| Collection | GB 0231 University of Aberdeen, Special Collections |
| Level | Fonds |
| Ref No | MS 2742 |
| Title | Rachel Annand Taylor; author and journalist: papers |
| Date | 1899 - 1908 |
| Extent | 4 volumes and loose notes: 0.33 linear metres |
| Creator Name | Rachel Annand Taylor (1876 - 1960), author and journalist |
| Administrative History | Rachel Annand Taylor was a student at Aberdeen University from 1894 until 1897, while attending Aberdeen Training Centre for Teachers. She was one of the first women to take a course in Arts after the introduction of the regulations of 1892 admitting women to the University, although she did not graduate. She taught for some time in Aberdeen before her marriage to Alexander C. Taylor in 1901, after which she went to Dundee and later to London, where she died in 1960.
She published four volumes of poetry, 'Poems' (London: Bodley Head, 1904); 'Rose and Vine' (London: Elkin Mathews, 1909); 'The Hours of Fiametta' (London: Elkin Mathews, 1910); and 'The End of Fiametta' (London: Richards, 1923). In addition, she produced three studies, 'Aspects of the Italian Renaissance' (London: Richards, 1923); 'Leonardo the Florentine' (London: Richards, 1927) and 'Dunbar, the poet and his period' (London: Faber, 1931). In 1943 Aberdeen University awarded her an honorary LL.D, on the 50th anniversary of the admission of women to the University. Appreciations of her work by Sir Herbert Grierson and Alexander Keith have been published in the 'Aberdeen University Review', 30 (1942-1944), 152-156; and 31 (1944-1946), 211. |
| Source | Gifted to the University in 1943, by Alexander Keith, MA, LLD, by whom it had been purchased from a London bookseller. Papers relating to the acquisition are contained in the deposit file. |
| Description | The collection comprises four volumes of holograph poems by Rachel Annand Taylor, with enclosures, 1899 - 1908. Most of the poems are dated and titled, and many, though not all, have been published. The fourth volume, which is undated, contains a pencil-written work called 'The Muse of Ellayne:. A dramatic Lyric'. The volumes of poetry in this collection do not constitute the whole of Rachel Annand Taylor's literary papers. Other MSS., which may unpublished material, are believed to remain in the hands of members of the Annand family. The binding of one volume MS.2742/2, is in poor condition, and one or two items require repair. Many of the poems in MS. 2742/3 which have been found to have been published are inscribed "Copy" in pencil. MS. 2742/4 is perhaps unfinished - the text appears to break off abruptly; the pages of the volume are unnumbered, and only 37 used.
Poems are listed by title, or if untitled, by the first line, in the order in which they appear in the MSS. For titled poems, references to publication have been provided if possible. No systematic comparison of first lines has been made. Where several poems, published and unpublished, have similar titles, first lines have also been given as another means of identification and any change of title on publication, if traced, is noted.
The greater part of the collection of poems which form 'The Hours of Fiametta' is to be found in MSS. 2742/3/114-116 and in MS.2742/5; but as the sequence has been altered in the published work, and titles added/altered, poems have been traced by reference to the first lines. |
| Accruals | None expected. |
| Arrangement | The poems are arranged chronologically, and listed by title, or where this is absent, by the first line of the verse. |
| Access Status | Open |
| Access Conditions | The records are available subject to the signed acceptance of the Department's access conditions. |
| Language | English |
| Physical Description | No physical conditions affecting use of collection. |
| Related Material | Letter from Rachel Annand Taylor (1876 - 1960) to Wilmot Vaughan, Piccadilly, London, 4 Dec 1910 (MS 3273)
Letters from Rachel Annand Taylor (1876 - 1960) and Marion Angus (1865 - 1946) to Nan Shepherd (1893 - 1981), author 1930 - 1959 (MS 3036)
Letter from Rachel Annand Taylor (1876 - 1960) to Sir Herbert John Clifford Grierson (1866-1960), London, March 1943 (MS 3746)
Deposited in the National Library of Scotland, Manuscripts Division
Letters (11) from George Blake, 1931 - 1933 (MS 20436); letters (38) from Gilbert Murray, 1909 - 1956 (MS 20436); papers including some literary MSS, 1893 - c 1954 (MSS 20404-35); papers and letters to Sir Herbert Grierson, 1895 - 1946 (MS 9328); letters to Patrick Geddes, 1907 - 1932 (MS 10572)
Deposited in Oxford University: Bodleian Library, Special Collections and Western Manuscripts
Letters to Gilbert Murray, 1909 - 1956 (MSS Gilbert Murray)
Deposited in Manchester University: John Rylands Library
Letters (26) from Andre Raffalovich, c 1907 - c 1930 (Box HR D)
For further details see Location register of 20th century English literary MSS, ed. by David Sutton, 2 vols (London: British Library, 1988) |
| Publication Note | Many of the poems appearing in this collection are published in Rachel Annand Taylor's 'Poems' (London: Bodley Head, 1904); 'Rose and Vine' (London: Elkin Mathews, 1909); 'The Hours of Fiametta' (London: Elkin Mathews, 1910); and 'The End of Fiametta' (London: Richards, 1923). |