Correspondence and literary papers of Alberta Vickridge

This material is held atUniversity of Leeds Special Collections

  • Reference
    • GB 206 Brotherton Collection MS 20c Vickridge
  • Dates of Creation
    • ca. 1894-1962
  • Name of Creator
  • Language of Material
    • English
  • Physical Description
    • 6 boxes; manuscript, typescript, press cuttings, and printed material.

Scope and Content

Comprises: (1) Boxes 1-3, containing 439 autograph letters written to Alberta Vickridge from many different correspondents between 19 April 1902 and 1 November 1962, all held in 138 envelopes; (2) Box 4, containing several exercise books of juvenilia, including autograph poems dating from 1894, and a volume of 'Manuscript Poems', by Alberta Vickridge, dated 1932-1933; (3) Box 5, containing many dozens of printed poems by Alberta Vickridge, together with some editorial correspondence relating to them; and (4) Box 6, containing editorial material relating to her magazine The Wayfarer between 1915 and 1928.

Administrative / Biographical History

Alberta Vickridge (1890-1963), the Bradford poet and editor, was educated at Bradford Grammar School for Girls and had nine books of poetry published in her lifetime, the first when she was just fourteen years old. In 1924 she was awarded the bardic chair at the Southern Counties Eistedfodd for her poem, 'The Forsaken Princess', the only Yorkshire woman writer ever to be so crowned. She single-handedly mastered the craft of printing and worked from an attic in her home at Beamsley House, Frizinghall, for over thirty years editing and printing a range of limited editions, including the literary journal, The Jongleur, which gained a reputation nationally for the excellence of its poetry and printing quality, and also the journal, The Wayfarer, in which she used the editorial pseudonym 'J.E. Beamsley'.

Access Information

Access is unrestricted.

Acquisition Information

From the library of Lord Brotherton.

Note

In English.

Other Finding Aids

The letters are listed in the Letters database http://www.leeds.ac.uk/library/spcoll/letters/letlink.htm#vickridge

Personal Names