Angus Stewart correspondence and publishing files

Collection

Identifier: MSS 0657

Staff Only

Scope and Content Note

The Angus Stewart correspondence and publishing files comprises letters from Australian-born British author Angus Stewart to publishers Timothy d'Arch Smith (born 1936) and Michael Ayres, as well as the Fuller d'Arch Smith, Ltd. files relating to the 1972 publication of Sense and Inconsequence.

D'Arch Smith and Ayres, of the Michael deHartington firm, managed the publication of the book through Fuller d'Arch Smith.

Included are letters and materials from Stewart to d'Arch Smith and Ayres sent between 1971 and 1972, during the publication of Sense and Inconsequence. The content of the letters mostly pertain to the book's publication, often discussing W. H. Auden's foreword (referred to as "WHA's noise") and proofs of the illustrations drawn by Meti, Stewart's young Moroccan friend. A color slide of a photograph of Meti is included, as well as a photocopy of Auden's forward.

The Fuller d'Arch Smith publication files include correspondence, invoices, receipts, and estimates that the company received regarding the printing, proofing, and binding of Sense and Inconsequence. Most of the materials in the publication files are from Compton Press (Salisbury, England), but there are also materials from Daedelus Press (Norfolk, England) and Cedric Chivers, Ltd. (Bath, England). The materials are arranged chronologically, dated January 1972 through March 1973, and demonstrate the various costs and challenges associated with a small publication project during this time.

In addition to the publication files, there is also a small collection of material dated between 1976 and 1977 concerning Fuller d'Arch Smith's sale of gay literature to Elysian Fields Booksellers in New York. The material includes inventory checklists and letters from d'Arch Smith to "Michael" (presumably Ayres) regarding blurbs for the books sold, as well as a list of books and their corresponding blurbs written by d'Arch Smith.

Dates

Creation: 1971-1977
Creation: Majority of material found within 1972-1973

Creator

Stewart, Angus (Person)

Language of Materials

Materials entirely in English.

Access Restrictions

The collection is open for research.

Terms Governing Use and Reproduction

Use of materials from this collection beyond the exceptions provided for in the Fair Use and Educational Use clauses of the U.S. Copyright Law may violate federal law. Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. Please contact Special Collections, University of Delaware Library, http://library.udel.edu/spec/askspec/

Biographical Note

Stewart was born in 1936 in Adelaide, Australia, and was the son of British novelist and professor J. I. M. Stewart (1906-1994) and his wife Margaret. Unable to return to England during World War II, the family lived in Australia until 1946. In 1961, Stewart, in search of "the nearest people not like me," moved from England to Tangier, Morocco, for the first time. Over the next thirteen years, Stewart resided alternately in England and Tangier. While in Morocco, he became acquainted with several English and American expatriate intellectuals, such as William S. Burroughs (1914-1997), John Lehmann (1907-1987), and Tennessee Williams (1911-1983), and was especially close to Paul Bowles (1910-1999) and his wife Jane Bowles (1917-1973).

Stewart's controversial first novel, Sandel (1968), explores the topics of homosexuality and consensual, adult-child sexual relationships. Out of print for several years, the novel has become a rare book, sought-after by many scholars and special interest readers. In Tangier: A Writer's Notebook Stewart recounts the story of his experiences in Morocco as well as his relationship with Meti, a young Moroccan boy. Stewart used two of Meti's drawings as illustrations for Sense and Inconsequence . The book is a collection of what Stewart called "satirical verse," a term which W. H. Auden (1907-1973) revised in his forward to the book, describing the work as well-executed "Nonsense verse."

"Angus (J. M.) Stewart." Contemporary Authors Online (reproduced in Biography In Context). http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/bic1/ (accessed October 15, 2012). Angus Stewart.Tangier: A Writer's Notebook. (London: Hutchinson, 1977).

Biographical information also derived from the collection.

Extent

.3 linear foot (1 box)

Additional Description

Abstract

Angus Stewart (1936-1998) was an Australian-born British writer known for the novels Sandel (1968) and Snow in Harvest (1969), a book of verse titled Sense and Inconsequence: Satirical Verses (1972), and the memoir Tangier: A Writer's Notebook (1977). The Angus Stewart correspondence and publishing files collection comprises letters from Angus Stewart to publishers Timothy d'Arch Smith and Michael Ayres, as well as London bookdealer Fuller d'Arch Smith, Ltd. files relating to the 1972 publication of Sense and Inconsequence.

Source

Purchase, July 2012.

Related Materials in this Repository

MSS 0163, Paul Bowles papers

Materials Cataloged Separately

A proof copy of Sense and Inconsequence, accompanied by Meti's illustration proof of a rhinoceros that was used in the publication, has been cataloged separately with imprints in Special Collections