Literary papers of Rupert Croft-Cooke (EUL MS 232)
Rupert Croft-Cooke (1903-1979) was a writer who also published under the name Leo Bruce. As an adult, he taught English for five years, first in Paris and then in Buenos Aires, where he founded and edited the periodical 'La Estrella'. He returned to England in 1925, setting up a bookshop in Kent, as well as doing broadcasting and journalism work. Before joining the British Army in 1940, he moved abroad to Germany, Switzerland and Spain. In the British Army he served in Africa and India until 1946. Returning to the UK in 1946, he took up writing again, holding the position of book critic for 'The Sketch' between 1947 and 1953. For most of his life, sexual relationships between men were a criminal offence and Croft-Cooke never spoke publicly about his sexuality. He is thought to have been in a long-term relationship with Joseph Sussainathan, whom he met in India and employed as his secretary. In 1953, Croft-Cooke was convicted of 'gross indecency'. He served a six-month prison sentence, and later wrote critically about the British penal system in 'The Verdict of You All' (1955). In 1953, he moved to Morocco for fifteen years until 1968, after which he lived variously in Tunisia, Cyprus, Germany and Ireland before returning to the UK. A substantial part of his work was written abroad. He published more than 125 books of all genres, many for the mass market, and was best known as a writer of detective fiction: many of these works were published under the name Leo Bruce.
His archive collections at the University of Exeter include: seven scrapbooks; one portrait; photographs; press cuttings; a typescript for an unpublished play; a set of files and envelopes relating to works for 'The Sensual World', his autobiography; one box of photographs, including a small set of film stills for 'Seven Thunders'; correspondence with publishers; personal letters; fan mail to Rupert Croft-Cooke; and a small group of carbon copies of letters to other writers (copies of letters at the Harry Ransom Centre, Texas).
A full collection description for the literary papers of Rupert Croft-Cooke can be browsed on the online archives catalogue. A box list of the collection is available on request.
Editions of many of Rupert Croft-Cooke's books are held within our Reserve Collection, catalogued under the local classmark: Reserve 828.9/CRO-3. You can browse the titles in the library catalogue.
P. N. Furbank Personal Papers (EUL MS 477)
P. N. Furbank was an English biographer, literary scholar and critic. Furbank was born in Surrey on 23 May 1920, attending Reigate Grammer School before studying english at Emmanuel College, Cambridge. After University he joined the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers as a Corporal, despite his brother's (an aspiring poet) death in a flying accident in 1941. In 1947 he returned to Emmanuel to teach, becoming friends with E.M. Forster and Alan Turing (who he would later become Literary Executor for). Leaving academia in 1953 he worked as an editor at Macmillan before becoming a Librarian at King's College London and freelancing for The Listener. Furbank married poet Patricia Beer in 1960 after she became pregnant (though Beer was aware that Furbank identified as gay), but the couple never lived together and the marriage was dissolved in 1963. Beer and Furbank remained lifelong friends. Furbank's major work was the widely acclaimed biography E. M. Forster: A Life; the writing of which Furbank took over from William Plomer after Plomer struggled with how to write about Forster's sexuality. Furbank was made a fellow of King's College, cambridge 1969-1970 to support the writing of the biography. In 1972 he joined the staff of the Open University and in 1992 he won the first Truman Capote Award for Literary Criticism for his Diderot: A Critical Biography (1992). His other works include Italo Svevo: The Man and the Writer (1966), Reflections on the Word "Image" (1970), Pound (1985), Unholy Pleasure: The Idea of Social Class (1985), The Canonisation of Daniel Defoe (1988), Diderot: A Critical Biography (1992), Behalf (1999), A Political Biography of Daniel Defoe (2005) and The Insect in Literature (unpublished). Furbank died on 27 June 2014.
Further information about the papers of P.N. Furbank can be found on the archives catalogue.
Papers of Angela du Maurier (EUL MS 207/5, EUL MS 276)
Angela du Maurier (1904-2002) was the eldest of the three du Maurier sisters, and the elder of Daphne by three years. Originally aspiring to follow the family tradition of acting, she planned to be an actress and spent two seasons on the stage. During the Second World War, she ran a market garden with her sister, Jeanne, in Cornwall. In the 1930s, she began to write her first novel 'The Little Less', which was initially rejected by publishers due to its lesbian storyline. She published eleven books in total, including two volumes of autobiography 'It's Only the Sister' (1951) and 'Old Maids Remember'. Her works of fiction include 'The Little Less', 'The Road to Leenane', 'Pilgrims by the Way', 'The Perplexed Heart', 'Reveille' and 'Treveryan'. She lived at Ferryside, the family house in Cornwall, for most of her life. Angela du Maurier met her partner and 'twin' (they shared the same first name and date of birth), Angela Halliday, in 1930.
The du Maurier archive collections at the University of Exeter include four notebooks containing manuscript drafts of poetry, a typescript document entitled 'Tributes', photographs, correspondence, and a letter from Angela du Maurier to 'Mrs Powers' relating to media reception of the novel 'The Perplexed Heart' in 1939.
Further information about the papers of Angela du Maurier can be found on the archives catalogue.
Further resources
The Hypatia Collection includes thirteen books by or about Angela du Maurier. Titles can be browsed on the Library Catalogue.
Papers of Daphne du Maurier (EUL MS 144, MS 206, MS 207, MS 462)
Daphne du Maurier (1907-1989) grew up in London, but the family developed strong links with Cornwall after buying a riverside house near Fowey, and it was in Cornwall that du Maurier settled. She began publishing stories and articles in 1928; her first novel, 'The Loving Spirit', was published in 1931 by Heineman. There followed 'The Progress of Julius' (Heineman, 1933) and 'Gerald, a portrait' (Gollancz, 1934) before her first enduring success, 'Jamaica Inn', which was published by Gollancz in 1936. Two years later she published her most significant and best-loved novel, 'Rebecca'. Besides these she published a number of other novels, short-stories and biographical portraits, blending history and literary art in some, while developing her own unique vision of the macabre in others.
Du Maurier used both male and female narrators in her novels and her works often explored themes around gender and sexuality. Until the age of 15, Daphne du Maurier had a male alter ego, 'Eric Avon' (see 'Growing Pains: The Shaping of a Writer', p. 59) and she often spoke privately about having a masculine side to her personality (see M. Forster, 'Daphne du Maurier, p. 222). During her life, du Maurier experienced attraction to both men and women, but she never spoke or wrote publically about her own sexual identity. In 1932, she married Frederick A. M. Browning; they had one son and two daughters.
The University of Exeter's Special Collections include literary and personal papers of Daphne du Maurier. The Daphne du Maurier collections include manuscript and typescript drafts, proofs and correspondence.
Further information about the Daphne du Maurier collections (including papers relating to other members of the du Maurier family) can be found on the archives catalogue.
Further resources
The Hypatia Collection includes books by or about Daphne du Maurier. Titles can be browsed on the Library Catalogue.
Literary papers of David Rees (EUL MS 271)
David Rees (1936-1993) was an author, lecturer and reviewer, born in Surbiton. He publicly self-identified as gay in 1974. Rees worked as a school teacher, before moving to Exeter in 1968 to take up the position of lecturer in Education at St Luke's College, which merged with the University of Exeter in 1978. He remained at the University until 1984, when he retired early to write full-time.
Rees was a prolific writer, producing more than thirty works between 1975 and 1993. He also regularly wrote literary reviews and articles for magazines and newspapers, including Gay News and Gay Times. He is best known as a writer of novels for children and young adults. Some of these works have a historical setting, with several set in Exeter and Devon, while others explore themes around sexuality and life as a gay teenager.
David Rees lived and worked in Exeter for most of his life, and time and again the city and its history inspired his stories. In 1978, David Rees was awarded the Carnegie Medal for The Exeter Blitz. In his acceptance speech, Rees spoke of the importance of Exeter to his writing, stating: ‘I’m drawn to it, again and again, as to a magnet...I’m glad it’s The Exeter Blitz that has won the Carnegie; it’s a tribute to that other major influence on me, the place where I live and work’. At least six of David Rees’ stories were set in Exeter, including Quintin’s Man, The Ferryman, Risks, The Exeter Blitz, The House that Moved and In the Tent.
The novels Quintin's Man (1976) and In the Tent (1979) were the first books for teenagers in the UK to have central gay characters. In the 1980s, The Milkman's On His Way (1982) by David Rees was one of the prominent texts discussed as part of the Section 28 debates in Parliament. Section 28 or Clause 28 of the Local Government Act 1988 was a controversial amendment to the UK's Local Government Act 1986, enacted on 24 May 1988. It was brought in to prohibit local authorities ‘promoting homosexuality by teaching or by publishing material’. It was repealed on 21 June 2000 in Scotland, and on 18 November 2003 in the rest of the UK. The Milkman's On His Way centres around a teenager called Ewan Macrae, and his exploration of who he is and what it means to experience same-sex attraction. It follows his changing relationships and wider journey to adulthood, self-acceptance and happiness. In Parliament, it was claimed that the book ‘glorifies homosexuality and encourages youngsters to believe that it is better than any other sexual way of life’ (Jill Knight MP, House of Commons, 08 May 1987), and that it ‘does a great deal to undermine family life and moral standards’ (Richard Luce MP, House of Commons, 11 May 1987). Despite the withdrawal of The Milkman’s on His Way from many public and school libraries due to Section 28, according to David Rees’ autobiography (Not For Your Hands, 1992), sales of the book - which had been good in 1982 - experienced a significant boost through the publicity in 1987 and 1988.
Sexuality remained an important theme of Rees’ later work, mostly written for adults. In his autobiography Not For Your Hands, he wrote about his experience of coming out and the positive impact this had on his personal life and writing career, stating: 'my growing acceptance of myself as a gay man was freeing me as a writer' (Not For Your Hands, 1992). In 1985, David Rees was diagnosed as HIV positive, which influenced subsequent works such as 'The Wrong Apple' (1987), a novel about a young man who discovers he has AIDS.
From 1985, David Rees lived with HIV and AIDS. He continued writing and publishing until 1992. He died in 1993.
The archive collection at the University of Exeter comprises literary papers of David Rees dating between c 1975-1993. They include manuscript and typescript drafts of novels, short stories, poems, reviews, articles and interviews; printed copies of articles and reviews; as well as correspondence and reviews relating to his works. The literary papers of David Rees have been catalogued and can be browsed via the online archives catalogue.
Further Resources
Books by David Rees are held within our Reserve Collection, catalogued under the classmark Reserve 828.9/REE-9. You can browse the titles in the library catalogue.
Forrest Reid Collection (Reid Coll. and EUL MS 122)
Forrest Reid (1875-1947) was a novelist and literary scholar, born on 24 June 1875, After some years as an apprentice in the tea trade, he went to Christ's College, Cambridge, at the age of thirty and took his degree in 1908 with a second class in the medieval and modern languages tripos. He then settled down to write in Belfast, which, apart from periods of travel, remained his home for the rest of his life. He made annual trips to visit friends in England, including Walter de la Mare and E M Forster. Reid wrote sixteen novels, two volumes of autobiography, two collections of short stories, critical studies of W. B. Yeats and Walter de la Mare, and a definitive work on the book illustrators of the 1860s and numerous essays and book reviews. Childhood and adolescence supply the subject of most of Reid's work. Same-sex attraction and love is another recurring theme in many of his novels.
The Reid Book Collection held at the University Library contains 45 print-items, including first editions of each of Reid's books. Amongst the titles are a number of presentation copies bearing Reid's autographs inscriptions, including a first edition of 'The Bracknels' (1911) inscribed by Reid to Henry James. Reid was an ardent admirer of James and fostered an epistolary friendship with the older writer, but James was displeased when Reid dedicated to him 'Garden of God' (1905), a novel with a gay romance as its subject. An account of this incident is given by Reid in his autobiographies. The collection is catalogued under the local classmark: Reid Coll. You can browse the titles in the library catalogue.
The archival content of the collection is small, as the items survive as inserts still enclosed in copies of Reid's books. Further information about the Forrest Reid archive collection can be found on the archives catalogue.
Papers of A.L. Rowse (EUL MS 113)
Alfred Leslie Rowse (1903-1997) was a Cornish historian, poet, diarist, biographer and critic.He was born in Tregonissey near St. Austell, Cornwall. He won a scholarship to Christ Church, Oxford, gaining a first class honours degree in history in 1925 when he was also elected Fellow of All Souls, Oxford (the first man from a working-class background to do so). It was during this period that he established so many of the social contacts with academic, political and literary circles within which he was to move for the remainder of his life. He stood unsuccessfully for parliament at Penryn and Falmouth in 1931 and 1935. He became Sub-Warden of the All Souls but was defeated in his election as Warden in 1952, shortly after which he retired to Trenarren, his Cornish home, for the remainder of his life. He began to publish relatively late in life. He produced a tremendous output of works on both history and Shakespeare between the 1950s and 1980s, and published 65 of his 105 books after the age of 65. A.L. Rowse spoke and wrote openly about his views on sexuality, including his own, and published a book entitled 'Homosexuals in History' (1977).
The A.L. Rowse collections contain both literary and historical manuscripts, typescripts and proofs of various published and unpublished works including articles, poetry, short stories, memoirs and autobiographical material, journals and a wide range of correspondence.
Further information about the A.L. Rowse collections can be found on the archives catalogue.
Titles from A.L. Rowse's library can be browsed via the library catalogue (classmark: Rowse).
Letters from Siegfried Sassoon (EUL MS 43/PERS/1/S/SASSOON and EUL MS 50a/PERS/1/18/1)
The archive collections held at the University of Exeter include several letters from the poet and writer Siegfried Sassoon (1886–1967), in particular two letters from Siegfried Sassoon to Henry Williamson (see EUL MS 43/PERS/1/S/SASSOON) and 33 letters from Siegfried Sassoon to Charles Causley (see EUL MS 50a/PERS/1/18/1).
Letters from Stephen Spender (EUL MS 50a; EUL MS 113; EUL MS 115; EUL MS 117; EUL MS 212; EUL MS 335)
Correspondence from the poet and novelist Stephen Spender (1909-1995) can be found within several archives in the collections, including papers of Charles Causley (EUL MS 50a); papers of A.L.Rowse (EUL MS 113); personal and research papers of Sir John and Lady Diana Richmond relating to the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict (EUL MS 115); archive materials from the John Betjeman Library (EUL MS 117); literary papers of Lawrence Sail (EUL MS 212); and the literary and personal papers of Patricia Beer (EUL MS 335).
Find out more by searching "Stephen Spender" in the 'Any Text' field aof the Advanced Search page on the archives catalogue.
Poem by Algernon Charles Swinburne [EUL MS 31a/347-348]
The Autograph letter collection of John Marshall includes a poem and note by the poet, playwright, novelist and critic Algernon Charles Swinburne (1837-1909). A description of the items can be found on the online archives catalogue.
Material created by or concerning Sylvia Townsend Warner in the Manuscripts and Book Collections relating to members of the Powys family (EUL MS 433)
The Manuscripts and Book Collections relating to members of the Powys family (EUL MS 433) held at the University of Exeter include several items created by or relating to the novelist and poet Sylvia Townsend Warner (1893-1978). These include letters to and from Sylvia Townsend Warner and Theodore Francis Powys; letters from Sylvia Townsend Warner to Philippa Powys; and published works by Sylvia Townsend Warner (see EUL MS 433/CIRC/1). Listings of all items relating to Sylvia Townsend Warner can be found by searching 'Sylvia Townsend Warner' on the online archives catalogue.
Mariana Villa-Gilbert literary papers (EUL MS 509)
Mariana Villa-Gilbert (1937-2023) was born in Croydon, and spent her early life in Devon, close to her father’s factory. After her father died in 1944, her mother remarried, to a Polish RAF officer, Marjan Gorączko, and the family relocated to Gorączko’s home town of Myślenice in Poland. Returning to England in the 1950s, Mariana successfully completed school, before attending Saint Martin’s School of Art (now Central Saint Martins) in the late 1950s, where she studied sculpture with Elisabeth Frink. However, she was determined to be a writer.
In 1963, the literary agent Herbert van Thal sold Mariana's novel 'Mrs Galbraith’s Air' to Chatto & Windus. Norah Smallwood became her publisher at Chatto & Windus, in a relationship that would last a decade. Two more novels followed: 'My Love All Dressed in White' (1964), and 'Mrs Cantello' (1966). In 'A Jingle-Jangle Song' (1968), her fourth book, Mariana wrote about the relationship between a young Joan Baez-like musician and an older woman. It gained a following in the lesbian press and stands as an important contribution to the genre. Villa-Gilbert followed this with 'The Others' (1970) and 'Manuela: A Modern Myth' (1973). The short story collection 'The Sun in Horus', featuring some of her most mature writing, appeared in 1986. Mariana continued to write and send her completed drafts to literary agencies and publishers for the rest of her life, but she was unsuccessful in publishing any further works. Common themes in her works include the environment, the natural world, pagan and feminist representations of divine womanhood, intimate relationships between women, gender identity, and cats. Although many of her works featured characters who were lesbian or bisexual, and exploration of same-sex love and queer identities, Mariana did not label her own sexuality.
This collection of literary papers of Mariana Villa-Gilbert comprises predominantly typescript drafts of her works, as well as correspondence from literary agencies and publishers. Her literary drafts primarily consist of prose, in particular novels and short stories, but her works also include poetry, and one play. Most of her published works - including Mrs Galbraith's Air', 'My Love All Dressed in White', 'Mrs Cantello: A Novel', 'A Jingle Jangle Song', 'Manuela: A Modern Myth', and 'The Sun in Horus' - are represented the archive, but the majority of the drafts are unpublished works. One novel by Gerda Villa-Gilbert, sister of Mariana Villa-Gilbert is also included in this archive.
Further information about the Mariana Villa-Gilbert literary papers can be found in the collection description on the archives catalogue.
Literary papers and photographs of Denton Welch (EUL MS 123)
Denton Welch (1915-1948) was a novelist and artist. Born in Shanghai, he entered Goldsmiths School of Art in 1933. His time as an art student was cut short when, on 09 June 1935, he was hit by a car while cycling. He sustained several injuries, including a fractured spine. He was paralysed for several months and was able to learn how to walk again, though with difficulty. The accident also resulted in lifelong chronic pain and recurrent kidney and bladder infections.
Towards the end of 1939, Welch sold his first painting to the oil company Shell. His paintings were also exhibited in several art galleries in London. Welch wrote an autobiographical novel, which was published in 1943 as 'Maiden Voyage'. That same year, Denton Welch was introduced to and fell in love with Eric Oliver (d 1995). The relationship endured for the rest of his life. Welch's second novel, 'Youth is Pleasure', was published two years later. A number of Welch's short stories, all in effect autobiographical, were published during his lifetime. Within the space of only eight years, he completed some sixty short stories, all published posthumously, three novels, and a quarter of a million words of journals. He also continued to draw and paint, and nine of his late paintings were reproduced in 'A Last Sheaf' (1951). It took him four years to write his third, and posthumously published, novel, 'A Voice through a Cloud' (1950), an account of the accident itself and the difficulties he experienced recovering from the accident. The manuscript was found beside his bed when he died at home in Kent in 1948. During the last four years of his life he lived with and was cared for by his partner, Eric Oliver.
His archive includes photographs, letters, and manuscript drafts of his stories. The archive can be browsed via the online archives catalogue.
Special Collections also holds a small collection of published items by Denton Welch, including catalogues, first editions, copies of biographies and editions of the journals, poems and paperback editions. This is catalogued under the local classmark: Welch Coll. You can browse the titles in the library catalogue.
Letter from Angus Wilson to Henry Williamson [EUL MS 43/PERS/1/W/WILSON A] and items in the Manuscripts and Book Collections relating to members of the Powys family [EUL MS 433]
Sir Angus Frank Johnstone Wilson [1913-1991] was a novelist and biographer. Wilson worked in the British Museum in the department of printed books until 1955, with a brief interim at Bletchley Park during the Second World War. Wilson published short stories, plays, novels, biographies and journalism, as well as making television appearances and lecturing internationally. He lectured in English at the University of East Anglia from its opening in 1962, and was appointed professor in 1967. Wilson was one of England's first openly gay authors and was a prominent supporter of equal rights, attending the Campaign for Homosexual Equality conference in Sheffield in 1975. He also served as vice-chair and chair of the Arts Council literature panel, chairman of the National Book League, and president of the Royal Society of Literature. He was the recipient of the 1975 Booker prize, was made a CBE in 1969, and knighted in 1980.
The Henry Williamson papers include one letter from Angus Wilson. A description of this letter can be found on the online archives catalogue.
Other items by Angus Wilson can be found in Manuscripts and Book Collections relating to members of the Powys family, including a signed copy of 'Hemlock and After', dedicated to John Cowper Powys. Find out more by searching "Angus Wilson" in the 'Any Text' field and EUL MS 433* in the 'Ref No' field of the Advanced Search page on the archives catalogue.
University of Exeter LibGuide is licensed under CC BY 4.0
