Alan Redway Papers 1
Collection
Identifier: GTM-GAMMS84
The papers of Alan Redway consist of manuscripts and correspondence relating to his lifelong bibliographic work on British novelist Graham Greene. Included in the collection are letters from Greene,as well as numerous editors, publishers, scholars and writers associated with the bibliography. In addition, Redway had collected newspaper and magazine clippings on Greene and his writings.
The son of Frank Redway, a London dealer in rare and fine books and manuscripts, and the nephew of George Redway, the publisher, Alan Redway continued a family tradition with his 'gentle passion for book collecting and literary scholarship' (Adam, vol. xxxxvi, 1984).
The collection is arranged into 5 series: General correspondence (1949-1987); Graham Greene/Alan Redway correspondence(1949-1983); Manuscripts (c.1949-1983); and Clippings (1924-1983). Scholarship and particularly the love of books was part of the Redway heritage.
Of interest is the correspondence series (boxes 1and 2), which includes original typed letters signed by Greene (with the exception of a few that were transcribed and signed on his behalf by his secretaries, Josephine Reid or Doris Young). The letters, together with the typescripts of articles, commentaries, and many prose and poetry contributions by Greene (box 6), and the news clippings by and about Greene(box 7) accumulated by Redway, comprise an indispensable collection of Greeneiana. It should be noted that the typescripts of Greene's writings are largely carbon copies, some perhaps of originals typed by Greene, some most likely transcribed by a third party for Redway's use. Possibly, Redway obtained these carbons from Greene's sister Elisabeth Dennys who acted in later years as Greene's secretary.
Correspondence is arranged alphabetically. Letters of various correspondents are grouped together if they are directly associated with a particular publisher. Thus, the folder for Oxford University Press correspondence includes letters from Nicholas Barker, John Bell, Kim Scott Walwyn (the latter two being successive editors for Redway's bibliography),all of whom wrote on OUP-related matters. Letters to and from Neil Brennan are included in the correspondence series, along with miscellaneous items relating to the Brennan family.
It should be noted that there was some confusion between Alan Redway and his father's name, Frank. It seems that the former often used his father's letterhead stationery and since he also continued to some some extent with the latter's business after his death, it is understandable that quite a few letters have been addressed in error to 'Frank' when in fact they were meant for Alan Redway. Frank Redway's name has been indexed a few times in this register with an accompanying note to that effect.
An effort has been made to orient indexes in a way that will be useful to those with a special interest in bibliographic research on Graham Greene or in Redway's work itself. Indexes include all the subsections to Redway's bibliography (from 'A' List through 'H' List); Greene book titles covered by Redway (from 'Babbling April' 1925 edition to 'The Great Jowett' 1981),a list of which is provided in the Appendix; names of principle publishers and editors involved in the publication process, as well as other writers and scholars who were associates of Redway's and who corresponded with him about his work.
APPENDIX
The following lists book (and play) titles written by Greene in the order they appear in the drafts for Redway's bibliography ("A" List). Dates are given for publication of first editions (British and American).
1.Babbling April 1925
2.The Man Within 1929
3.The Name of Action 1930
4.Rumour at Nightfall 1931
5.Stamboul Train1932
Orient Express (Amer.)1932
6.It's a Battlefield 1934
7.The Bear Fell Free 1935
8.England Made Me 1935
9.The Basement Room 1935
10.Journey without Maps 1936
11.A Gun for Sale 1936
This Gun for Hire (Amer.)1936
12.Brighton Rock 1938
13.The Lawless Roads 1939
Another Mexico (Amer.)1939
14.The Confidential Agent 1939
15.The Power and the Glory 1940
The Labyrinthine Ways (Amer.)1940
16.British Dramatists 1942
17.The Ministry of Fear 1943
18.The Little Train 1946
19.Nineteen Stories 1947
20.The Heart of the Matter 1948
21.After Two Years 1949
22.The Third Man 1950
23.The Little Fire Engine 1950
24.The Lost Childhood 1951
25.The End of the Affair 1951
26.For Christmas 1951
27.The Little Horse Bus 1952
28.The Living Room 1953
29.The Little Steamroller 1953
30.Twenty one Stories 1955
31.Loser Takes All 1955
32.The Quiet American 1955
33.The Potting Shed 1957
34.Our Man in Havana 1958
35.The Complaisant Lover 1959
36.A Visit to Morin 1960
37.A Burnt Out Case 1961
38.In Search of Character 1961
39.Introductions to Three Novels 1962
40.A Sense of Reality 1963
41.The Revenge 1963
42.Carving a Statue 1964
43.The Comedians 1966
44.May We Borrow Your Husband? 1967
45.Graham Greene: Collected
Essays 1969
46.Travels with my Aunt 1969
47.Mr. Visconti 1969
48.A Sort of Life 1971
49.Collected Stories 1972
50.The Pleasure Dome 1972
51.The Virtue of Disloyalty 1972
52.The Honorary Consul 1973
53.Lord Rochester's Monkey 1974
54.The Return of A.J. Raffles 1975
55.A Wedding Among the Owls 1977
56.The Human Factor 1978
57.Dr. Fischer of Geneva or
the Bomb Party 1978
58.How Father Quixote became
a Monsignor 1980
59.Ways of Escape 1980
60.The Great Jowett 1981
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.
Alan Redway was born in Wimbledon, England, on January 6, 1911. He received a classical education at Rutlish, a public school in Merton. On graduation, at the age of seventeen, he joined Barclays Bank where he worked until his retirement. During the Second World War, Redway served in the British Royal Engineers and Intelligence Corps in Karachi. Over the years, Redway continued to some extent with his father's business - the latter died when Alan was four years old, and his mother Agnes carried on the family business until her death in 1940. Redway began collecting Graham Greene first editions after the war, and although still a banker by profession, he devoted a great part of his life to writing a comprehensive bibliography of Greene's works.
The background to the bibliography is explained in a few key letters written by Alan Redway to Philip Stratford, editor of “The Portable Graham Greene,” and to Nicolas Barker; as well as a letter to Redway from John Bell of the Oxford University Press. Briefly, in 1949 Redway suggested to Greene his idea of writing a comprehensive bibliography which the latter approved. In 1953, Greene, who had heard about a similar project by Neil Brennan, professor of English at Villanova University, Pennsylvania, suggested a collaboration to which Redway readily agreed. At this time, it seems Rupert Hart-Davis, founder of the Soho Bibliography Series, was willing to publish an “interim” bibliography - Redway's work could not be included in the Soho series because at that time it only published posthumous bibliographies. A draft of the manuscript was eventually sent to John Hayward in 1956, then editor of “The Book Collector” (Nicolas Barker was to succeed him after his death in 1965), but was judged in need of much revision.
In 1961, Redway invited Cecil Woolf, a London bookseller, to be a third collaborator on the bibliography. It was hoped that Woolf would be able to help in the revision, especially in regard to the 'C' List; however this plan did not move forward. By 1978, the Soho Bibliography Series had begun to publish bibliographies of living authors, as well as having merged with Oxford University Press (OUP), with Nicolas Barker as general adviser. In a letter to Redway, John Bell, senior editor for the academic English and art publications of OUP, expressed interest in publishing the bibliography. In April 1980, a formal memorandum of agreement was signed by OUP, Redway and Brennan as coauthors, for the publication of “A Bibliography of Graham Greene.”
2.3 Linear Feet (7 Hollinger boxes (4 Document Cases, 3, Slim Document Cases))
English
Purchased from Mrs. Helen Redway, December 1988.
Part of the Georgetown University Manuscripts Repository