[Archive, typescript and manuscript notes as well as printed material pertaining to:] 'A Collection for a Study of the Poet Herbert Palmer (1880-1961)'

(Palmer.) WHITEMAN (William M.)

[Archive, typescript and manuscript notes as well as printed material pertaining to:] 'A Collection for a Study of the Poet Herbert Palmer (1880-1961)'

Description: typescripts (with manuscript corrections) of two talks on Palmer by Whiteman ('Herbert Palmer: A Debt', Feb. 1980, 5pp.; 'Herbert Palmer: A Talk to the Petersfield Literary Society', 11pp.), and a photocopy of an article by him on the poet in Hertford Countryside May 1980, various other typescript notes comprising listings of HEP books and other material in his collection, as well as notes on his work (with ms. corrections), a typed note sending the material to 'Dear Beryl' (signed 'Bill'), 4 newspaper clippings of work by or on Palmer (including the Times' obituary), 15 transcriptions of Palmer poems published in various journals, with notes of their appearance and in some cases listing variant lines in manuscript, ms. list of the magazines in which his work appeared, 10 printed contributions by Palmer to various magazines (principally The Adelphi and The Albanian), the majority excised and laid down, a 2pp. ALs from Palmer to Whiteman in original envelope postmarked Nov. 1946, various sizes and formats, the odd spot, a little corner-creasing, stored in original envelope, good condition

Publication Details: 1920- 1980

Notes: An interesting group of material, formed by a collector whose connection with the poet went beyond his admiration for his work: Whiteman was taught by Palmer at St. Albans School (1919-23), and professes as high a regard for the man as for the work - though in the former, he acknowledges that the regard was slow in coming, and that Palmer was a 'contemptible and pathetic figure' to his pupils, but an effective oddity in a pedagogic sense. The 'shabby' treatment extended, Whiteman considers, beyond the schoolroom to the literary world, where Palmer's eccentricities likewise rendered him a figur...moreAn interesting group of material, formed by a collector whose connection with the poet went beyond his admiration for his work: Whiteman was taught by Palmer at St. Albans School (1919-23), and professes as high a regard for the man as for the work - though in the former, he acknowledges that the regard was slow in coming, and that Palmer was a 'contemptible and pathetic figure' to his pupils, but an effective oddity in a pedagogic sense. The 'shabby' treatment extended, Whiteman considers, beyond the schoolroom to the literary world, where Palmer's eccentricities likewise rendered him a figure out of step with the mainstream - but the 'strong [...] impression' he created is, Whiteman considers, something that posterity would reward, both in a personal sense and with regard to his work ('I think he will live'). The jewel of the collection is the letter from Palmer to Whiteman, written in response to a letter from the latter apologising for the aforementioned poor treatment during his schooldays, about which Palmer is forgiving: 'Don't worry about the Past, I think I have more to regret than you. Part of it was my own fault, part of it [the Headmaster,] Major Montague Jones's because he impeded me'. He thinks he remembers Whiteman, and proceeds to discuss at length his own work both in terms of content and publication status - pausing to dismiss 'the modernist stuff' that dominates the current literary landscape as 'unspeakably bad'. HIDE