Philip Larkin - collections
The History Centre houses a number of
important collections relating to Philip Larkin including:
Papers of Philip Larkin (known
as the Larkin Estate Collection) [Ref U
DPL]
This major collection has been kindly
deposited by Larkin's Trustees. Deposits have been received in
1991, 1993, 1997 and 2001. It contains, amongst other things,
Larkin's famous workbooks [numbers 1-8 - the first being a
microfilm of the original held in the British Library], in which he
painstakingly drafted most of his poems from the late 1940s until
the last dated entry in November 1980. There are also his
seven little notebooks, dating from between 1939 and 1942, the
typescripts of the collection entitled In the Grip of
Light, and of Round the
Point, a play from 1950,
and the annotated covers of Larkin's diaries, 1949-80, which
survived the destruction of the contents of the diaries in December
1985. Other files contain numerous typescripts and worksheets,
including early and variant drafts of poems and plays. The
collection also includes two draft novels and a book of poems
written in 1943 under the pseudonym Brunette Coleman. The
correspondence in the collection includes photocopies of 43 letters
to Kingsley Amis written between 1942 and 1947. Unusual items
include a number of recordings of Larkin reading poems and plays,
including an amusing reading with Monica Jones of Oscar
Wilde'sThe importance of being Ernest, and a conversation
with his mother in his Pearson Park flat in Hull. There are
some personal papers of Larkin's parents Sydney and Eva, including
diaries and letters to their son, 1943-1974.
The Philip Larkin Book
Collection [P/L]
This was established in
1973 to include, if possible, all published works by and about its
subject. It now comprises over 500 items and is probably the most
complete collection of its kind in existence. As well as first
editions of all Larkin's publications and many of his contributions
to journals, there are copies of more ephemeral works, foreign
editions and translations, plus juvenilia from The Coventrianin the
1930s. Of particular interest are several audio- and videotapes,
including a recording of his interview on Desert Island
Discs in 1976,
and the BBC Monitor television programme Philip Larkin meets John
Betjeman from
1964. All published biographical and critical works are normally
acquired automatically.
Papers of the Larkin family
[U DLN]
This small but important collection
includes over 80 letters and cards sent by Larkin to his sister,
Catherine Hewett, and his niece, Rosemary Parry, between 1940 and
1983, plus numerous family photographs from the early 1900s
onwards. In addition, there are some 29 travel and wartime diaries
of Larkin's father, Sydney, including accounts of family holidays
in Devon, Cornwall, Jersey and Germany. The wartime diaries are
closed to researchers at present. Sydney Larkin's life as City
Treasurer for Coventry is also well documented, most notably by
articles and notes he made whilst in office. The letters written by
Larkin to his parents over several decades have recently
been added to the collection but are not yet available to
researchers.
Philip Larkin's
letters
Philip Larkin had a huge postbag. Researchers
wrote to him for bibliographies, prospective poets asked him to
look at their work, colleagues in the literary world and
antiquarian booksellers prized his advice, fans thanked him for his
poetry. His efforts to reply to as many letters as possible are
recorded in several collections. Interesting bundles include
correspondence with John Betjeman, Brian Cox, Donald Davie, Fay
Godwin, Seamus Heaney, Vikram Seth and various poetry editors
during the 1970s and 1980s. The total now runs to several thousand
items. To date the major collections of letters relate to the
following correspondence:
James
Sutton: this remarkable
collection represents the single most important body of evidence
relating to Larkin's formative years. It comprises over 200 letters
written between 1938 and 1952 to Sutton, a friend from schooldays.
They include numerous poems and drawings. The other side of the
correspondence was purchased in 1998 and comprises 80 replies sent
by Sutton over the same period, as well as over 40 postcards and
cards between the two friends, some correspondence from the 1980s
when they re-established contact, and some early typescript poems
by Larkin. [Ref U DP/174 and U DP/182]
Colin Gunner: some 34 letters
(1971-1985) to another friend from schooldays, to whom Larkin was
particularly frank about political and personal opinions. [U
DP/179]
John Norton-Smith: 36 letters and cards
(1964-1984) from Larkin to a former colleague and English
Professor. [U DP/176]
Kenneth Hibbert: Over 30 letters and cards
(1959-1985) to his insurance adviser and fellow (but somewhat more
active) member of the Hull Literary Club. [see U DPL(2) and U
DX/176]
Ted Tarling: 24 letters and cards to
the editor of the Hull-based poetry
magazine,Wave , between 1970 and 1985.
[U DP/177]
Barry Bloomfield: copies of some 113
letters and cards to his bibliographer, written between 1958 and
1985. [U DX/213]
Anthony Thwaite: over 170 letters and
cards to the poet and writer between 1958 and 1985. Also the
photocopied correspondence assembled by Thwaite during his work on
Larkin's Selected
letters . [U DP/181
and U DP/188]
Douglas Dunn: many letters and
postcards (1967-1985) to the Tayside poet who studied English
degree at Hull University and worked for Philip Larkin in the
Brynmor Jones Library. [U DDD and U DPL(2)].
Gavin Ewart: letters from Larkin to
this much loved poet are constantly emerging from the Larkin Estate
Collection. In return many of Ewart's missives include poems
written especially for his friend. [U DP/163 and
UDPL(2)].
Jazz letters: extensive correspondence
with Steve Race, Stuart Wright, Campbell Burnap and John White
(1983-85) [U DPL(2) and U DP/190]. Philip
Larkin's opinions and advice were frequently sought on jazz matters
as well as poetry.
Professor AT Tolley: 19 letters to and from
Larkin about Tolley's study of the poetry workbooks, 1981-1986;
also available are Tolley's transcripts of the workbooks. [U
DP/193 and U DX/281]
Andrew Motion: 46 letters and cards
from Larkin to his fellow poet, and 56 replies from Motion, over
the period 1978 to 1985, including discussion of their respective
literary work. [U DP/207]
Brenda Moon: 57 letters and cards
from Larkin to his Deputy at Hull University Library, 1962-1985,
with a printed keepsake celebrating the Library's
50th anniversary. [U
DX/257]
The Movement
Larkin had extensive contact
with those critics associated with the coinage of 'the movement' as
a literary category. Stylistically 'movement' writers were said to
share the desire to substitute rhetoric for colloquial idiom. They
cultivated a witty and ironic stance and wrote from experience. The
anthology of poems which was generally considered to be most
representative of the movement style was Robert
Conquest's New
Lines (1956). He included poems
by Kingsley Amis, DJ Enright and John Wain. All four men (including
Conquest) featured heavily in Larkin's correspondence [U
DPL(2)] and his own selection of poetry for the 1974 Christmas
supplement of the Poetry Book Society [U DX/73].
Larkin also corresponded with one of the women whose work came
under 'the movement' banner, Elizabeth Jennings. [U
DPL(2) and U DX/73].
Library administration files [U
LIB]
Larkin was a superb administrator in the
traditional style, and his activities were copiously documented in
the form of letters, memoranda and minutes. The surviving numerous
boxes of archives cover every aspect of his Librarianship, and much
more besides, ranging from day-to-day library matters, such as
cataloguing backlogs, to University matters, such as staff
appointments and the University bookshop, to national activities,
such as his work for the Arts Council, and other bodies. There are
literally thousands of carbon copies of letters and memoranda,
covering topics as far-ranging as the banning of stiletto-heeled
shoes in the Library in the early 1960s, to Library sit-ins in the
early 1970s, to computerisation in the 1980s. In addition, there
are hundreds of photographs.
A brief biography of Philip
Larkin and a select bibliography are also available.