MALCOLM LOWR Y 1909-195 7 AN INVENTORY TO THE MALCOLM LOWRY MANUSCRIPT COLLECTION S I N THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMIBA SPECIAL COLLECTIONS DIVISIO N PREPARED BY : JUDITH O . COMBS, 197 .3 REVISED BY : CYNTHIA SUGARS, 1985 1 INTRODUCTIO N Clarence Malcolm Lowry, the fourth son of a Liverpool cotto n broker, was born on July 28th, 1909, in Birkenhead, Cheshire , England . Lowry's writing career began early . As a young man a t The Leys Public School, he wrote short stories and'articles fo r The Leys Fortnightly and, by the age of twenty-four, he ha d published his first novel, Ultramarine . After six months aboard the S .S . Pyrrhus as a deck-hand , the experience upon which Ultramarine is based, Lowry travelle d to the United States to visit the American writer Conrad Aiken , the man who was later to become not only Lowry ' s guardian bu t also one of his closest friends . In 1933, a year after graduatin g from Cambridge University with a B .A ., Lowry met his first wife , Jan Gabrial, with whom he moved to Cuernavaca, Mexico in 1936 . It was in Cuernavaca that Lowry began work on his major novel , UndertheVolcano, which was to take him more than ten years t o complete . In 1940, with his second wife, Margerie Bonner, Lowry move d to Dollarton, British Columbia, where he lived for the nex t fourteen years . During this period, Malcolm continued to wor k on Under the Volcano and, despite numerous set-backs, includin g the destruction of their shack by fire in 1944, the novel wa s finally published in 1947 . At this time, Lowry was also workin g on a number of short stories, novels, radio scripts, and poems , most of which unfortunately were never completed . In 1954 the Lowrys left Dollarton and, after two years o f travelling throughout Europe, they settled in Ripe, Sussex, wher e Lowry died on June 27, 1957 . A number of Lowry's works were edited and publishe d posthumously by his widow, Margerie Lowry . These include : HearUs0LordFromHeaven Thy DwellingPlace (a collection o f short stories), Selected Poems of Malcolm Lowry, Dark as th e Grave Wherein My Friend is Laid, and October Ferry to Gabriola . Many persons have contributed towards the perservatio n of the Lowry collection . Shortly before his Dollarton residenc e was levelled, Lowry's manuscripts were rescued by Norman Levy an d handed over to Phil Thomas for safe-keeping . Earle Birney late r contacted many of Lowry's associates asking them to contribut e what materials they had saved . Working with Earle Birney an d Margerie Lowry, Basil Stuart-Stubbs and Anne Yandle got i n touch with dozens of Lowry's friends, many of whom generousl y added to the collection . GUIDE TO THE INVENTOR Y The nucleus of the Malcolm Lowry Collection in the Universit y of British Columbia Library is the material saved by Earle Birney , Mrs . Margerie Lowry and other friends, and placed in the Specia l Collections Division in the early 1960's . This material wa s arranged by Judith Combs, Manuscripts Librarian, into the followin g series listed in the table of contents : Letters : incomin g Letters : outgoin g Manuscripts : poetr y Manuscripts : poetry, collecte d Manuscripts : musi c Notes Note-book s Manuscripts : pros e Criticis m Financial record s Memorabili a Miscellan y Photographs Cover s Printed material : works by Lowr y reviews, articles and essays about Lowr y Added to the above were further papers donated by Margeri e Lowry, the Harold Matson Company and Howard Woolmer . Other forms of material were later acquired and added t o the collection : recording tapes, microfilm, films, phonograp h records and posters . The collection has attracted the acquisition of other paper s relating to Lowry . These are listed separately and consist o f papers of Muriel Bradbrook, Harvey Burt, Victor Doyen, Jan Gabriel , Tony Kilgallin, David Markson, William McConnell, Michael Mercer , Einar Neilson, Brian O'Kill and William Templeton, plus donation s from the National Film Board of Canada and the Unitarian Churc h of Vancouver . George Branda k May 1, 1987 Ill TABLE OF CONTENT S Introductio n Guide to the Inventor y i i Table of Content s ii i Inventor y LETTERS : INCOMIN G 1 LETTERS : OUTGOIN G 9 MANUSCRIPTS : POETRY 1 7 2 6 MANUSCRIPTS : POETRY, COLLECTE D MANUSCRIPTS : MUSI C 2 6 2 6 NOTE S L NOTEBOOKS 2 6 MANUSCRIPTS : PROSE {FICTION ) 2 8 MANUSCRIPTS : PROSE (NON-FICTION ) 3 6 CRITICIS M 3 6 WORKS BY OTHER PEOPLE 3 6 FINANCIAL RECORD S 3 6 MEMORABILL A 3 6 MISCELLAN Y 3 6 COVERS 36 . PRINTED MATERIAL : Works by Lowr y 3 6 Reviews, Articles and Essays About Lowry 4 4 MANUSCRIPTS : About Lowry 4 6 SOUND RECORDINGS : TAPES 49 PRtrtcE, tAo.1cdm Lan ' s L:~b c..tn( t 3 MICROFILM 5 1 FILM S 5 3 PHONOGRAPH RECORD S 5 5 POSTERS 5 5 PHOTOGRAPHS : Malcolm Lowry Collectio n 5 6 Einar Neilson Collection 5 8 William Templeton Collection 59 Subgroup s Margerie Bonner Lowr y 6 0 LETTERS : INCOMIN G LETTERS : OUTGOING 6 0 MANUSCRIPTS : PROSE 6 2 MANUSCRIPTS : POETR Y 6 3 BOOK REVIEW S 6 3 CRITICISM 6 3 / MEMORABILLA 63 PHOTOGRAPH S 6 3 Earle Birney, CORRESPONDENC E 6 4 CRITICISM 6 8 Other collection s MurielBradbrookPaper s LETTERS : INCOMIN G 6 9 LETTERS : OUTGOIN G 7 0 MISCELLANY 70 v Harvey Burt Paper s MISCELLAN Y 7 1 Victor Doyen Paper s LETTERS : INCOMIN G 7 2 LETTERS : OUTGOIN G 7 MISCELLAN Y 7 3 Jan Gabrial Paper s INTERVIEW S 7 4 Tony Kilgallin Paper s LETTERS : INCOMIN G 7 5 William McConnell Paper s LETTERS : INCOMIN G 76 LETTERS : OUTGOIN G 7 7 MANUSCRIPTS : PROS E 7 8 PRINTED MATERIA L 7 8 MISCELLAN Y 78 David Markson Paper s 8 1 LETTERS : INCOMIN G LETTERS : OUTGOIN G 8 7 MANUSCRIPTS : POETRY 8 7 MISCELLAN Y 8 7 Michael Mercer Paper s 9 MANUSCRIPTS : PROS E 6 PRINTED MATERIAL 96 vi National Film Board of Canada Papers MANUSCRIPTS : PROSE (NON-FICTION) 93 Einar Neilson Papers I,R'1 IERS: INCOMING 94 MANUSCRIPTS: PROSE 94 PHOTOGRAPH RECORD S 94 PHOTOGRAPHS 94 Brian O'Kill Papers BIBLIOGRAPHY 95 William Templeton Papers LE'i .ERS: INCOMING 96 LETTERS: OUTGOING 96 MANUSCRIPTS: PROSE 96 NEWSPAPERS: CLIPPINGS 97 PHOTOGRAPHS 97 Unitarian Church of Vancouver Papers DOCUMENT S 98 CORRESPONDENCE 98 MALCOLM LOWRY'S LIBRARY 99 HOWARD WOOLMER PAPERS 112 CAROL BETTY ATWATER PAPERS 118 LOWRY FAMILY FONDS 119 1 MALCOLM LOWRY PAPER S INVENTORY NO . O F BOX/FLDR SUBJECT DATES ITEMS LETTERS : INCOMING Some of the letters ar e photocopies and some are transcribed . Wher e more than one copy of the same letter exist s the unit is counted as one item . Bracket s indicate assigned dates . 1-1 AGEE, James see also : ERSKINE, Albert 18 Apr[1951] 1 1-2 AIKEN, Conrad (and Mary) 18 Aug 1940 1 15 Dec 1940 1 23 Feb 1941 1 16 Aug 1941 1 12 Feb 1942 1 21 Oct 1942 1 ,.-Xmas 1949 1 15 Dec 1950 1 22 Jan 1952 1 2 Feb 1952 1 1-3 ALBEE, George Sumner (neg . and pos . [1957] 2 photocopies ) 1-4 American Pharmaceutical Co ., New York 20 Oct 1954 1 1-5 Atlantic Monthly (Edward Weeks) 18 Jly 1941 1 22 Oct 1941 1 1-6 BARZUN, Jacques (photocopy) 10 May 1947 1 1-7 BERTI, Luigi (photocopy-includes translation 7 Feb 1949 1 and draft of translation by Downie Kirk ) 1-8 BIRNEY, Earle (and Esther) 18 Sep 194 7 1 24 Oct 194 7 1 1 Jan 194 8 1 9 Nov 194 8 see : Subgroup : EARLE BIRNEY PAPERS for [1948/1949 ] the first draft of this letter (52-10 ) 1-9 BONNER, Mabell [Margerie Lowry's mother] 29 Jun 1943 1 1-10 BURMAN, Neil n .d . 1 Canadian Bank of Commerce see : MORTON, Eva n Canadian Poetry Magazine see : BIRNEY, Earl e 2 LETTERS :INCOMING (cont'd ) _1 CAPE, Jonathan [London publisher ] (includes reader ' s report on Under the 29 Nov 1945 1 Volcano by Wm . Plomer) 18 Dec 1946 1 1-12 CARMODY, Jay 11 Nov 1947 1 1-13 CHURCHILL, Judith Chase 15 Mar 1947 1 Cincinnati Times-Star see : HARROP, Mon a COOKE, Charles see : The New Yorke r 1-14 COWLEY, Malcolm 9 Jan 1947 1 1-15 CRAWLEY, Alan 28 Oct 1947 1 1-16 CUNARD, Nanc y (includes poem : "Man Ship Tank Gun 31 Jly 1948 1 Plane" ) (includes poem : "For Malcolm Lowry") 9-10 Aug 1948 1 n .d . 1-17 DAVENPORT, John ,.12 Apr 1947 1 13 Apr 1947 1 1 May 1947 1 31 Jan 1949 1 2 Jly 1957 1 DRACHE, Victor (addressed to Dr . Woolfan) 16 Aug 1949 1 1-1 9 Editions de la Paix, Brussels 9 Oct 1947 1 1-2 0 ERSKINE, Albert [editor of Under the Volcan o at Reynal and Hitchcock ] (includes notes re Under the Volcano) 14 Jun 1946 1 (includes notes re Under the Volcano) 8 Jly 1946 1 28 Aug 1946 1 23 Oct 1946 1 7 Nov 1946 1 (includes note for dust jacket of Unde r the Volcano) 22 Jan 1947 1 (from Howard Baker to Erskine) 28 Jan 1947 1 (from James Agee to Erskine) 11 Feb 1947 1 26 Apr 1947 1 (photocopy) 1 May 1947 1 15 Sep 1947 1 16 Feb 1949 1 28 Feb 1949 1 (Malcolm's notes for Dark as the Grave 25 May 1949 1 on verso) 1-2' 5 Jun 1950 1 21 Dec 1951 1 3 LETTERS : INCOMING (cont'd ) ERSKTNE, ALBERT (cont: ' d) 1-21 7 Mar[1952 ] 21 Mar 1952 1 (photocopy of memo to Mr .