Sydney Matthewman juvenilia and small press poetry
Details
Type of record: Archive
Title: Sydney Matthewman juvenilia and small press poetry
Classmark: BC MS 20c Matthewman
Related People: Sydney Matthewman(Personal name)
Creator(s): Matthewman, S
Date(s): 1918-1947
Language: English
Size and medium: 19 vols., and 4 folded cards, typescript and printed.
Persistent link: https://explore.library.leeds.ac.uk/special-collections-explore/8681
Collection group(s): English Literature
Description
The collection includes small press poetry by or associated with Matthewman or published by the Swan Press.
Comprises
(a) Six issues of The Bellevueite Weekly: The Official Organ of the Belle Vue Club (issues numbered 3,4,5 and 7 are renamed The Belle Vue Club Commentator). Majority are handwritten, with the final issue duplicated). The first issue is dated March 23 1918, with all issues presumably written while Matthewman was still at the Leeds Modern School. The magazine contains stories, articles and poems - many satirical, contributed by Matthewman and others. Editors are listed as 'General Editor E. Berry, Science Editor S. Matthewman, Cycling Editor S Breed.'
(b) notebook containing typed versions of poems for Matthewman's collection 'Interlude', with insertions;
(c) five small books of verse by Matthewman, two published by the Swan Press (both presentation copies), and one printed by Alberta Vickridge (presentation copy by the printer);
(d) seven small books of verse by others (including Cecil Lay and Alberta Vickridge), six of these published or printed by the Swan Press;
(e) three Christmas cards printed for Sydney and Phyllis Matthewman, and one printed announcement of the birth of John Richard Brinton (13 July 1929) with a poem by Sydney Matthewman
Biography or history
Sydney Matthewman (1902-1970), poet and printer, was educated at the Leeds Modern School, and the University of Leeds. He established the Swan Press in Leeds in the early 1920s, producing booklets of poetry from his father's printing business in Swan Street.
Alongside his own work, Matthewman also published collections by associates at the University, including Wilfred Rowland Childe. His anthologies 'A Northern Venture: Verses by Members of the Leeds University English School Association' (1923) and 'Leeds University Verse: 1914-1924' (1924), include poems by J.R.R. Tolkien, then Reader in English Language at the University.
Matthewman was the founder and editor of Yorkshire Poetry from 1922-24, while also the associate editor of Poetry Review (1921-23) and assistant editor of The Decachord from 1923-29. He later moved it to London.
Provenance
Six issues of The Bellevueite Weekly were acquired by Special Collections from Christopher Edwards in 2022.
The Matthewman notebook and associated print were acquired from Betram Rota in 2006.
Access and usage
Access
Access to this material is unrestricted.