Stephen McKenna papers

The Stephen McKenna papers includes correspondence to the author, typed manuscripts of short stories and lectures by English novelist Stephen McKenna, typed manuscripts of excerpts from other authors' works, newspaper clippings from McKenna's promotional tour in Sweden, and a book of photographs featuring McKenna and his home. The collection spans 1917 to 1966 with the bulk of the material dating between 1917 and 1935. The collection documents reader responses to McKenna's novels found in fan letters and provides evidence of his public persona documented in newspaper and magazine articles, as well as manuscripts of several of his lectures. The collection is organized in four series: I. Correspondence; II. Manuscripts; III. Clippings and ephemera; and IV. Photographs.

Series I. consists of two scrapbooks containing 75 letters and 15 letters, respectively, and approximately 60 items of loose correspondence. The letters are from authors, fans, and a few family members organized in two scrapbooks presumably maintained by McKenna. The first scrapbook consists of 75 letters dating from 1917 to 1921 organized chronologically on numbered pages; the volume is completely filled, although some pages have been removed. Letters from readers in England and America, but also from various European countries as well as South Africa and Australia, indicate the wide readership of McKenna's works. Literary correspondents include English author Lewis S. Benjamin, pen name Lewis Melville, (1874-1932) on page 15; American novelist Winston Churchill (1871-1947) on page 55; English museum curator and collector Sir Sydney Carlyle Cockerell (1867-1962) on page 65; and American Rhodes scholar and attorney Addison White on page 76.

Many letters from readers offer impressions of McKenna's fictional characters or questions about their motives, especially those in Sonia: Between Two Worlds (1917). The readers offer their insights about and frustrations with his characters and sometimes dispute the historical accuracy of plot details. Also included are requests for autographs for personal collections and to be used in charity fundraisers.

The second scrapbook is only partially filled, containing 15 items, and covers the dates 1934 to 1939. The content of the correspondence is similar to the first scrapbook. Noted correspondents include English writer J.D. Beresford (1873-1947); author and president of the Mark Twain Society Cyril Clemens (1902-); and English author and actress Naomi Ellington Jacob, pen name Gray Ellington (1889-1964).

The scrapbooks are followed by loose correspondence from 1917 to 1939 and one letter from 1966. The letters are organized chronologically followed by undated material. Several of the letters mention McKenna's trip with the Balfour Mission to the United States. Notable correspondents include English publisher Algernon Methuen (1856-1924); English author A.H. Sidgwick (1882-1917); English author, journalist and broadcaster S.P.B. Mais (1885-1975); English journalist and politician Sir Henry Norman (1858-1939); English author Marie Belloc Lowndes (1868-1947); American book collector Paul Lemperly (1858-1939); English author T.I. Fytton Armstrong, pen name John Gawsworth (1912-1970); American publisher Alfred A. Knopf (1892-1984); and English author W.L. George (1882-1926). There is also a letter from literary agent Paul R. Reynolds to English translator Teixeira de Mattos which mentions McKenna.

Series II. contains typed manuscripts divided into two subseries. Subseries II.A. consists of unsigned manuscripts presumed to be by McKenna. There are three typescripts of lectures given by McKenna between 1919 and 1930 arranged chronologically followed by two undated short stories titled "The Battle of Blindheim" and "The City of Hopeless Dawn," arranged alphabetically by title. Subseries II.B. comprises three manuscripts of other writers, C.V. Wedgwood (1910-1997), the Marquis of Tombelaine, and a woman named Iris, which may have been used by McKenna as research material for his fiction. Material in this subseries is arranged chronologically followed by undated items.

Series III. contains clippings and ephemera. It includes a collection of Swedish newspaper articles documenting McKenna's November 1921 book tour in that country as well as several interviews he did with various papers. Most of the newspaper articles are followed by typed English translations. A magazine article attributed to Home and Garden provides descriptions and photographs of McKenna's English estate home. There are also several advertisement postcards for McKenna's novel Sonia . There is a hand drawn map of Europe with a quote from Sonia , perhaps done by a fan and a watercolor of a domestic scene that have both been cut out of scrapbooks.

Series IV. is comprised of a photograph album, containing black and white photographs of an older McKenna in his home, along with interior shots of the home and his collection of china. There is also a small mounted portrait of McKenna holding a doll.