Papers relating to Sid Chaplin's writing career and other involvements throughout his life. Typescripts of published novels, short stories, poetry, plays and articles; typescripts of unpublished novels, short stories, poetry, plays and articles; working drafts of typescripts, published typeset copies; television and radio dramatisations; diaries 1930-1985, notebooks 1930-1984; newspaper cuttings; correspondence 1939-1990, in particular correspondence with David Higham Associates 1949-1989, BBC 1947-1987, various publishers: Phoenix House 1946-1962, Eyre and Spottiswoode 1959-1978, Pergamon Press and Ben Owen 1950-1984, Alan Plater 1963-1985, Alex Glasgow 1970-1982, Stan Barstow 1961-1984, Basil Bunting 1983-1984, Norman Nicholson 1950-[1982], John Bate 1944-1985, various Russian and French correspondence, particularly with Professor Valentina Ivashova 1964-1985; material relating to the English Speaking Union of America trip to USA, 1955 and subsequent correspondence with Dorothy Goodfellow 1960-1985.

The Chorley Collection, presented by Sarah Chorley, comprises children's literature chiefly from the Nineteenth Century and first decades of the Twentieth Century. Highlights include Kate Greenaway's Almanack for 1884 (1883) R.M. Ballantyne's The Coral Island (1876) and The Giants and How to Fight Them (1904) by the Rev. Richard Newton. There are also several works by the highly influential children's book illustrator Randolph Caldecott (1846-1886).

Collected by Edwin Clarke (1919-1996), the Clarke General Collection is a run of cuttings, illustrations, manuscripts and historic documents which are organised into two sequences: a subject sequence and a biographical sequence.Subjects range from the weather, food and actors, to Victorian 'freakshow' acts whilst items in the biographical sequence include silk in red, white and blue with a note asserting them to be

Part of a bequest from Edwin Clarke (1919-1996), the Clarke Local Collection is more than a local history collection as it is quite strong in the literature of the region too: T. Wilson's The pitman's pay: and other poems (1843), Robert White's The Tynemouth nun: a poem (1829), Rhymes of Northern bards (1812) and more, as well as memoirs, sermons, topographical descriptions, guides and histories.

Although it comprises books published in the mid- to late-Twentieth Century, for the most part, it does contain a significant amount of more historic material, such as The papers which passed at New-castle betwixt his sacred Majestie and Mr Al. Henderson … (1649), R. Gardiner's Englands grievance discovered … (1655), A sentimental tour through Newcastle (1794), History of the water supply of Newcastle-upon-Tyne (1851) and several nineteenth-century directories and poll books.

This is a collection of chiefly historical medical texts, numbering about 450 volumes, along with some archival material which was formerly owned by the neurologist and medical historian, Edwin Clarke (1919-1996). The collection usefully complements the Pybus and the Medical Collections.

Highlights include An inquiry concerning the history of the cowpox: principally with a view to supersede and extinguish the smallpox (1798) by George Pearson, the well-known physician, chemist and early advocate of Jenner's cowpox vaccination; and the Report from the Committee appointed to examine the physicians who have attended His Majesty, during his illness: touching the present state of His Majesty's health (1789), issued by Parliament during the period of King George III's recurrent mental illness. The collection also contains some modern secondary texts on various aspects of the history of medicine.

Bequeathed by Edwin Clarke (1919-1996), approximately half of the Clarke Miscellaneous Collection was published in the Twentieth Century but the collection contains material dating back to 1655. It is a collection with a strong bias towards the occult, ritual and folklore, with some rogue items relating to book history.

Examples include A laconic narrative on the life & death of James Wilson, known by the name of Daft Jamie (1881) - a victim of Burke and Hare -, F. Hutchinson's An historical essay concerning witchcraft (1718), The Yorkshire spiritual telegraph and British harmonial advocate (1857) and a book on exercise by H. Halsted called Motion-life: or the demon of the age and means of its exorcism (1856).

Eleven prints by Graham Clilverd - all of hospital buildings. Graham Clilverd (1883-1978) was a British architectural painter, engraver and etcher. Having studied in London at the Central Arts School, he first exhibited his art around 1906 and by 1910 his paintings were annually shown at such major institutions as the Royal Academy, the Royal Scottish Academy and at the Paris Salon. During the First World War, Graham Clilverd also served as a camouflage artist (1916-1918) and he is believed to have acted as a war artist in the Second World War. Clilverd's main passion was architectural art, and his output eventually earned him a Fellowship of the Royal Society of Arts. His extensive series of hospital prints dates from approximately 1950s.

The papers of Jack Common (1900-1968) are a rich resource for those interested in the history of this talented Tyneside-born writer. They include published and unpublished typescripts and manuscripts of his work, including Kiddar's Luck, his fictionalised childhood autobiography, published in 1951. There are also Common's diaries, notebooks, research notes, news cuttings, correspondence and photographs.

The papers also include copies of articles and draft articles for his contribution to the socialist journals The Adelphi and New Britain. Correspondence to Jack Common includes letters from his friends George Orwell, E.M. Forster, Dorothy and Max Plowman, Richard and John Middleton Murry, Thomas McCullough and Connie Common, Jack's second wife. There is also correspondence from various publishers as well as from the BBC and Associated British Picture Corporation.

The Cowen Tracts are almost two thousand pamphlets which were formerly owned by local (radical) M.P., Joseph Cowen (1829-1900). The tracts date mostly from the mid- to late-Nineteenth Century and reflect Cowen's interest in the social, educational, political and economic issues of the day.

There is some earlier material, such as Deed of incorporation for the insurance of ships printed by T. Angus, St. Nicholas' Church-Yard, Newcastle (1778). Pamphlets were an effective form of public debate because they could be circulated to a wider audience than books and authors could remain anonymous. The Cowen Tracts discuss Irish politics, foreign policy, women's rights, religion, education and public health and include such titles as The Union programme for 1880: constructive, not destructive, Irish legislation [1879?], Are women fit for politics?: are politics fit for women [185-] and The education of the agricultural labourer: a paper read before the Morpeth Chamber of Agriculture, on Wednesday, Feb. 2, 1870 by M.W. Ridley (1870).

The Crawhall Collection is a wonderfully-diverse and visual collection of material by and relating to local businessman, artist and patron of the arts, Joseph Crawhall II (1821-1896). The published book portion of this collection comprises of 23 volumes and includes chapbooks, such as Olde ffrendes with newe faces (1883), A Jubilee Thought (1887) and Old Aunt Elspa's ABC [1884].