Special Collections Department

David R. Clark Papers

1957 - 1989

Manuscript Collection Number: 180
Accessioned: Purchase, February 1995
Extent: 1 linear foot
Content: Correspondence, manuscripts, photographs, and ephemera
Access: The collection is open for research.
Processed: March 1999, by Meghan J. Fuller

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Biographical Note
Scope and Contents Note
Summary Contents List

Contents List

Biographical Note

Born in Seymour, Connecticut, in 1920, the American scholar of Irish literature David R. Clark received his B.A. in English at Wesleyan University in 1947. He earned a master's degree in 1950 and a doctorate in 1955, both from Yale University. He taught at Indiana University, Smith College, and the University of Victoria, though he spent the bulk of his career as professor of Irish Studies at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Clark was a Fulbright Lecturer at the University of Iceland during the 1960-1961 academic year and later received another Fulbright grant to teach at University College in Dublin.

Clark is the author of W.B. Yeats and the Theater of Desolate Reality (1965); The Tower of Polished Black Stones: Early Versions of The Shadowy Waters (1971); Critical Essays on Hart Crane (1982); and Day Tree: Poems (1966). He served as the editor for a number of books on Yeats, including William Butler Yeats, 1865-1965: Catalogue of His Works and Associated Items, Olin Library, Wesleyan University (1965); Yeats at Songs and Choruses (1983); W.B. Yeats and the Writing of Sophocles' King Oedipus: Manuscripts of W.B. Yeats (1989); and W. B. Yeats' The Winding Stair: Manuscript Materials (1995). He is also the co-editor, with Robin Skelton, of Irish Renaissance: A Gathering of Essays, Memoirs, Letters, and Dramatic Poetry from the Massachusetts Review (1965).

Clark has been an Emeritus professor at the University of Massachusetts since 1985.

Source:

Press, Jacques Cattell. Directory of American Scholars. vol. 7 New York: R.R. Bowker Co., 1978.

Scope and Contents Note

The David R. Clark Papers reflects the academic and publishing interests of the noted American Irish literary scholar, and comprises one linear foot of correspondence, manuscripts, newspaper clippings, publishers' announcements, photographs and ephemera. Spanning the years 1957 to 1989, the collection includes correspondence with and reference material about many of Ireland's foremost poets, writers, and publishers, as well as many scholars of Irish literature and theater. Among those represented in this collection are Seamus Heaney, Denis Johnston, Thomas MacGreevy, Liam Miller, Frank O'Connor, and Mary O'Malley. Materials related to Nigerian author Chinua Achebe and his visiting professorship at the University of Massachusetts are also found in the collection.

Scholars of Irish literature will find this collection particularly interesting, as it details the early careers of many of Ireland's now-established writers, including Richard Murphy, Richard Weber, and Alexander Hutchison. Clark was a close friend and mentor to these poets, often arranging lectures and poetry readings or assisting them in their searches for academic positions or publishers for their work.

The David R. Clark Papers also reflects the difficulties inherent in scholarly research: the frequent problems securing copyrights, the hardships involved with finding a publisher, and, perhaps the most prevalent concern for Clark's collegues, the scarcity of funds for both scholarly and creative endeavors. Of particular note is the correspondence of Clark and George Mayhew during collaboration on a book entitled A Tower of Polished Stones for The Dolmen Press. These letters illustrate the problems which arise from a joint-publication effort -- particularly when the publisher is overseas.

The Folders 1-31 are arranged alphabetically by scholar or writer with whom Clark corresponded. Folders 28 and 29 are related to the publication of specific books (Clark and Mayhew's A Tower of Polished Stones, and Clark's Visible Array), and Folder 30 contains materials which detail the establishment of the Cornell Press Yeats Series. The last folder in the collection houses miscellaneous material related to the Dolmen Press.

Summary Contents List


F1   Achebe, Chinua, 1975-1976
F2   Correspondence related to Aubrey Beardsley, 1965-1966
F3   Bradford, Curtis, 1975-1977
F4   Bushrui, S.B., 1969-1971
F5   Ellmann, Richard, 1975-1982
F6   Fallon, Peter, 1980-1986
F7   Heaney, Seamus, 1979-1980
F8   Hutchison, Alexander, 1972-1989
F9   Johnston, Denis, 1961-1981
F10  MacGreevey, Thomas, 1965
F11  MacKenzie, Norman, 1972-1976
F12  Mayhew, George, 1967-1972
F13  McHugh, Roger, 1966-1979
F14  Miller, Liam, 1964-1987
F15  Montague, John, 1965-1977
F16  Moore, John Rees, 1966-1972
F17  Murphy, Richard, 1963-1964
F18  Murphy, William, 1976-1981
F19  Murray, Alexander, 1984
F20  Material related to Sean O'Casey, 1957-1989
F21  O'Clerigh, Gearoid, 1976
F22  O'Connor, Frank, 1982
F23  O'Driscoll, Robert, 1967-1978
F24  O'Driscoll Robert, 1985-1987
F25  O'Malley, Mary, 1963-1965
F26  Stalworthy, Jon, 1964-1982
F27  Weber, Richard, 1966-1984
F28  Clark/Mayhew, material related to the publication of Tower of Polished Stones, 1966
F29  Clark, material related to the publication of Visible Array, 1982-1983
F30  Cornell Press Yeats Series, 1966-1977
F31  Dolmen Press

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