With a distinguished publishing history stretching back over three-quarters of a century and featuring many of the greatest literary names of the twentieth century, Faber and Faber has built up an archive of huge potential importance to anyone studying the development of verse, prose or drama across that timespan.
Faber and Faber was born in 1929, the successor to the short-lived Faber & Gwyer of which Geoffrey Faber had been chairman, and
T. S. Eliot a Director since its foundation in 1925.
The stable of authors which Geoffrey Faber, T. S. Eliot, Richard de la Mare and their fellow directors brought together under the Faber and Faber imprint now stands as the collective literary voice of the inter-war years: Eliot himself, Ezra Pound, W. H. Auden, Stephen Spender, Louis MacNeice and more. But the sixty years since World War II have shown no lessening in the weight or importance of Faber's output: William Golding, Lawrence Durrell, John Osborne, Samuel Beckett, Ted Hughes, Sylvia Plath, Philip Larkin were just the earliest of a succession of major writers which continues today in such figures as Seamus Heaney, David Hare, Alan Bennett, P. D. James, Hanif Kureishi and Kazuo Ishiguro.
The Faber Archive embraces correspondence between editors and authors,
notes of editorial meetings, including the celebrated weekly Book
Committee, production files for individual publications, publicity
materials and reviews of books, together with copies of most books
produced since the establishment of Faber & Gwyer.
In all, there are several thousand boxes containing files, photographs and printed extracts, book jackets and illustrations.
Some of these are well-ordered and documented; many more still need considerable work to reveal their significance.
PLEASE NOTE:
Apologies, but the Faber Archive is now closed, pending its relocation to a new Archive store.
(November 2007)
The Faber Archive is a private set of papers belonging to the company and responses to enquiries are made at the discretion of the Board and proprietors. There is, nevertheless, a full appreciation of the importance to the world of literary history of its contents. Faber and Faber has therefore embarked upon a programme to put the Archive fully in order so as to be able to respond more adequately to those interests.
Given the commitment to complete this phase of work within a reasonable timescale, work on the Archive will be focused in the immediate future on this task (in itself a substantial one) and there are therefore limitations on the degree to which the Archive can accommodate researchers for the foreseeable future.
Because of limitations of time and space, it is only possible to accommodate one researcher at a time in the Archive. In view of the pressures of demand, it will not, for the time being, be possible to accept visits from researchers working below the level of an MA dissertation or equivalent. As soon as circumstances change, this restriction will be relaxed.
For eligible researchers, an appointment will be made to visit the Archive at the earliest convenience, but please be aware that, at busy times of the year, this can involve a delay of some months. The earliest possible expression of interest is therefore urged.
Much of the Archive is stored offsite with limited access. It may therefore not be possible to produce on the day material additional to that agreed in advance between archivist and researcher.
The Archive will normally be open to researchers between the hours of 10am and 12.30pm and 1.30pm to 4.30pm.
The ability to respond to a particular enquiry or request for access may be limited by issues related to enduring rights on the part of writers or recipients or their estates.
