Feeling the Force in the Archives and Special Collections

Posted on May 4, 2012 by Katie Giles

As 4th May is recognised around the world as Star Wars Day, we are celebrating the Star Wars related items in our Archives and Special Collections.

Suffering from ‘Overkill’

One significant Star Wars related item in our Collection is a letter from actor Alec Guinness to Sheridan Morley in our Sheridan Morley Theatre Collection.  Throughout his long career, Alec Guinness played a large number of roles both on stage and in film.  His film roles included playing Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi in the original three Star Wars films.  Sheridan Morley wrote to Alec Guinness regarding the possibility of writing a biography of him, and received a response in January 1978 (the year after the cinema release of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope).  The answer was no, partly because Guinness was working on his own autobiography and didn’t like the idea of another biography, and partly because he felt his work on Star Wars had left him over exposed.  He wrote:

‘Also I think (owing to the incomprehensible ‘Star Wars’) that I am suffering from too much publicity at the moment  and am likely to be overtaken by something called ‘over-kill’, which sounds horrid.’ (reference number KUAS48/1/1/15)

Guinness would continue to find the popularity of Star Wars incomprehensible, in his book Positively Final Appearance: A Journal 1996-1998 (Hamish Hamilton, 1999), a copy of which is also held in the Sheridan Morley Theatre Collection, he comments about the film ‘I shrivel inside each time it is mentioned’ (p11).  

Rising Star

During his time as a talent scout for Spotlight magazine, Cary Ellison had his own brush with the Star Wars universe.  In 1966 he saw Ian McDiarmid in a production of Charley’s Aunt, noting that this was the actor’s first professional role.  His comments of McDiarmid were favourable, despite a ‘tendency to overact’.  McDiarmid went on to play the Emperor Palpatine in the Star Wars films, appearing in the final film of the original trilogy, as well as all three of the new films. 

Publishing Success

Star Wars also frequently makes its appearance in copies of Publishing News magazine.  As it started to be published in 1979, Publishing News missed the release of the first film. However it covered the cinematic releases of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, in 1980 and 1982 respectively, with enthusiasm.  Naturally the focus of the articles was on the tie in books being released for the films.  Books relating to Star Wars continued to be featured in articles on Science Fiction books throughout the magazine’s publication, with a special article celebrating the series’ thirtieth anniversary in 2007.  However, the affect of the films on the book trade was not always positive- Publishing News reported how Dorling Kindersley’s profits were badly affected by over publication of titles relating to Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace in 2000.

If you would like to see any of the above items, or have any queries, do please let us know at archives@kingston.ac.uk.

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Bank Holiday Closure of the Archives and Special Collections

Posted on April 27, 2012 by Katie Giles

Please note that the Archives and Special Collections will be closed on the Bank Holidays of 7th May and 4th-5th June.

If you have any queries regarding this, or would like to make an appointment to see any of our Collections, please email us at archives@kingston.ac.uk

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Collection of the Month- David Heneker Archive

Posted on April 4, 2012 by Katie Giles

Our Collection of the Month for April is one of our newer theatre collections, the David Heneker Archive.

David Heneker (1906-2001) was a composer who wrote or contributed to a large number of musicals in the post Second World War period. Perhaps the most famous of these was Half a Sixpence, an adaption of HG Well’s novel Kipps, which tells the story of an orphan who comes into a large fortune.  The show was a great success in both the West End and Broadway, and was adapted into a film with its original star, Tommy Steele. Other shows by David Heneker include Irma la Douce, which was nominated for a Tony Award on Broadway, and Charlie Girl which ran for over five years in the West End. His success at musicals followed many years of composing songs, including the successful ‘The Thingummy Bob That’s Going to Win the War’ that was recorded by Gracie Fields for the film One Exciting Night.

Programmes, song books and other items relating to the David Heneker musical 'Half a Sixpence'

The collection contains David Heneker’s working papers for the many shows and songs he worked on, including script drafts and correspondence, as well as memorabilia such as programmes and posters. The Collection includes scores for a number of songs for his most famous shows, including some which never made the final production or were later heavily revised.  Other songs, such as ‘Flash, Bang, Wallop’ from Half a Sixpence, do not appear in the draft phase because they were written very shortly before the shows were performed.  Other interesting items include the plaque recording the Grammy nomination for Half a Sixpence, and copies of the texts that inspired his musicals, some of which are signed.

Overall, the collection is fascinating for anyone interested in musical theatre and David Heneker’s work, as well as illustrating how stage shows are taken from an initial idea to production and beyond.  The show is currently box listed and available to researchers in our search room, with full cataloguing to follow.  If you have any queries regarding the Collection do please email us at archives@kingston.ac.uk.

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Easter Closure of Kingston University Archives and Special Collections

Posted on March 29, 2012 by Katie Giles

We would like to make our researchers aware that Kingston University Archives and Special Collections will be closed 6th-9th April inclusive for the Easter weekend.  Appointments can still be made for the days before and after the weekend by emailing us at archives@kingston.ac.uk .

Many thanks.

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Conversations about Conservation

Posted on March 22, 2012 by Katie Giles

One of the core aims of any Archive service is to preserve its Collections for future generations of users, and as such we take a number of measures to ensure that our Collections will be available for years to come.  In this post we’ll look at some of these.

Preservation

All items in the Archives are assessed when they first arrive for any possible conservation or preservation needs.  For those items that are very fragile or damaged, we put these to one side to be assessed and treated by a conservator (more on this later).

For most other items preservation starts with changing the packaging of records- standard cardboard file covers are often bad for long-term storage as they can be high in acid, accelerating the decay of paper.  Ring-binders and lever-arch files can also encourage decay, and the rings used to hold the paper in place are prone to rusting.  As for the standard punched plastic sleeves you can buy, these often contain plasticides which react with the ink in records, sometimes lifting it straight off the paper!

We therefore transfer documents to acid free cardboard files- the cardboard in these files cannot interact with the paper of the documents in any way.  Where plastic sleeves are needed we use melinex sleeves, which are inert and again will not cause damage to paper or ink.  These are particularly useful for storing photographs and other visual items.  When records are transferred to new files steel paperclips and staples are removed wherever possible to avoid rust damage to records, as are other items that might cause problems- notably elastic bands and treasury tags with metal ends.  Of course all sorts of weird things can and have been used to attach records together, you never can tell what you may find!

Records are then repackaged in acid-free boxes- as well as not reacting with the records they hold, these boxes protect records from any possible dirt and dust, and create a micro-climate which helps stabilise the temperature and humidity of the records.

Our store also helps preserve the items in the Archive- we attempt to maintain a cool, staple temperature and humidity levels as too much or too little of either can cause serious damage to records.  Naturally we also limit the light levels and keep a close watch for any insects that might creep in.

To help preserve records while they are being used by researchers we have a number of guidelines for use- for more information see my previous post here.  While all this involves a lot of work it is also essential to preserve the records for the long term, and to avoid damage.

A Picture from our Vane Ivanovic Collection Before Conservation

 

The same picture after conservation

Conservation

For those items that are badly damaged, these need to be treated by a conservator.  While some Archives have conservation studios in house, we send our items out to be treated.  This can include treating mould, repairing tears, reattaching covers and spines, cleaning, treatment for infestation, mounting in acid free materials and an assortment of other treatments for the various types of damage books and documents can get.  All treatments are reversible and can increase the life of an item for very many years.  They can also reveal details about a document or book that were not known before, such as words hidden under frames or mounts, or details obscured by dirt.  At the moment we have six items being conserved- we look forward to seeing the results.

If you’d like to have a conversation about conservation, or just have a question, do please contact us!

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Collection of the Month- Knights Park Special Collections

Posted on March 7, 2012 by Katie Giles

To celebrate the opening of the new Learning Resource Centre (LRC) at our Knights Park campus, this month we will be looking at the Knights Park Special Collections.

These Special Collections have been built up over a number of years to support the teaching and research of our Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture (FADA).  There are books covering a diverse range of Arts and Design related topics, with well represented areas including design in the nineteenth century, art deco style, and art movements in the 1920 and 1930s.  Many of the books in the Collection are extremely rare or first editions, and there are a number of artist books, portfolios and exhibition catalogues.  Other unusual texts featured include a number of pop-up books, a book featuring a pin hole camera, and book on hosiery designer Emilio Cavallini covered with stocking material.

As well as books the Collection contains a number of runs of late nineteenth and early Twentieth Century design serials, especially relating to the areas of costume design, graphic design and architecture.

After being housed at Penrhyn Road during the recent building works, the majority of the Special Collections have returned to Knights Park LRC, where they are now housed in their own silent study room.  With glass fronted cabinets holding the books, these protect the items in the Collection but still allow the shelves to be browsed.  Some of the older journals remain at Penrhyn Road within the Archives and Special Collections- their location should be marked on the library catalogue.  If you are looking for a particular item within the Special Collections and it does not appear on the shelves, please ask a member of staff for more information. 

All the books in the Knights Park Special Collection can be searched on iCat.  Please bear in mind that the items in the Knights Park Special Collections are reference only and cannot be removed from the LRC- this is to protect this wonderful collection of books for future researchers.

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Knights Park Special Collections return to Knights Park LRC

Posted on February 24, 2012 by Katie Giles

For the last several months, the Knights Park Special Collections have been held within the Archives and Special Collections at our Penrhyn Road campus while building work takes place at the Knights Park LRC.

As this work has now been completed, the vast majority of the Knights Park Special Collections have now been returned to the LRC there where they can be accessed by researchers.  Some items from the Collections remain in Penrhyn Road- mostly historic journals.

The Knights Park Special Collections feature historic and unusual books relating to Art and Design.  A more in depth look at the Collections will follow in a later post.  In the meantime the books in the Collection can be searched on our library catalogue, iCat.

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Collection of the Month- Brian Smith Theatre Programme Collection

Posted on February 16, 2012 by Katie Giles

Our Collection of the Month is one of our newer theatre collections- the Brian Smith Theatre Programme collection.

Brian Smith was born in Bundaberg in Queensland Australia on 18th July 1930.  He was an extremely successful scholar but his parents could not afford to send him to university so he enrolled at Teachers College.  From this he gained his Bachelor of Arts degree, and taught in various schools in Australia before leaving for Britain in 1956, moving to London.  In 1960 he became Head of Maths at Hammersmith and West London College where he worked until his retirement. 

Outside work Brian enjoyed travel and, in addition to visiting Australia, he travelled extensively in Europe and America.  He was also extremely passionate about the arts in all its forms:  cinema, opera, literature, theatre, concerts, ballet etc.  In his early days his teacher’s salary didn’t cover all these expenses so to supplement his income he worked as a dresser in London’s West End.  Throughout his life he continued to regularly visit the theatre to see plays and concerts, as well as regularly visiting Kew Gardens.  He died in March 2010.

Programmes for RSC Productions from the Brian Smith Theatre Programme Collection

The Brian Smith Theatre Programme Collection contains all of the theatre programmes Brian collected from the 1950s onwards, lovingly ordered alphabetically by theatre.  A number of programmes for first runs of significant plays are present- including A Taste of Honey at the Theatre Royal Stratford (see our previous blog post here), and the opening night of John Osborne’s Look Back in Anger.  Musicals are also represented with programmes for Les Miserables at the Barbican Theatre during its initial run, a programme for Phantom of the Opera with the original cast, and the programme for the first West End run of Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods.  Brian Smith also visited a great number of RSC productions in both London and Stratford, and the Collection contains many of these programmes.  Alongside the theatre programmes are those for operas and classical music concerts.  The collection forms a great resource on London theatre in the late 20th Century.

The Brian Smith Theatre Programme Collection is currently being catalogued, but is available to researchers in our search room on request.  Please email us at archives@kingston.ac.uk for more information.

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New Collection: Wendy Perriam Archive

Posted on February 6, 2012 by Katie Giles

We are delighted to announce the addition of the Wendy Perriam Archive to the Archives and Special Collections at Kingston University.

Wendy Perriam is the author of sixteen novels and seven short-story collections, who studied at Kingston Polytechnic (as it then was) in the 1970s.  A former resident of Surbiton, her novels have often featured suburban life, and also explore relationships, sexuality, religion, and extreme emotions such as paralysing fear and explosive passion. 

The Collection contains Wendy’s extensive research for her novels, as well as her handwritten notebooks containing the early drafts of her work.  The process of revising these novels is illustrated, and the books are therefore traced from first ideas to final published editions.  Alongside the records relating to Wendy’s novels, are drafts and research for her short stories, poetry, articles and journalism, publicity appearances, and personal records such as correspondence and photographs.  All in all, the Archive illustrates the creative process of the written word from inspiration to publication, put into the context of Wendy’s overall life.

The Collection is currently being prepared for full cataloguing; however the majority of the records can be made accessible to researchers- for more information please email archives@kingston.ac.uk.  Updates on the progress of cataloguing and highlights from the Collections will be showcased on this blog- so do please keep checking back for more information.  For more information on Wendy Perriam and her work please see her website at www.wendyperriam.com

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Appeal for Photographs of Belle Rennie

Posted on February 3, 2012 by Katie Giles

Belle Rennie (1875- 1966, full name Isabella Southern Rennie) was an educationist known for writing a piece on the Dalton Plan in 1920.  She was also the founder of Gipsy Hill Teacher Training College in 1917, one of the predecessor bodies for Kingston University.

We are trying to locate an image of Belle Rennie and would love to hear from anyone who may have an image or could suggest where to find one.  Please email archives@kingston.ac.uk if you have any information.

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