David Gray., 10/26/1942-09/25/1945

File — Box: 6, Folder: 36

Identifier: 49465

Collection-level Scope and Content Note

From the Collection:

This collection essentially comprises the life and letters of Sir Shane Leslie whose boundless energy and wide-ranging interests took him all over Britain, the United States and Canada, bringing him in touch with people in many fields including the arts, economics, education, literature, politics and religion. Sir Shane's personal papers also reflect his deep concern and interest in Irish culture and politics, particularly the question of Irish independence through Home Rule.

The correspondence series of the collection reads like a who's who particularly from 1900 through 1971. Famous names include Angela Antrim, Margot Asquith, Nancy Astor, William Maxwell Aitken, Lord Beaverbrook, Hilaire Belloc, Wilfrid Scawen Blunt, J.E.C. Bodley, Brendan Bracken, G.K. Chesterton, Winston Churchill (cousin), Sydney Cockerell, Bourke Cockran, George Curzon, Charles Dilke, Alfred Douglas, Mrs. Fitzherbert, Francois Aidan Gasquet, Rupert Hart-Davis, Vyvyan Holland, John Maynard Keynes, William Somerset Maugham, Alice, Francis and Viola Meynell, Horace Plunkett, George Bernard Shaw, Clare Sheridan (wife of Wilfrid Sheridan, great-great grandson of Richard Brinsley Sheridan), Cecil Arthur Spring-Rice, Mark Sykes, Evelyn Waugh, William Butler Yeats.

The collection includes a signed black and white photograph inscribed by Leo Tolstoy to Shane Leslie, during the latter's visit to the great Russian author in Moscow in 1907. Sir Shane's manuscripts are also included in great abundance in the collection, including those for his autobiography, “Long Shadows.” The typescripts and drafts of a biography planned by Iris Leslie are also included in this series. Other notable series include Sir Shane's journals and appointment books; scrapbooks, particularly those concerning his visit to the U.S. 1957-1958; and editions of Sir Shane's own works that include tipped-in items such as correspondence relating to the work, notes by Sir Shane, and press cuttings.

Dates

10/26/1942-09/25/1945

Collection-level Access Restrictions

Most manuscripts collections at the Georgetown University Booth Family Center for Special Collections are open to researchers; however, restrictions may apply to some collections. Collections stored off site require a minimum of three days for retrieval. For use of all manuscripts collections, researchers are advised to contact the Booth Family Center for Special Collections in advance of any visit.

Extent

From the Collection: 40.25 Linear Feet (80 boxes and 1 oversized folder )

Language of Materials

From the Collection: English

Additional Description

Container Summary

Contains 3 TLS from David Gray to Shane Leslie, re Irish politics with the following remarks on the state of things (ALS 9/25/1945): "...I am coming to believe that Irish history will not be finally written till it is written as part of a history of the world all done in tremendous scale. The more I contemplate it, the more I recognize it as a revolution against a social and economic system, which for reasons of efficiency assumed the cloak of nationalism. The vital interests of the two countries are so intertwined as to make separatism in the De Valera sense pronounce the doom of Ireland. Dickens' outcry against the care of the poor, insane and debtor classes is fundamentally motivated by the same conditions that roused Mitchell. But within England there was no possibility of nationalistic revolt..."

Subjects and Associated Physical Materials

DE VALERA, EAMON - REFERENCE BY DAVID GRAY 1945: Typed Letter Signed

GRAY, DAVID - CORRES. TO SHANE LESLIE 1942-45: Typed Letter Signed

IRELAND - POLITICS - REFERENCE BY DAVID GRAY 1942-45: Typed Letter Signed