, translated by MacNeice. Proof copy (Faber, 1936)
- Two pocket diaries, ‘Knightsbridge’ 1961 and 'Guinness' 1962, with a few entries by MacNeice in both
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19 April 2016