Purchase, July 2010.
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MSS 625, Stephen McKenna papers, Special Collections, University of Delaware Library, Newark, Delaware.
Processed and encoded by Julia Pompetti, October 2010.
English novelist Stephen McKenna (1888-1967) published forty-seven novels and six nonfiction books during his lifetime. Most of his fiction focuses on English upper-class society drama interwoven with themes of politics and morality.
Of Irish heritage, McKenna was born February 27, 1888, in Beckenhem, Kent, England. McKenna's uncle, Reginald McKenna (1863-1943) was a politician, banker, and Chancellor of the Exchequer under Prime Minister Herbert Henry Asquith (1852-1928). Stephen McKenna was educated at Westminster School, London and Christ College, Oxford, where he received a B.A. in 1909 and an M.A. in 1913. He published his first novel while at Oxford, a sentimental romance titled
Exempted from military service during World War I due to poor health, McKenna taught at Westminster from 1914 to 1915 and worked for the British War Trade Intelligence Department from 1915 until 1918. He also participated in the Balfour Mission to the United States in 1917, a political delegation sent to establish friendships and coordinate war efforts between England and America prompted by America's imminent declaration of war on Germany. During World War II, McKenna again served his country as secretary of Enemy Exports Committee of Ministry of Economic Warfare between 1939 and 1940. Throughout his life, McKenna maintained an interest in politics and the future of England's national character, a concern he attempted to address in his fiction as well.
In 1917, towards the end of World War I, McKenna published his fifth and best-known novel,
The majority of McKenna's fiction can be characterized as sentimental romances and morality tales known for their meticulous detailing of pre-war upper-class life. However, he also wrote several nonfiction works, including an autobiography titled
The Stephen McKenna papers includes correspondence to the author, typed manuscripts of short stories and lectures by English novelist Stephen McKenna, typed manuscripts of excerpts from other authors' works, newspaper clippings from McKenna's promotional tour in Sweden, and a book of photographs featuring McKenna and his home. The collection spans 1917 to 1966 with the bulk of the material dating between 1917 and 1935. The collection documents reader responses to McKenna's novels found in fan letters and provides evidence of his public persona documented in newspaper and magazine articles, as well as manuscripts of several of his lectures. The collection is organized in four series: I. Correspondence; II. Manuscripts; III. Clippings and ephemera; and IV. Photographs.
Series I. consists of two scrapbooks containing 75 letters and 15 letters, respectively, and approximately 60 items of loose correspondence. The letters are from authors, fans, and a few family members organized in two scrapbooks presumably maintained by McKenna. The first scrapbook consists of 75 letters dating from 1917 to 1921 organized chronologically on numbered pages; the volume is completely filled, although some pages have been removed. Letters from readers in England and America, but also from various European countries as well as South Africa and Australia, indicate the wide readership of McKenna's works. Literary correspondents include English author Lewis S. Benjamin, pen name Lewis Melville, (1874-1932) on page 15; American novelist Winston Churchill (1871-1947) on page 55; English museum curator and collector Sir Sydney Carlyle Cockerell (1867-1962) on page 65; and American Rhodes scholar and attorney Addison White on page 76.
Many letters from readers offer impressions of McKenna's fictional characters or questions about their motives, especially those in
The second scrapbook is only partially filled, containing 15 items, and covers the dates 1934 to 1939. The content of the correspondence is similar to the first scrapbook. Noted correspondents include English writer J.D. Beresford (1873-1947); author and president of the Mark Twain Society Cyril Clemens (1902-); and English author and actress Naomi Ellington Jacob, pen name Gray Ellington (1889-1964).
The scrapbooks are followed by loose correspondence from 1917 to 1939 and one letter from 1966. The letters are organized chronologically followed by undated material. Several of the letters mention McKenna's trip with the Balfour Mission to the United States. Notable correspondents include English publisher Algernon Methuen (1856-1924); English author A.H. Sidgwick (1882-1917); English author, journalist and broadcaster S.P.B. Mais (1885-1975); English journalist and politician Sir Henry Norman (1858-1939); English author Marie Belloc Lowndes (1868-1947); American book collector Paul Lemperly (1858-1939); English author T.I. Fytton Armstrong, pen name John Gawsworth (1912-1970); American publisher Alfred A. Knopf (1892-1984); and English author W.L. George (1882-1926). There is also a letter from literary agent Paul R. Reynolds to English translator Teixeira de Mattos which mentions McKenna.
Series II. contains typed manuscripts divided into two subseries. Subseries II.A. consists of unsigned manuscripts presumed to be by McKenna. There are three typescripts of lectures given by McKenna between 1919 and 1930 arranged chronologically followed by two undated short stories titled "The Battle of Blindheim" and "The City of Hopeless Dawn," arranged alphabetically by title. Subseries II.B. comprises three manuscripts of other writers, C.V. Wedgwood (1910-1997), the Marquis of Tombelaine, and a woman named Iris, which may have been used by McKenna as research material for his fiction. Material in this subseries is arranged chronologically followed by undated items.
Series III. contains clippings and ephemera. It includes a collection of Swedish newspaper articles documenting McKenna's November 1921 book tour in that country as well as several interviews he did with various papers. Most of the newspaper articles are followed by typed English translations. A magazine article attributed to
Series IV. is comprised of a photograph album, containing black and white photographs of an older McKenna in his home, along with interior shots of the home and his collection of china. There is also a small mounted portrait of McKenna holding a doll.
This series includes two scrapbooks presumably maintained by McKenna containing 90 letters to McKenna from authors, family and fans of his novels. There are also approximately 60 items of loose correspondence arranged chronologically followed by undated material. Correspondence largely pertains to readers' reactions to the quality of McKenna's fiction and his characters.
This series contains typed manuscripts divided into two subseries. Subseries II.A. consists of unsigned manuscripts presumed to be by McKenna. There are three typescripts of lectures given by McKenna between 1919 and 1930 arranged chronologically followed by two undated short stories titled "The Battle of Blindheim" and "The City of Hopeless Dawn," arranged alphabetically. Subseries II.B. comprises three manuscripts of other writers, C.V. Wedgwood (1910-1997), the Marquis of Tombelaine, and a woman named Iris, which may have been used by McKenna as research material for his fiction. Material in this subseries is arranged chronologically followed by undated items.
This subseries consists of unsigned manuscripts presumed to be by McKenna. There are three typescripts of lectures given by McKenna between 1919 and 1930 arranged chronologically followed by two undated short stories titled "The Battle of Blindheim" and "The City of Hopeless Dawn," arranged alphabetically by title.
A lecture given at Oxford regarding the state of English literature after World War I dealing with the war and its aftermath.
This subseries comprises three manuscripts of other writers, C.V. Wedgwood (1910-1997), the Marquis of Tombelaine, and a woman named Iris, which may have been used by McKenna as research material for his fiction. Material in this subseries is arranged chronologically followed by undated items.
A retyped letter from an unidentified woman named Iris about the poverty and disorder witnessed on a post-communist revolution trip to Russia which may have informed McKenna's “The City of Hopeless Dawn.” (See II. A., F10)
This series contains clippings and other ephemera. It includes a collection of Swedish newspaper articles documenting McKenna's November 1921 book tour in that country as well as several interviews he did with various papers. Most of the newspaper articles are followed by typed English translations. A magazine article attributed to
Swedish newspaper articles documenting McKenna’s November 1921 book tour in that country as well as several interviews he did with various papers.
A magazine article attributed to
Three advertisement postcards for McKenna's novel
A watercolor of a domestic scene removed from McKenna's scrapbook.
This series contains an album of black and white photographs of an older McKenna in his home, along with interior shots of the home and his collection of china. There is also a small mounted portrait of McKenna holding a doll.