Papers of the Ulster writer and scholar, Helen Waddell (1889-1965). The collection consists of notes, translations, holograph and typescript manuscripts of published and unpublished works by Waddell, c.1909-47, and an extensive series of correspondence with the critic and historian George Saintsbury (1845-1933), c. 1914-33. An academic of some repute and at one time considered, “the darling of Ulster,” Waddell enjoyed a productive and successful literary career primarily concentrating on translation and medievalism.
MS18/18 - The Pig Book, Anthology of Poems Compiled by Professor George Saintsbury for Helen Waddell, and Referred to in their Correspondence as 'The Pig Book', Cover
MS18/2/2 - Lyrics from the Chinese Complete Holograph Manuscript, Cover
MS18 Uncatalogued - ‘The Abbé Prévost’. Manuscript p1
MS18 Uncatalogued - ‘A Samaneand Anthology’ - Helen Waddell’s Scrapbook of Lyrics Prepared as a Gift for Saintsbury Ppened at a Verse Labelled Li Po 901-962 A.D
MS18/8 - Peter Abelard 1933, Two Incomplete Holographic Drafts
Papers of Helen Waddell. This Volume, Compiled by Mary T. Kelly Provides a Calendar of the Waddell Collection (SCZ6621.Q3 KELL)
This collection of her papers stands as testimony to her literary output and process. Included can be found annotated drafts and manuscripts of some of her most important works including her first publication, ‘Lyrics from the Chinese’ (1913), her seminal study of ‘The Wandering Scholars’ (1927) for which she was awarded the A.C. Benson Silver Medal by the Royal Society of Literature, her play, ‘The Abbé Prévost’ (1931) and the historical novel ‘Peter Abelard’ (1933). Other series of Latin translations featured in the collection include incomplete drafts of her ‘Medieval Latin Lyrics’ (1929), “Beasts and Saints” (1934), “The Desert Fathers” (1936) and her original workings of the posthumously published, “More Latin Lyrics” which appeared in 1976. An incomplete draft of the W.P. Ker Memorial Lecture entitled ‘Poetry in the Dark Ages’ which Waddell delivered to the University of Glasgow in 1947 is also present. Waddell’s correspondence with George Saintsbury provides a complementary look at her career. Initiated in 1914 following their first meeting, they maintained regular contact until Saintsbury’s death in 1933. The fruits of that correspondence bear witness to the strength of their friendship and admiration for each other’s abilities with many personal and literary subjects touched on throughout the 324 letters that are to be found. The collection also includes a bound ‘mock-up’ copy of an anthology of Waddell’s writings (affectionately referred by the two as ‘The Pig Book’) that Saintsbury had compiled for publication. The preparation of this work is mentioned in the correspondence. The collection also includes a separate series of papers concerning Otto Kyllmann (d. 1957), a senior partner in Waddell’s publishers, Constable & Co. These papers consist mainly of a series of letters received by Kyllmann during the period, 1900-57. A bound manuscript of the first edition of George Meredith’s ‘Poems’ (London, 1851), copied by an unknown hand, is also to be found.
This collection is particularly valuable to the student of language and literature through the availability of many of Waddell's original literary manuscripts, providing a unique insight into her methodologies and work processes, an insight which is heightened through the inclusion of her correspondence with George Saintsbury.
Approx. 600 items consisting of literary manuscripts, correspondence and other papers (5 archival boxes).
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Queen's University Belfast has legal ownership of the materials in this collection, it does not hold or administer the intellectual property rights vested in the materials.
![MS11/23 - Eire. Constitution. Draft. Dublin: Published by the Stationery Office: Printed by Cahill & Co., [1937] Annotated by T.F. O’Rahilly. MS. Inscription by Éamon de Valera Thanking O’Rahilly for his Assistance](/sites/default/files/styles/media_crop/public/2018-04/MS11-23.jpg?itok=P7V_xvTZ)
