Our friends at the John Rylands Library have been in touch to tell us about the new Elizabeth Gaskell Collection Catalogue
Picture: Page 1 of The Grey Woman manuscript, in a photo taken on the Gaskell Society trip to the John Rylands Library. See the digitised MS here.
This wonderful collection contains items which were created by, or relate to, Elizabeth and William Gaskell. It includes manuscripts, correspondence and a number of objects and we’re thrilled that it has been newly catalogued. You can also view digitised items online.
Several committee members were able to visit and view the collection in 2023, guided by its guardian, Creative Arts Archivist, Jessica Smith. It was very moving to see the handwritten letters and manuscripts and imagine Elizabeth, hard at work at her table in the dining room at Plymouth Grove. Jess has become a great friend to the society and we were delighted to be asked (and able) to help with identifying correspondents and other matters.
There are several original manuscripts in Elizabeth Gaskell’s hand: The Grey Woman (published 1865), Wives and Daughters (published 1865), The Life of Charlotte Bronte (published 1857), and The Crooked Branch (1859). There is also an autograph manuscript of Dickens’ A Child’s Dream of a Star.
The correspondence in this collection includes a series of letters from Elizabeth, William and Meta Gaskell to various recipients, including Charles Kingsley (1819-1875), Charles Bosanquet (1769-1850), Henry Morley (1822-1894) and Charles Eliot Norton (1827=1908).
There is a collection of autograph letters by notable individuals, including contemporary writers and politicians. These letters are arranged alphabetically, with ECG/2/2 comprising letters addressed to Elizabeth or William Gaskell, and ECG/2/3 comprising letters which were collected by the Gaskells but are addressed to other recipients. These two subseries together comprise the Gaskell Autograph Collection.
The collection also contains: a series of letters from Charles Dickens to Elizabeth Gaskell; letters between Elizabeth Gaskell and Barbara Fergusson, letters from Walter Savage Landor, and letters from William Makepeace Thackray. The final series in this collection contains objects relating to the Gaskells, including a portrait miniature of Elizabeth Gaskell by W. T. Thomson; and her ink-stand, paper-knife and other personal possessions.
The collection can be accessed via the University of Manchester’s Special Collections platform, ELGAR.
Sincere thanks to Jess and her team – we know this wonderful collection is in the very safest of hands and protected for future generations.