Psychic Visions and Snarky Postcards: Yeats and Shaw Collections Reopened at Burns
The John J. Burns Library holds both published and unpublished works by and about Irish Nobel Laureates W. B. Yeats and Bernard Shaw. These materials are now more discoverable and accessible, which is significant because, even today, their poems, plays, and essays continue to be performed, studied, and revisited.
Yeats is considered one of the best poets of the 20th century. The Burns Library holds many special editions of Yeats’s published works; one example is a very limited edition of “Easter, 1916,” of which only 25 copies were printed by Clement Shorter, publisher and friend of Yeats. It was meant for distribution among Shorter’s friends. All researchers are welcome to use the manuscript collection pertaining to Yeats that unites seven previously separate collections. The Boston College collection of Yeats family papers presents the correspondence and manuscripts of W. B. Yeats in the context of his artistic family and their creative endeavors. Included are papers of his father John Butler and brother Jack B. Yeats, who were both artists; his wife, Georgie Yeats; and his sisters, Elizabeth Corbet Yeats and Lily Yeats, as well as the records of their embroidery and printing business, Cuala Industries. Among the highlights are an account of one of Lily Yeats’s visions and related correspondence; notebooks and manuscripts of W. B. Yeats’s poetry; correspondence between W. B. Yeats and his mistress, Margot Ruddock; and an embroidery by Lily Yeats and Brigid O’Brien.
Bernard Shaw, noted for his sharp wit and the ability to lampoon contemporary society, still holds the attention of audiences everywhere. Although he wrote in other genres, he is best known for his plays, including Pygmalion, Joan of Arc, and Man and Superman. The Burns Library holds many titles by or about Shaw, including a first edition of G. K. Chesterton’s George Bernard Shaw (1909). Three archival collections regarding Bernard Shaw are also available for consultation. The Samuel N. Freedman collection of Bernard Shaw includes material relating to Shaw’s life and his writing accumulated by Freedman over 40 years. Of particular interest are the pre-printed postcards Shaw was known for sending in response to frequently asked questions from his numerous correspondents. The Charlotte Frances Shaw letters cast light on the thoughts and experiences of Shaw’s wife, while letters received by actor Bernard Partridge share insights into Bernard Shaw’s thoughts on the 1894 production of his play Arms and the Man.
It is our hope that the improved access to these collections will engage students and scholars alike, enhance research, and enable publication of new scholarship. If you are interested in consulting these or other collections at the Burns Library, please contact our Reading Room staff by phone (617-552-4861) or email (burnsref@bc.edu).
