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Colin MacInnes papers

 Collection
Identifier: D.140

Biographical / Historical note

Colin MacInnes was born August 20, 1914 in London. He was the second child and younger son (a daughter died in infancy) of James Campbell McInnes (1874-1945), a professional singer who in 1919 migrated to Canada where he continued his concert career and also taught singing. Colin's mother Angela Mackail (1890-1961) was the daughter of J. W. Mackail and the granddaughter of the artist Edward Burne-Jones. She was also related to Stanley Baldwin and Rudyard Kipling. Angela Mackail McInnes left her husband in 1917 and, after obtaining a divorce, married an Australian, George Allnut Thirkell. In 1920 the family moved to Australia, where Colin's half-brother Lance Thirkell was born. In 1929 Angela Thirkell returned to England with her youngest son. There she began to write novels, the best known of which are the series on English country life, the Barsetshire novels. Colin and his brother Graham both went by the name of Thirkell until the early 1930s, when they resumed using their father's surname, McInnes. Shortly thereafter Colin changed the spelling of his name to MacInnes.



Colin MacInnes was educated in Australia, where he lived until 1930. From 1930 to 1935, he pursued a business career in Brussels. Upon leaving Brussels, he went to London to study painting, first at the Chelsea Polytechnic and later at the School of Drawing and Painting, Euston Road. After the outbreak of the war, he served with the British Army as a sergeant in the Intelligence Corps and was sent to Germany during the occupation. His experiences there formed the basis of his first published novel, To The Victors The Spoils. After leaving the army, he joined the BBC Radio, where he evidently wrote scripts. He left the BBC sometime in the mid-Fifties and supported himself for the rest of his life by writing essays, plays, and novels. He was published in many English periodicals and was a regular contributor to New Society in 1962 and 1963. His fiction and non-fiction drew upon his experiences in Australia, in the army of occupation in Germany, London low-life, black immigrants, English working-class teenagers, and music halls. Three novels that dealt with modern life in London, City of Spades, 1957, Absolute Beginners, 1959, and Mr. Love and Justice, 1960, were followed by historical novels, Westward to Laughter, 1969, and Three Years to Play, 1970. At the time of his death, he was writing a novel, Angus Bard, based on his father's early life. He died April 22, 1976.

Scope and Contents

The collection consists of correspondence, notebooks, manuscript drafts and typescripts, galley and page proofs of novels and plays, manuscript drafts and tear sheets of essays, writing notebooks, background files, financial records, and documents. Bound proofs have been catalogued and placed with the books. The collection is principally in the order established by MacInnes. The correspondence with his publisher is divided according to the publication to which it pertains, and most of the rest of the correspondence is filed with the manuscript drafts to which it was attached. The presence of correspondence is indicated in the register by an asterisk. The exceptions are letters to and from Elspeth Huxley, and letters from Robert Graves, Sidney Nolan, John Osborne, and Sir John Gielgud, which are indexed and filed at the beginning of the correspondence. Events in MacInnes' life that are documented in the collection are his early years in Brussels, his bankruptcy about 1960, his abortive trip to Africa in 1971 under the auspices of the British Council, and his hospital treatment during his final illness.



Tony Gould's book Inside Outsider: The Life and Times of Colin MacInnes is based in part on this collection. (London: Chatto & Hindus - The Hogarth Press, 1983).

Creator

Dates

  • Creation: 1921-1976

Language of Materials

English

Extent

23 box(es)

Access

The Colin MacInnes Papers is open for research use. Researchers are advised to contact the Rare Collections & Preservation Department prior to visiting. Upon arrival, researchers will also be asked to fill out a registration form and provide photo identification.

Use

In consultation with a curator, reproductions may be made upon request. Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from a curator. Researchers are responsible for determining any copyright questions.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Purchased from Bertram Rota on the Wilson Family Fund in 1968 and subsequent purchases with funds provided by the Friends of the University of Rochester Libraries. The James Campbell McInnes material was the gift of Margaret Little in 1988.

Preferred Citation

[Item title, item date], Colin MacInnes Papers, D.140, Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation, River Campus Libraries, University of Rochester

Title
Colin MacInnes papers
Status
Completed
Author
Finding aid prepared by Rare Books and Special Collections staff
Date
undated
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Library Details

Part of the Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation Library

Contact:
Rochester NY 14627-0055 USA