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The Willow Wray Collection of the Writings of Lord Dunsany
004
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Title: The Willow Wray Collection of the Writings of Lord Dunsany
Dates: 1947-1959
Collection number: 004
Creator:
Dunsany, Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, Baron, 1878-1957
Collector:
Wray, Willow
Collection Size:
6 archival document boxes, 1 oversize box
2.7 linear feet
Repository:
Loyola Marymount University. Library. Department of Archives and Special Collections.
Los Angeles, California 90045-2659
Abstract: The Willow Wray Collection of the Writings of Lord Dunsany consists of signed and unsigned manuscripts, letters, photographs,
clippings, and numerous published works of Lord Dunsany.
Languages:
Languages represented in the collection:
English
Collection is open to research under the terms of use of the Department of Archives and Special Collections, William H. Hannon
Library, Loyola Marymount University.
Materials in the Department of Archives and Special Collections may be subject to copyright. Unless explicitly stated otherwise,
Loyola Marymount University does not claim ownership of the copyright of any materials in its collections. The user or publisher
must secure permission to publish from the copyright owner. Loyola Marymount University does not assume any responsibility
for infringement of copyright or of publication rights held by the original author or artists or his/her heirs, assigns, or
executors. The estate of Lord Dunsany retains all copyright and literary rights to his works.
[Identification of item], Series number, Box and Folder number, The Willow Wray Collection of the Writings of Lord Dunsany,
004, Department of Archives and Special Collections, William H. Hannon Library, Loyola Marymount University.
Loyola Marymount University (then Loyola University) purchased the collection in 1962 from Willow Wray, Lord Dunsany's literary
agent. Accession Number: 1995.9
Based on internal departmental documentation, it seems likely that Dr. Errol Stevens, then head of the Department of Archives
and Special Collections, processed the collection, circa 1995.
The author and playwright Edward John Moreton Drax Plunket, better known as Lord Dunsany, deeply influenced the development
of the literary genres of horror and fantasy. He was born in London in 1878 to Anglo-Irish family of Plunkett, lords of Dunsany
Castle, in County Meath, northwest of Dublin, Ireland. The future Lord Dunsany was educated in public school at Eton, which
seems to have been unpleasant for him, until the age of sixteen, when his father had him entered into Sandhurst, the British
military academy, in 1896. Lord Dunsany graduated and entered British military service as an officer with the Coldstream Guards,
serving in the Boer War and seeing action at such battles as Modder River. This took place in 1899, the same year that Lord
Dunsany inherited Dunsany Castle on the death of his father.
In 1901 Dunsany returned to civilian life. In 1904 he married Lady Beatrice Child-Villiers, whose father was the Earl of Jersey;
the couple made Dunsany Castle their principal residence for the next twenty years. Randal Arthur Henry, the couple's first
and only child, was born in 1906.
Lord Dunsany settled down to the country life of an Anglo-Irish nobleman, but he had greater ambitions. In 1903, he had begun
experimenting in writing in short stories. The end result was
The Gods of Pegana, a collection of short stories concerning mythological gods and lands, both with a malevolent bent. In short Dunsany was
creating, or at least helping to create, "sword and sorcery" fantasy. He had to pay for the publication of this first work,
but
The Gods of Pegana enjoyed strong enough sales that he never had to pay to publish his works again. Over the next decade he published six more
books, all of which concerned mythological fantasy.
In 1914, Lord Dunsany became a playwright with the production of his first play, at Dublin's famous Abbey Theatre, the one-act
"The Glittering House." It was the first of many, for Dunsany continued to write plays through the 1930s. Ironically, his
plays were more popular in the United States than they were in either England or Ireland.
In World War I, Lord Dunsany re-joined the British Army, gaining the rank of captain with the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers.
As a Unionist, he fought against the Irish Nationalists in the Dublin Uprising of 1916, and in the brutal trench warfare on
the continent, Lord Dunsany saw combat at the Battle of the Somme that same year.
After the war Lord Dunsany continued to write fantasy fiction and plays. His 1924 novel, The
King of Elfland's Daughter, marked a notable entry in the field of fantasy fiction. He also wrote short stories related to themes in Irish culture,
as well as pieces related to his experiences in World War I. The most important development in his writings was the creation
of the character "Mr. Joseph Jorkens," who first appeared in 1931. Jorkens is a member of a London gentleman's club, and a
raconteur who spins tales for other members, tales which have a more than a touch of fantasy and oddness.
After World War II, Lord Dunsany's reputation declined, and he is best known today for his influence on such writers as
H. P. Lovecraft and
Arthur C. Clarke and their development of science fiction and horror genres. In short, Lord Dunsany is now considered a minor writer, more
important for his initial role in developing fantasy fiction with correlative influence on other genres, especially science
fiction and horror.
Sources for this biography include:
- Knepper, B. G. "Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, Lord Dunsany (24 July-25 October 1957)." Dictionary of Literary Biography. Volume 10 (Detroit: Gale Research Co., 1982): 152-162.
- Wessells, Henry, "Lord Dunsany: Pioneer of Modern Fantasy." AB Bookman's Weekly 102, no. 16 (1988): 703-706.
The collection consists of signed and unsigned manuscripts, letters, photographs, clippings, and numerous published works
of Lord Dunsany.
The collection is divided into the following series:
- 1. Short Stories, Plays, Essays
- 2. Poems
- 3. Book Materials: "Another Year"
- 4. Correspondence
- 5. Photographs of Lord Dunsany
- 6. Clippings
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in
the library's online public access catalog.
English Literature
Dunsany, Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, Baron, 1878-1957
Authors, Irish -- 20th century
Fantasy fiction, English -- Irish authors -- 20th century
Mythologists -- 20th century