RASCAL

Research and Special Collections Available Locally (Ireland)

Stephen Gilbert Collection	Queen's University Belfast
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Collection
Identifier	MS 45
Description	The Gilbert Collection comprises draft autograph and typescript manuscripts of novels and short stories, proof copies and quires, correspondence, notes, synopses, draft speeches, draft poems, juvenilia, school reports, photographs, scrapbooks, and postcards. The correspondence includes letters written by authors such as a Walter de la Mare, George Buchanan, Forrest Reid and E M Forster.
Strengths	The Gilbert Collection is strong in terms of draft autograph and typescript manuscripts of novels and short stories, proof copies and quires, correspondence, notes, synopses, draft speeches, draft poems, juvenilia, school reports, photographs, scrapbooks, and postcards. The correspondence includes letters written by authors such as a Walter de la Mare, George Buchanan, Forrest Reid and E M Forster. The mechanics of, and inspiration behind, the act of creative writing is well demonstrated within the collection. The process of writing is often sharply debated in letters, and creative processes are further illuminated in the heavily revised and densely annotated drafts of works, both published and incomplete. Notebooks and transcriptions evidence the research, memory aids, and layered construction inherent in crafting prose, as notes and jottings are added to skeletal plotlines and chapter headings. The bonds and tensions between Gilbert, and the author Forrest Reid (MS44) are also apparent within his personal papers. The two writers were friends, but being separated by almost four decades, it was a relationship of mentor and protégé, and at times, a difficult friendship. The collection also holds complete drafts of unpublished novels such as ‘The Bloody City’ and ‘Dear Granny and Sweet Child’, also known as ‘Granny Carson’s Sex Fantasy’ .
Physical Characteristics	Collection of paper based materials and photographs. 60+ draft works, 150 items of correspondence, 70 items of juvenilia, 100+ postcards, 40 draft poems, 2 photograph albums and 2 scrapbooks, plus assorted other documentation.
Languages	English
Collection Temporal Date Range	1915 - 1974
Accumulation Date Range	1915 - 1974
Contents Date Range	1915 - 1974
Collection Type	Collection.Archive.Text.Special
Accrual	Policy: Closed Method: Permanent deposit Periodicity: Open
Access	The collection is available for reference only under supervised access in the Special Collections Reading Room at The McClay Library. Further information is available here: http://libguides.qub.ac.uk/specialcollections Information for visitor access to The McClay Library is available here: http://www.qub.ac.uk/directorates/InformationServices/TheLibrary/AccesstotheLibrary/
Legal Status	Queen's University Belfast maintains legal ownership and control of the Collection. Consult with staff on matters of copyright and publication.
Custodial History	Received by Special Collections, Queen’s University Belfast from the Gilbert family. Transferred to Special Collections 2008. The Stephen Gilbert Collection was purchased from the Gilbert family in 2007.
Description or Catalogue	A detailed listing is available at: http://www.qub.ac.uk/directorates/InformationServices/TheLibrary/FileStore/Filetoupload,312677,en.pdf See also Kris Brown ‘An Exhibition on Forrest Reid and Stephen Gilbert’. Belfast. QUB. 2008. for further details of the collection available at: http://www.qub.ac.uk/directorates/InformationServices/TheLibrary/FileStore/Filetoupload,379402,en.pdf

Collector
Name	Stephen Gilbert
Role	Novelist

Owner
Name	Queen's University Belfast
Organisation	Queen's University Belfast
Role	Academic Library
History	The Library at Queen’s was established in 1849 following the foundation of the original college in 1845. Based initially in the Great Hall, and, from 1869, in its own separate accommodation, the Library catered to the needs of all students enrolled in the college before future growth and expansion dictated otherwise. Today the Library is dispersed across a number of departmental libraries throughout Northern Ireland each providing access to what has become one of the largest collections of books, periodicals and pamphlets in the province with over one million items noted in the official library catalogue. Although largely administered as a separate unit for most of its history, the Library was amalgamated with the University’s Computer Services and Audio-Visual departments to form a new Information Services department in the year 2000.

Location
Name	Queen's University Belfast
Address	The McClay Library 10 College Park Belfast United Kingdom BT7 1LP
County	Antrim
Website	http://www.qub.ac.uk/lib
Access Control	The McClay Library operates a controlled entry system. Members are required to use their Queen’s staff, student or library card to obtain admission. Information for visitor access to The McClay Library is available from the Library website.
Role	Librarian
Phone	00442890976333
Email	rascal@qub.ac.uk