Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1916 - 1988 (Creation)
Level of description
Archive Collection
Extent and medium
30 Boxes. 6 linear metres.
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Jack Common (1903 - 1968) was a British socialist, essayist and novelist.
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Purchased by Newcastle University in 1974 from Mrs Connie Common (Jack Common's widow).
Content and structure area
Scope and content
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 They include published and unpublished typescripts and manuscripts of his work, including Kiddar's Luck, his fictionalised childhood autobiography, published in 1951.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.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
No further accruals are expected.
System of arrangement
The history of the arrangement of this collection is unknown. At some point the correspondence files appear to have been re-ordered and put into alphabetical order.
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Open.
Conditions governing reproduction
UK copyright law applies
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Note
Preferred citation: Common (Jack) Archive, JC, held at Special Collections Newcastle University Library.
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Common, Jack, 1903-1968, writer (Subject)
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Status
Final
Level of detail
Full
Dates of creation revision deletion
Language(s)
- English
Script(s)
Sources
Archivist's note
This EAD description created 9/28/2018.