Mary Webb Papers, 1898-1926
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Mortimer Rare Book Room Smith CollegeNorthampton, MA
Finding aid encoded using Perl scripts and edited in XMetal 2.0. Encoded by Eric Steven Cartier. 2003-09-15
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Encoded Archival Description (EAD) Version 2002
collection
Mary Webb Papers
Creation of Mary Webb Papers
Time of Creation of Mary Webb Papers
Webb, Mary Gladys Meredith, 1881-1927
Biographical History for: Mary Webb Papers
Biographical Note Mary Webb was born in Leighton-under-the-Wrekin, Shropshire, England, on March 25, 1881 to George Edward and Sarah Alice Meredith. She was educated at home by her schoolmaster father, but spent two years in Southport attending a private school. Webb suffered from Graves's disease throughout her adult life, her most serious attack keeping her bedridden for several years at the age of twenty. She married Henry Webb in June 1912, and lived in Shropshire until 1921 when the couple moved to London. The Institut Français presented her with the Femina/Vie Heureuse prize for Precious Bane in 1926, acknowledging "the best imaginative work in prose or verse descriptive of English life by an author who has not gained sufficient recognition." Her writings include the novels The Golden Arrow (London: Constable, 1916; New York: Dutton, 1935), Gone to Earth (London: Constable, 1917; New York: Dutton, 1917), The House in Dormer Forest (London: Hutchinson, 1920; New York: Doran, 1921), Seven for a Secret, A Love Story (London: Hutchinson, 1922; New York: Doran, 1923), Precious Bane (London: Cape, 1924; New York: Dutton, 1926), Armour Wherein He Trusted (London: Cape, 1929; New York: Dutton, 1929), a collection of essays entitled The Spring of Joy (London and Toronto: Dent/New York: Dutton, 1917; New York: Dutton, 1937), a poetry collection Fifty-one Poems Hitherto Unpublished in Book Form (London: Cape, 1946; New York: Dutton, 1947) and two anthologies Poems and the Spring of Joy (London: Cape, 1928; New York: Dutton, 1929) and Mary Webb: Collected Prose and Poems, edited by Gladys Mary Coles (Shropshire: Wildings, 1977).
Scope and Contents of the Collection The Mary Webb Papers contain 30 holographs and 58 typescript drafts of 80 poems as well as a holograph draft of a book review. The majority of these poems were published in 51 Poems (London: Cape, 1946; New York: Dutton, 1947), a posthumously published collection. The bulk of the material is undated; those works which are dated span the years 1898-1926. Twelve manuscripts were presented to Smith College by David J. and Barbara Holmes on March 29, 1994 in memory of Ruth Mortimer, Class of 1953. The book review was purchased from the Book Press on July 18, 1990, in a red cloth folder with the bookplate of H. Bradley Martin. The remaining 77 manuscripts were purchased in May 1994 from David J. Holmes on the Fund established by Hillier Krieghbaum, in memory of his wife Katherine Lancaster Krieghbaum, Class of 1938. The 77 manuscripts were housed in a blue full leather clamshell box and in a green cloth slipcase with the bookplates of H. Bradley Martin.
Women novelists, English--20th century.
lcsh
Women poets, English--20th century.
Webb, Mary Gladys Meredith, 1881-1927.
lcnaf
series
Series I. Review by Mary Webb, n.d.
Series I. consists of one holograph entitled "Plus que de l'esprit" which is a review of Ariel (1924) and Mape (1926) by Andre Maurois (Folder 1).
Series II. Poems of Mary Webb, 1898-1926, n.d.
Series II. consists of 88 holograph and typescript drafts of 80 poems. Two drafts exist for the following titles: "Buds," "The Dance," "The Footpath," "Hazel Buds," "Praise," "The Thought," and "The White Moth". Forty-five of these poems are published in Fifty-one Poems (London: Cape, 1946; New York: Dutton, 1947), six are published in Poems and the Spring of Joy (London: Cape, 1928; New York: Dutton, 1929) and twenty-nine are unpublished.
"Plus que de l'esprit": holograph, signed, n.d.
Book Press
Address: Spring Cottage, Lythe Hill, Shrewsbury.
"Absence": typescript, 1921 Jun
Krieghbaum, Blue case
Published in 51 Poems, p. 42-3.
"Adam": typescript, signed, 1919
Unpublished.
"Alder Buds": holograph, n.d.
Published in 51 Poems, p. 22
"Among the hills": holograph, signed, n.d.
Unpublished. Address: Penrose, Landemann Circus, Weston-super-mare.
"Apple-blow": typescript, n.d.
Published in 51 Poems, pg. 41.
[Autumn, 1914]: typescript, corrected, n.d.
Published in 51 Poems, p. 45.
[The Beacon]: typescript, n.d.
Published in 51 Poems, p. 39.
"The Beautiful House": holograph, n.d.
Published in 51 Poems, p. 11.
[Beauty and Terror]: typescript, n.d.
Published in 51 Poems, p. 20.
"Beloved! Beloved! I hear in the darkness...": holograph, signed, n.d.
[Bounty]: typescript, corrected, n.d.
Published in 51 Poems, p. 14.
[Buds]: holograph, n.d.
Published in 51 Poems, p. 32. Variant title: "Earth's Trainband".
"Buds": typescript, n.d.
"Caterina to Camoens": typescript, corrected, n.d.
"A Conqueror": typescript, signed, n.d.
[The Dance]: typescript, corrected, n.d.
Published in 51 Poems, p. 15.
"The Dance": typescript, corrected, n.d.
"Dawn": holograph, 1902 Jun
"Desolation": typescript, corrected, 1909 Jan
Published in 51 Poems, pg. 24. Address: Maesbrook.
"An Estray": typescript, corrected, n.d.
Holmes
Published in 51 Poems, p. 59. Additional stanza and manuscript note.
[The Fawn]: holograph, corrected, n.d.
Unpublished. Manuscript title: "Pastel".
"The Fawn": typescript, n.d.
"The Flockmaster": typescript, corrected, n.d.
Published in 51 Poems, p. 61.
"The Footpath (I)": typescript, n.d.
"The Footpath (II)": typescript, n.d.
"Foreboding": typescript, corrected, n.d.
Published in 51 Poems, p. 48.
"The Gates of Green and Gold": typescript, n.d.
[The Goblet]: holograph, corrected, n.d.
Published in 51 Poems, p. 60.
"The Grape-Blue Hills": typescript, n.d.
Published in 51 Poems, p. 57.
[The Great Wind]: typescript, corrected, n.d.
Published in 51 Poems, p. 16.
"Harps in Heaven": typescript, signed, n.d.
"Harvest Song": typescript, corrected, n.d.
Published in 51 Poems, p. 31. Address: [Penrose, Landemann] Circus, [Weston-super-]mare.
"Hazel Buds": holograph, uncorrected, n.d.
Published in 51 Poems, p. 29.
"Hazel Buds": typescript, uncorrected, n.d.
"Heavy Silence": holograph, uncorrected, n.d.
Published in 51 Poems, p. 23.
"The Heritage": typescript, corrected, n.d.
"Hill Pastures": holograph, corrected, n.d.
Published in 51 Poems, p. 54.
"In April": typescript, signed, n.d.
Published in Poems and The Spring of Joy, p. 30-31.
"Into a broken heart...": typescript, n.d.
"Isolde": typescript, n.d.
Published in 51 Poems, p. 40.
"I watched him in the loud and shadowy lane...": typescript, corrected, n.d.
"I worship the earth and the airs that blow...": typescript, corrected, n.d.
[Lilies in the Valleys]: holograph, n.d.
Published in 51 Poems, p. 34.
"The Lost Orchard": typescript, corrected n.d.
Published in 51 Poems, p. 56. Manuscript note: Sunday Pictorial, 1920.
"A Lover of Roses": typescript, n.d.
Published in 51 Poems, p.46.
"Magic": typescript, n.d.
Published in 51 Poems, p. 50.
"Master of the Coppice": typescript, n.d.
Published in 51 Poems, p. 9.
[The Mountain Tree]: typescript, n.d.
Published in 51 Poems, p. 12.
"My Love is in the Mountains": typescript, signed, n.d.
Published in 51 Poems, p. 53.
"Nature's Dogmatists": typescript, corrected, n.d.
Published in 51 Poems, p. 17.
"New Year's Day": holograph, corrected, signed, n.d.
Published in 51 Poems, p. 44.
"Night in the Open Air": holograph, 1911 May
Published in 51 Poems, p. 21. Address: Radbrook.
"On the Hills": holograph, n.d.
Published in 51 Poems, p. 30.
[On the Wild Hill]: holograph, corrected, n.d.
Published in 51 Poems, p. 55.
"The plovers are shrill tonight...": typescript, n.d.
"The Poplar Tree": typescript, n.d.
Published in 51 Poems, p. 62.
"Praise": holograph, signed, [1920]
Published in 51 Poems, p. 63.
"Praise": typescript, corrected, n.d.
"Quick Swallows, cosmopolitans of the air...": typescript, n.d.
[Reflections]: holograph, n.d.
"The rivers ran from rock to rock...": typescript, corrected, signed, 1921
Unpublished. Address: Leinster Square.
"Rondeau Redouble": holograph, 1909
[Rose-Berries]: typescript, n.d.
Krieghbaum, Green case
Published in Poems and The Spring of Joy, p. 36. Manuscript title: "The Rose-Berry"
[Sallow-Catkins]: typescript, corrected, n.d.
Published in 51 Poems, p. 28.
[The Secret Joy]: holograph, n.d.
Published in Poems and The Spring of Joy, p. 29. Manuscript title: "Freemasonry".
"The Sedge-warbler": holograph, corrected, n.d.
"Shepherd's Song": holograph, n.d.
"Snowdrop Time": typescript, corrected, n.d.
Published in Poems and The Spring of Joy, p. 39.
"Spring": holograph, 1898
"Summer Remembered": typescript, corrected, n.d.
Published in 51 Poems, p. 36-7.
"Sunset": holograph, uncorrected, n.d.
Published in 51 Poems, p. 49
"Thanksgiving": holograph, n.d.
"There are the pastures of sleep...": typescript, n.d.
[The Thought]: holograph, uncorrected, n.d.
Published in Poems and The Secret of Joy, p. 103. Manuscript title: "The Messenger"
"The Thought": typescript, signed, n.d.
Published in Poems and The Spring of Joy, p. 103.
"Thunderbolts": typescript, corrected, n.d.
"To G.D.M.": holograph, corrected, 1919 Sep 15
Published in 51 Poems, p. 51.
"To Life": typescript, corrected, n.d.
"To my Dear": typescript, corrected, n.d.
See: "Sunset"
"Two Faiths": typescript, corrected, n.d.
"Unfinished Embroidery": holograph, corrected, n.y. Jan 5
"Very Early": typescript, corrected, signed, n.d.
Published in 51 Poems, p. 58.
[The White Moth]: holograph, corrected, n.d.
"The White Moth": typescript, n.d.
"The Wild Rose": typescript, corrected, signed, [ca. 1912]
Published in Poems and The Spring of Joy, p. 111.
"The Wondrous Voice:" holograph, corrected, n.d.
"The Wood-Witch": typescript, corrected, n.d.
Published in 51 Poems, p. 33.
"The Yellow-Hammer": typescript, corrected, n.d.
Published in 51 Poems, p. 10.