Burns Library Collections

British Catholic

Burns Library collection descriptions

The first special collection at Boston College, established by University Librarian Terence Connolly, SJ in the 1930s, the British Catholic Authors collection features the manuscripts and published works of leading Catholic writers in the British Isles from the mid-nineteenth century to the present.

Several British Jesuit authors, editors, and scholars helped to form these collections and left their papers to Boston College.

British Catholic authors and publishers collections
Archival collections pertaining to British Catholic authors or publishers
Books by British Catholic authors
Published works by British Catholic authors
Burns, Oates & Washbourne
Materials published by Burns, Oates & Washbourne

Prominent British Catholic collections

Boston College is noted especially for principal archival holdings of Hilaire Belloc, Graham Greene, Elizabeth Jennings, Alfred Noyes, Coventry Patmore, Anthony Rhodes, and Francis Thompson.

Hilaire Belloc archival collections
The Belloc papers is comprised of manuscripts, publications, and printed materials representative of Belloc's years as a public intellectual, as well as diaries, lecture notes, research notes, maps, student papers, financial records, artwork, photographs, and scrapbooks. Correspondence to and from Belloc includes renowned literary figures such as J.M. Barrie, G.K. Chesterton, Edmund Gosse, George Bernard Shaw, Upton Sinclair, H.G. Wells, and William Butler Yeats.
more...less...
Belloc was born in France and raised in England. He attended Oxford from 1906-1910 and served as a member of Parliament. Many of Belloc's works reveal his strong faith in Catholicism.
Hilaire Belloc's personal library
Books previously owned by Hilaire Belloc
Graham Greene papers
The Graham Greene papers document the life and work of Greene, including his childhood and family, as well as his career as a journalist and writer.
more...less...
The collection is global, with material from and concerning a variety of countries. Topics include literary culture, film history, mid-to-late twentieth century world history, wars, revolutions, counterintelligence, communism, and Catholicism. The collection consists of art, artifacts, correspondence, ephemera, legal records, literary manuscripts, photographs, scrapbooks, and subject files.
Graham Greene's personal library
Published books previously owned by Graham Greene
Elizabeth Jennings papers, 1970-1993.
Elizabeth Jennings papers consists mainly of original poetry manuscripts dating from 1971-1997.
more...less...
Also includes a draft autobiography, Without whom, some correspondence, and a draft biography of T.S. Eliot, A brief study of T.S. Eliot and his life. The correspondence features letters from Sir Alec Guinness and Priscilla Tolkien Cyen, as well as a letter from the Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood regarding reception of the Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
Alfred Noyes Papers, 1843-1958 (bulk 1902-1957).
Alfred Noyes Papers are comprised mainly of the personal and professional correspondence of Alfred Noyes and his extended family as well as manuscripts and typescripts of Noyes' poetical and prose writings.
more...less...
Correspondents include J.M. Barrie, Hilaire Belloc, Arthur Conan Doyle, E.M. Forster, Rudyard Kipling, C.S. Lewis and W.B. Yeats. Also included are several diaries and poetry journals as well as material related to research on and publication of his book on the trial and execution of Roger Casement, The accusing ghost, or, justice for Casement.
Coventry Patmore Collection, 1818-1945, bulk 1818-1896
The collection contains manuscripts by British poet Coventry Patmore, as well as letters by and to him from major 19th Century British literary figures including Alfred Tennyson, Robert and Elizabeth Browning, Thomas Carlyle and John Ruskin, and a number of letters from members of Patmore's family
more...less...
The collection also includes visual materials: a drawing of Emily Augusta Patmore, photographs of Marianne and Coventry Patmore, and reproductions of portraits of Coventry Patmore.
Anthony Rhodes papers
These papers document the personal and professional activities of British Catholic author Anthony Rhodes, whose writing ranged from travelogues, to poetry, to history.
more...less...
Included are articles, clippings, correspondence, diaries, manuscripts, notes, and photographs. Many of the diaries focus on Rhodes's experience during World War II.
Boston College collection of Francis Thompson
Collection documenting the literary career of British Catholic author Francis Thompson through his correspondence, financial records, and manuscripts of book reviews, essays, plays, and poetry.
more...less...
Thompson was educated at Ushaw College and studied medicine in Manchester. He lived in poverty for some years, but was assisted by the Meynell family. His first volume of poems appeared in 1893. Thompson also produced some literary criticism and works of prose during his lifetime. Thompson is best known for his work "The hound of heaven."

Other notable British Catholic authors

This collecting area also includes significant archival materials pertaining to Maurice Baring, G.K. Chesterton, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Alice and Wilfrid Meynell, John Henry Newman, Edith Sitwell, and Evelyn Waugh, among others.

Maurice Baring papers, 1920-1963 (bulk 1937-1943).
Maurice Baring papers consists mainly of letters to Enid Bagnold (Lady Jones) from Baring. Letters discuss Bagnold's literary work, Baring's health, and visits of literary friends to Baring.
more...less...
In addition there are letters from 1963 between Enid Bagnold and Julian Jeffs. Within these, of particular note are letters mentioning meetings with Noel Coward, Desmond MacCarthy, Hilaire Belloc, and Virginia Woolf. The remainder of the collection is: a manuscript of Baring's entitled Three minutes, or The death of Caesar; Baring's copy of The order for the burial of the dead; and a typed list of Baring's things dated Dec. 9, 1942.
Boston College collection of G. K. Chesterton.
Collection of material by and about Catholic British author and artist G.K. Chesterton and his work.
more...less...
Included are Chesterton correspondence, drawings, and manuscripts; programs for performances of "Tragic Women" and a lecture; Junior Debating Club minutes; a stock certificate for G. K.'s Weekly; and correspondence and graphic materials about Chesterton.
Hopkins family papers, 1826-1919.
Hopkins family papers is composed of materials relating to members of the Hopkins family, especially Gerard Manley Hopkins, and his wife, Catherine (Kate) and their children
more...less...
A number of items concern Manley Hopkins' involvement with religious and political affairs in Hawaii. There are also a few pieces of correspondence by Gerard Manley Hopkins.
Boston College collection of Alice Meynell.
The collection consists of materials related to the writer, editor, and art critic Alice Meynell.
more...less...
It includes correspondence of Meynell and her family; manuscripts and proofs of her writings; illustrations for her Preludes; portraits of Meynell; an illuminated manuscript of her poems; and a scrapbook of articles and reviews both by and about Meynell.
Wilfrid Meynell collection, 1881-1971, bulk 1893-1941.
The bulk of this collection is comprised of Meynell's correspondence with writers, editors, publishers, friends, and clergy, including: Hilaire Belloc; Wilfrid Scawen Blunt; Terrence Connolly, SJ; John Lane; Shane Leslie; Edith Sitwell; Wilfrid Ward; family members; and business associates.
more...less...
Meynell's poetry is represented by inscribed copies of Rhyme with Reasons and "I die daily." Also included are royalty notices and receipts, proofs for Merry England, and notes.
Boston College collection of John Henry Newman
The collection includes correspondence and one published pamphlet by John Henry Newman, an English theologian and poet who became cardinal in 1879 and was canonized as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church in 2019.
more...less...
It also includes portraits, pamphlets, and photographs of him and places of significance in his life. The bulk of his letters are addressed to two correspondents, English ecumenical evangelist George T. Edwards and Irish author and Catholic convert William J. O'Neill Daunt.
Boston College collection of Edith Sitwell
This collection of papers regarding British poet and author, Edith Sitwell, is comprised of correspondence, manuscript drafts of poems and other writings, as well as an obituary.
Evelyn Waugh Collection, 1941-1982.
This collection contains letters, newspaper clippings, and a typewritten manuscript of Put Out More Flags.

British fine and private press collections

Burns Library also collects British fine and private press collections, including, but not limited to, Aylesford, Golden Cockerel, Nonesuch, St. Dominic's, September, Skelton, and Stanbrook Abbey (including archival material).