G. Evelyn Hutchinson papers relating to Rebecca West

The G. Evelyn Hutchinson Papers Related to Rebecca West spans the years 1927-1988. The papers are organized in four series: Correspondence, Writings, Subject Files, and Clippings. Box 14 houses Oversize material.

(For the papers donated by Rebecca West to Yale University in 1959, see GEN MSS 195, Rebecca West Papers; for other Rebecca West items, see GEN MSS 239, Rebecca West Collection.)

Series I, Correspondence , is divided into five subseries: Rebecca West, Henry Andrews, Secretarial, Third-Party (Rebecca West), and Third-Party (G. Evelyn Hutchinson). The correspondence between West and Hutchinson, who had long admired West's critical writings, began in earnest in 1947 and continued until West's death in 1983. Hutchinson and his wife Margaret soon became confidantes of West's, and she wrote in much detail about all aspects of her personal life, including her marriage to Henry Andrews, her difficult relations with her son Anthony West and his family, her troubles with servants, and her friendships. Letters written in the 1950s describe her reaction to the publication of her son's novel Heritage and her efforts to block its appearance in Great Britain. She also frequently discussed her political opinions in general and the rise of Senator Joseph McCarthy in particular, noting that her anti-Communist position was often misunderstood as an endorsement of McCarthyism but maintaining that the dangers of that movement were being exaggerated for propaganda purposes.

After Hutchinson expressed his desire to compile a bibliography of her writings, West's letters frequently included current and past newspaper articles and information on her earlier works. The letters also reflect Hutchinson's promotion of West for the Terry Lectures of 1957 at Yale and his involvement in her gift of her papers to that university. West's subsequent decision to open the H. G. Wells correspondence to Gordon N. Ray, and her opinion of his H. G. Wells and Rebecca West, are also the subjects of much discussion.

The letters of West's husband Henry Andrews and of West's secretaries contain news of West during her travels or periods of illness, as well as clippings and information for the Hutchinson's bibliography.

Third-Party Correspondence (Rebecca West) contains miscellaneous letters to and from West, possibly sent to Hutchinson by her for inclusion in her collection at Yale. Third-Party Correspondence (G. Evelyn Hutchinson) holds much West-related correspondence, including letters from her authorized biographer Victoria Glendinning, the publisher Alan MacLean, Virago Press, and Diana Stainforth.

Series II, Writings , is divided into three subseries. Writings of Rebecca West includes galley proof of "Kafka and the Mystery of Bureaucracy," published in The Yale Review in 1957, a corrected typescript of late poems by West, "An Old Woman Is Told That She May Have Cancer," and a typescript of "The Second Person Singular," an unsigned typescript possibly by West. Writings of Hutchinson on Rebecca West contains drafts of his "First Encounter with Rebecca West," the introduction he prepared for a new edition of The Strange Necessity, posthumous tributes to West, and an incomplete essay on West's personality and friendships. The manuscript of Preliminary List of the Writings of Rebecca West is located with associated research material in Series III. The third subseries, Writings of Others, consists of copies of three critical works on West.

Series III, Research Files , is housed in Boxes 6-10 and consists of West-related material gathered by G. Evelyn Hutchinson in the course of his work as her bibliographer and as an executor of her literary estate. There are four subseries. The first, Bibliography, documents Hutchinson's work on A Preliminary List of the Writings of Rebecca West, 1912-1951, and includes research correspondence, drafts of the checklist, and files relating to Hutchinson's planned revision and update of the bibliography. The second subseries, Biographical Files on Rebecca West, contains information on biographies of West, particularly on Gordon N. Ray's H. G. Wells and Rebecca West; documentation of several events in West's life, including the 1957 Terry Lectures at Yale, her honorary degree from New York University, and her funeral and memorial services; and extensive "catalog notes" by Hutchinson on his correspondence with West.

Literary Estate of Rebecca West, the third subseries, includes acknowledgments of West's and Hutchinson's gifts to Yale, lists of unpublished works owned by the estate, and eight folders of notes and minutes of meetings of the literary executors from 1983 to 1985. Subjects include negotiations over the sale of the remainder of the West archive, publication strategies for the still-unpublished work, and the roles of West's authorized biographers.

"Miscellaneous and Unidentified," the fourth subseries, is chronologically arranged and located in folders 242-243.

Series IV, Newspaper and Magazine Clippings, is divided into two subseries: Articles by Rebecca West, and Articles about Rebecca West. The first subseries is further divided into "Articles", "Book Reviews", and "Other Writings." Articles in each section have been arranged alphabetically by title. Most of the pieces date from the post-World War II period, and include commentary on politics, general cultural developments, and the changing status of women in the twentieth century.

The second subseries, Articles about Rebecca West, is divided into "Profiles and Interviews", arranged chronologically; "Reviews of Books by West", arranged alphabetically by title of work; "Reviews of Books about West", arranged alphabetically by the names of the authors of those works; and "Brief Mentions", arranged chronologically.

Oversize contains oversized material from Series II and IV arranged in series order.