MACNEICE, LOUIS.
Louis MacNeice collection, 1926-1959

Emory University

Robert W. Woodruff Library

Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library

Atlanta, GA 30322

404-727-6887

rose.library@emory.edu

Permanent link: http://pid.emory.edu/ark:/25593/8zm16

Descriptive Summary

Creator: MacNeice, Louis.
Title: Louis MacNeice collection, 1926-1959
Call Number:Manuscript Collection No. 948
Extent: .25 linear ft. (1 box)
Abstract:Small collection of letters from Louis MacNeice to various friends and colleagues from 1926-1959.
Language:Materials entirely in English.

Administrative Information

Restrictions on access

Unrestricted access.

Terms Governing Use and Reproduction

All requests subject to limitations noted in departmental policies on reproduction.

Source

Purchased from various sources.

Citation

[after identification of item(s)], Louis MacNeice collection, Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University.

Processing

Processed by Katie Long, July 2003.

Collection Description

Biographical Note

Louis MacNeice was born in Belfast, Ireland in 1907, his family later moved to Carrickfergus, County Antrim. He attended Merton College, Oxford University, 1926-1930, where he met his lifelong friend W.H. Auden. In the 1930s, MacNeice was associated with English poets, W.H. Auden, Stephen Spender, and C. Day Lewis, standing out because of his more casual, colloquial style. MacNeice is best known for his poetry such as Blind Fireworks, The Earth Compels, Autumn Journal, The Last Ditch, Plant and Phantom, Springboard, Holes in the Sky, Ten Burnt Offerings, The Other Wing, Visitations, Eight-five, Solstices, The Burning Perch, and Round the Corner, but also wrote several plays and radio scripts, as well as literary criticism. MacNeice taught at the University of Birmingham, University of London, and Cornell University, served as a feature writer and producer for the BBC, and was the Director of the British Institute, Athens, Greece. In 1957, he was received a Commander of the Order of the British Empire honor. MacNeice died of pneumonia in 1963. MacNeice's influence is still felt today in the poetry of the post-war generation Irish poets, including Michael Longley and Derek Mahon.

Louis MacNeice was born in Belfast, Ireland in 1907, his family later moved to Carrickfergus, County Antrim. He attended Merton College, Oxford University, 1926-1930, where he met his lifelong friend W.H. Auden. In the 1930s, MacNeice was associated with English poets, W.H. Auden, Stephen Spender, and C. Day Lewis, standing out because of his more casual, colloquial style. MacNeice is best known for his poetry such as Blind Fireworks, The Earth Compels, Autumn Journal, The Last Ditch, Plant and Phantom, Springboard, Holes in the Sky, Ten Burnt Offerings, The Other Wing, Visitations, Eight-five, Solstices, The Burning Perch, and Round the Corner, but also wrote several plays and radio scripts, as well as literary criticism. MacNeice taught at the University of Birmingham, University of London, and Cornell University, served as a feature writer and producer for the BBC, and was the Director of the British Institute, Athens, Greece. In 1957, he was received a Commander of the Order of the British Empire honor. MacNeice died of pneumonia in 1963. MacNeice's influence is still felt today in the poetry of the post-war generation Irish poets, including Michael Longley and Derek Mahon.

Scope and Content Note

The collection contains handwritten and typed letters from Louis MacNeice to various friends and colleagues and a manuscript review of George Johnston's translation of The Saga of Gisli. The correspondents include Adrian Green-Armytage who was a good friend of MacNeice's while at Merton and is also a cousin of Graham Greene. There is also a letter from MacNeice to Melville Hardiment with reference to a BBC program that MacNeice was involved in, future project with Hardiment, and consulting fees. The collection also include two manuscripts poems, "Coming from Nowhere," and "Evening in Connecticut."

Selected Search Terms

Personal Names

Topical Terms

Occupation

Container list

Correspondence
Box Folder Content
1 1 Barr, Basil, Christmas holiday 1926-1927
1 2 Barr, Basil, Easter term, 1927
1 3 Barr, Basil, n.d.
1 4 Green-Armytage, Adrian, n.d.
1 5 Hardiment, Melville, 1959
1 6 Lehmann, John, n.d.
1 7 Lehmann, John, n.d.
Reviews
1 8 Review of George Johnston's translation of The Saga of Gisli, MS
Poems
1 9 "Coming from Nowhere," MS
1 10 "Evening in Connecticut," MS, signed by author and "written at Southover Farm, September 1940"
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