Craig, Alexander George (Alec)

Comprising research files containing press cuttings, correspondence and notes regarding incest, illegitimacy, sexual literature, censorship, homosexuality, banned books, prison reform, the Royal Family, separation, witchcraft, sexual behaviour and venereal disease, possibly for use in his works Sex and Revolution (1934), The Banned Books of England (1937), Above All Liberties (1942) and other publications (1922-1942); typescripts for submission to the 'Encyclopedia of Sexual Behaviour' (n.d.); issues of nudist and health periodicals and offprints of articles by Alec Craig and others (1936-1953).

Born London, April 1897; educated at St George's College, London (1913-1915), King's College London (1919-1921) and the London School of Economics (1921-1922). Craig also served in the First World War between 1915 and 1919 as a Lieutenant. His early career was spent as a clerk at the Public Record Office in London, 1912-1919. In 1919, Craig moved to the Exchequer and Audit Department as an auditor and rose through the ranks, finally becoming deputy director of audit in 1947. Throughout his life, Craig also published widely on sex education and the censorship of literature on the grounds of obscenity, along with taking an active part in left-wing and socialist propaganda for sex reform in the 1930s. Publications: Sex and Revolution (1934), The Banned Books of England (1937) and Above All Liberties (1942). He also contributed to a number of books and journals including Experiments in Sex Education (1935), Sex, Society and the Individual (1953) and The Encyclopaedia of Sexual Behaviour (1961). In later life, Craig also published his verse and works include The Voice of Merlin (1946) and The Prometheans (1955).

No further arrangement at present.

Closed until listed.

Found on the 15th floor of Senate House Library, University of London. Possibly deposited as part of the Craig Collection of books in 1974.

Collection level description. Box listed.

Compiled by Stefan Dickers on behalf of the RSLP AIM25 Project.

Copies may be made, subject to the condition of the original. Copying must be undertaken by the Palaeography Room staff, who will need a minimum of 24 hours to process requests.