Stevie Smith - collections

Stevie Smith book collection 
The University library purchased the Stevie Smith book collection at auction in 1979. This includes numerous books by and about her including many first editions. The collection also features over 100 newspaper and periodicals containing poems, articles, articles and reviews by Stevie Smith and reviews of her work, obituaries and other material. In addition to this collection the History Centre also houses:

Novel on Yellow Paper
The University had begun to negotiate with Stevie Smith to purchase the original typescript version of Novel on yellow paper in 1970 but were not concluded until May 1972 a year after her death. The text (ref U DP/156) contains manuscript corrections for the printer and 32 pages of an earlier version

This collection includes a large roller blind (measuring 7 ft by 6 ft) on which she wrote a well-known stanza by Emperor Hadrian, beginning ‘Animula vagula blandula’. This item (ref U DP/156/3) , purchased in 1980, having originally hung at the home of her friend Ronald Orr Ewing and Smith is said to have written the poem for him at a party in 1969. 

Illustrations
There are 13 drawings by Stevie Smith composed as illustrations for poems first published in 'The Frog Prince', published in 1966

There are also a number of recordings of Stevie Smith reading her poems including 3 tapes int he British Council series ‘The poet speaks’ and seven letters to her friend Ladislav Horvat in 1957 [ref U DP/197]. 

A brief biography of Stevie Smith and a select bibliography are also available