Bennett, Arnold. Novel drafts, 1916-1917, 1924, 1926 | Rare Book & Manuscript Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

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 [formerly Post-1650 MS 0006] contains a manuscript draft of The Roll-Call (423 pages), 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 [formerly Post-1650 MS 0005 (single volume)] contains a manuscript draft of Elsie and the Child (108 pages), 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 [formerly Post-1650 MS 0007] contain a manuscript draft of The Vanguard (330 pages). 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.

These materials were combined into one collection in November 2023 due to their shared provenance.

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

English literature - 20th century

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.

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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.