Special Collections Department
Jay Halio Papers
related to Angus Wilson
Manuscript Collection Number: 291
Accessioned: Gift of Jay Halio, 1992 and 2003.
Extent: .6 linear feet.
Content: Correspondence, journal articles, manuscripts, books, audiocassettes, interviews, lectures.
Access: The collection is open for research.
Processed: October 1993 by Kelly Baum and revised 2003.
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Special Collections, University of Delaware Library
Newark, Delaware 19717-5267
(302) 831-2229
Table of Contents
Biographical Note
1946 marks the year in which Wilson began writing as a hobby. Up until 1955 he published such works as The Wrong Set and Other Stories (1949), Such Darling Dodos (1950), Émile Zola (1952), Hemlock and After (1952), and For Whom the Cloche Tolls (1953). Around the year 1955, however, Wilson left his job at the British Museum and retired to a remote country house in Suffolk to pursue a full-time writing career. Wilson subsequently published an immense body of work (essays, reviews, broadcasts, plays for television and radio, books, and short stories), delivered lectures at universities, and was also a visiting professor at a few institutions. Some of Wilson's later publications include The Mulberry Bush (1956), Anglo-Saxon Attitudes (1957), A Bit off the Map (1957), and The Middle Age of Mrs. Eliot (1958).
Professor Jay Halio, who accumulated the bulk of the material in this collection while writing a book on Angus Wilson, first studied at Syracuse University and then at Yale. In 1955, Halio began teaching at the University of California at Davis as a professor of English. While at Davis, he researched the book Angus Wilson which was published in 1964. In the 1970s, Halio came to the University of Delaware in Newark where he continues to teach today.
Sources:
Note: All biographical information is derived from material in the collection.Listed below are other sources of information on Wilson.
Critical Essays on Angus Wilson. Boston, Mass.: G.K. Hall, 1985.
Stape, John Henry. Angus Wilson: A Bibliography, 1947-1987. London: Mansell Publishers, 1988.
Scope and Content Note
The first series of this collection contains writings and lectures by Angus Wilson himself. Included are two 1953 publications and two playscripts, The Stranger (1960) and After the Show (n.d.), both inscribed by the author. There is also one article from 1962 and audiocassettes of Wilson's lectures: a 1980 presentation on Kipling and the 1960 UCLA Ewing lecture. As well, this series contains a list of Jay Halio's personal copies of Wilson's texts, most of which have been cataloged and transferred to the printed collections of Special Collections.
The second series consists of letters Angus Wilson wrote to Jay Halio from 1962 to 1980, containing important biographical information for Halio's research. Series III contains material directly relating to the publication of Halio's book Angus Wilson (1964). The first subseries includes correspondence between Jay Halio and his English publisher, Oliver & Boyd, spanning 1962 to 1966. This part of the collection is quite extensive and documents concerns such as contracts, payment, promotion, corrections and suggestions, and drafts of the book. As well, there are other letters written to Halio by various people answering his requests for information on Angus Wilson. The second subseries contains different drafts of Angus Wilson in its many stages: a preliminary typed manuscript, copies of the author's corrections, an unbound proof, and also a copy of the final text.
The fourth series contains later works written about Wilson by Halio, including final copies and manuscripts and an interview with Wilson in 1980. Series V consists of other publications concerning Wilson by various authors and Series VI includes an unidentified author's corrections to an article or book.
Series Outline
I. Angus Wilson's publications, manuscripts and lectures, 1953-
1962
II. Angus Wilson's letters to Jay Halio, 1962-1990
III. Material relating to the publication of Halio's book, Angus
Wilson, 1962-1966
IV. Publications and interviews by Halio about Angus Wilson
V. Publications by different authors about Angus Wilson
VI. Unidentified author's text corrections, n.d.
Contents List
1 Series I. Wilson's publications,
manuscripts, and lectures, 1953-1962.
F1 "The Undefeated." The Observer, 21 June,1953.
F2 "The Diffident Hero." The New Statesman and
Nation, 21 March, 1953.
F3 "A Scholar in the Press." Encounters,
March, 1956.
F4 The Stranger, 1960. Typed playscript for
television, inscribed by the author in 1977.
F5 UCLA Ewing Lectures, October 1960. Audio
cassette. Preservation copy available.
F6 After the Show, (n.d.). Playscript with
presentation note to Halio.
F7 "Skeletons and Assageis: Family Reminiscences."
Transatlantic Review, no.9 (Spring, 1962). Radio
play with Halio's autograph notations.
F8 Lecture of Kipling, December 1980. Audiocassette
Preservation copy available.
F9 List of Halio's personal copies of books by and
relating to Wilson. Includes items laid in to the
books when donated.
Series II. Wilson's letters to Halio,
1962-1990.
F10 Letters, 1962-1990
The letters from Wilson to Halio were written between 1962 and 1990.
The folder also includes correspondence between Halio and Tony Garrett,
written in 1990, which refer to Wilson. Also included are three
photographs (with matching slides) taken in 1976 of Wilson with Garrett
and of their home.
Series III. Material related to the publication
of Halio's book Angus Wilson, 1962-1966.
Series III.1. Correspondence 1962-1966.
F11 Correspondence with publisher, 1962-1963.
F12 Correspondence with publisher, 1964-1966.
1
F13 Other correspondence relating to Halio's interest
in Wilson, 1962-1965.
Series III.2. Copies of Angus Wilson in different
stages of publication.
F14 Typed manuscript, n.d.
2 F15 Author's corrections, n.d.
F16 Unbound proof, n.d.
F17 Angus Wilson. London: Oliver and Boyd,
1964.
Series IV. Halio's publications on Wilson,
1962-1980.
F18 "Angus Wilson: THE OLD MEN AT
THE ZOO." Critique 5, no. 1 (Spring-Summer 1962).
F19 "Sense of the Present." The Southern Review 2,
no. 4 (Autumn, 1966).
F20 "No Laughing Matter." The Massachusetts Review
10, no. 2 (Spring, 1969).
F21 "The Novels of Angus Wilson." Modern Fiction
Studies (n.d.).
F22 "Angus Wilson's Old Men," typed manuscript, n.d.
F23 DLB entry manuscript and final copy written for
Wilson (n.d.).
F24 Interview with Wilson, 1980
Includes audiocassettes, the typed manuscript, and
the interviewer's (Halio's) notes and
questions. (Tapes are located in box 3).
2 Series V. Other publications and writing on
Wilson, 1982-1983.
F25 Fisher, Ruth. "A conversation with Angus Wilson."
Four Quarters 31, no. 4 (Summer 1982).
Series V. Other publications and writing on
Wilson, 1982-1983 (cont'd).
F26 "Agnostic Humanism," an excerpt from a doctoral
dissertation, by Dr. K.K. Sinha from Ranchi
University in India (n.d.) and a letter to Halio
from the author (n.d.).
F27 20th Century Literature 29, no. 2 (Summer 1983). A
collection of essays on and recollections of
Wilson by writers and friends, 1983. Laid into
the journal was a small napkin with handwritten
notes.
Series VI. Unidentified author's correction
notes, n.d.
F28 Included are two sets of notes and corrections to
an unidentified author's text, n.d..
Jay Halio's personal copies of Wilson's publications.
A Bit Off the Map and Other Stories. London: Secker & Warburg,
1957. Author's presentation inscription to Jay Halio.
Anglo-Saxon Attitudes. London: Secker & Warburg, 1956.
Author's presentation inscription to Jay Halio.
As if By Magic. London: Secker & Warburg, 1973. Author's
presentation inscription to Jay Halio. ABCS from Wilson and
invitation to publication party laid in (now in F7).
Emile Zola - An Introductory Study of his Novels. New York:
William Morrow, 1952. Author's presentation inscription to
Jay Halio. Wrappers.
For Whom the Cloche Tolls. New York, The Viking Press, 1953.
Author's presentation inscription to Jay Halio.
For Whom the Cloche Tolls. London: Methuen, 1953. Author's
presentation inscription to Jay Halio.
Hemlock and After. New York: The Viking Press, 1952. Author's
presentation inscription to Jay Halio.
Late Call. London: Secker & Warburg, 1964. Author's
presentation inscription to Jay Halio.
No Laughing Matter. New York: The Viking Press, 1967. Author's
presentation inscription to Jay Halio.
Refections in a Writer's Eye. New York: Viking, 1986.
Setting the World on Fire. London: Secker & Warburg, 1980.
Author's presentation inscription to Jay Halio.
Such Darling Dodos and Other Stories. London: Secker & Warburg,
1954. Author's presentation inscription to Jay Halio.
The Middle Age of Mrs. Elliot. London: Secker & Warburg, 1958.
Author's presentation inscription to Jay Halio. Jay Halio's
autograph notes are present throughout the text. A small
notecard is laid in (now in F7).
The Mulberry Bush. London: Evans Brothers Limited, 1957.
Wrappers.
The Mulberry Bush. London: Secker & Warburg, 1956. Author's
presentation inscription to Jay Halio.
The Old Men at the Zoo. London: Secker & Warburg, 1961.
Author's presentation inscription to Jay Halio.
Angus Wilson, et al. The Seven Deadly Sins. [London] Sunday
Times Publications [n.d.] Author's presentation
inscription to Jay Halio.
The Strange Ride of Rudyard Kipling, His Life and Works. New
York: The Viking Press, 1977. Author's presentation
inscription to Jay Halio.
The Wild Garden, or Speaking of Writing. London: Secker &
Warburg, 1963. Author's presentation inscription to Jay
Halio.
The World of Charles Dickens. England: Penguin Books, Ltd.,
1970. Author's presentation inscription to Jay Halio.
Wrappers. Decorated bookmark is laid in (now in F7).
The Wrong Set, and Other Stories. London: Secker & Warburg,
1949. Author's presentation inscription to Jay Halio.
The Wrong Set, and Other Stories. London: Secker & Warburg,
1961.
Keesom, C.H.A.. Sir Angus Wilson, Mimic of the Mind and of
Fiction. Amsterdam University, 1983. Inscribed by the
author to Jay Halio and two letters from the author are laid
in (now in F7).
Maugham, W. Somerset. A Maugham Twelve, stories selected and
with an introduction by Angus Wilson. London: Heinemann,
1966. Author's presentation inscription to Jay Halio.
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