Title: Bennett, Arnold. Novel drafts, 1916-1917, 1924, 1926
ID: 01/02/02/POST-1650 MS 0005
Primary Creator: Bennett, Arnold (1867-1931)
Extent: 4.0 Volumes
Date Acquired: 10/21/1955
Subjects: English literature - 20th century
Languages: English
This collection contains four volumes of manuscript drafts by English author, Arnold Bennett (1867-1931). Novels represented are The Roll Call (1917), Elsie and the Child (1924), and The Vanguard (1926).
The first volume (423 pages) contains a manuscript draft of The Roll-Call, written between October 10, 1916, and April 4, 1917. This manuscript includes corrections in the author's hand. Four typescripts accompany the volume: the published book's half title, the published book's title page, a note from Bennett concerning his novel The Pretty Lady, and a list of Bennett's other published works as of April 1918. This volume has the bookplate of H. Harvey Frost.
The second volume (108 pages) contains a manuscript draft of Elsie and the Child, written between January 15 and February 14, 1924. The manuscript includes corrections in the author's hand. The title page includes an embellished version of the title, a monogram of Arnold Bennett's initials, and the author's address. An inscription at the end of the text indicates that Bennett presented the manuscript to Dorothy Cheston on December 18, 1928. This volume also has the bookplate of H. Harvey Frost.
The third and fourth volumes (330 pages) contain a manuscript draft of The Vanguard. The first volume (pages 1-177) was written between March 27 and May 14, 1926, and the second volume (pages 178-330) was written between May 15 and July 8, 1926. Both volumes include corrections in the author's hand, as well as notes indicating the author's location as he composed the novel. The first of these volumes has the bookplate of H. Harvey Frost.
See Administrative/Biographical History for more information.
Enoch Arnold Bennett (1867-1931) left school as a teenager and moved from his Staffordshire home to London in his early twenties. After first working as a legal clerk, he soon pursued a literary career. Though he is best known for his novels, Bennett edited the weekly periodical Woman from 1893 to 1900 and also published reviews and other nonfiction works. He later lived in Bedfordshire (1900-1902), Paris (1902-1912), and Essex (1912-1921), and assisted with English propaganda efforts during the latter stages of World War I. Bennett and his first wife, Marie Marguerite Soulie, married in 1907 but separated in 1921; following their separation, Bennett returned to London to live with actress Dorothy Cheston (1891-1977). Bennett and Cheston had one daughter, Virginia (b. 1926).
Source
Lucas, John. "Bennett, (Enoch) Arnold (1867-1931)." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Online edition. Oxford University Press: 2010. doi: 10.1093/ref:odnb/30708
Repository: Rare Book & Manuscript Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Access Restrictions: The collection is open for research.
Use Restrictions:
This item is the physical property of the Rare Book & Manuscript Library. Intellectual property rights, including copyright, may reside with the materials' creator(s) or their heirs.
The library welcomes requests for reproductions made from works in our collections, though restrictions may apply to certain materials. Please contact the library with any questions.
Related Materials:
Finding Aid Revision History: Revised by Meg Hixon, June 2016. Revised by Dana Miller, November 2023.
Other Note: This collection identifier (MS 0005) was assigned to Elsie and the Child, with additional identifiers belonging to The Roll-Call (MS 0006) and The Vanguard (MS 0007). The materials were grouped together in November 2023 due to their shared provenance.