UNIQUE TED HUGHES COLLECTION ACQUIRED BY UNIVERSITY OF HUDDERSFIELD NOW AVAILABLE AT HERITAGE QUAY

We are delighted to announce that a unique collection of rare and valuable items relating to the former poet laureate Ted Hughes has been acquired by the University of Huddersfield and is now available at Heritage Quay.

Image of Ted Hughes seated, smiling.
Photograph of Ted Hughes by Layle Silbert. One of 11 previously unknown photographs of Hughes by Silbert in the collection and part of the photograph album featuring many unknown photographs of Hughes and Sylvia Plath. By permission of University of Chicago who manage Silbert’s estate. © University of Huddersfield

 

The Mark Hinchliffe Ted Hughes Collection – described by the collector’s journal The Private Library as ‘one of the finest Hughes collections in private hands’ and ‘a rival to collections held in University libraries on both sides of the Atlantic’ – was gathered over a lifetime by the late Huddersfield poet and Hughes expert, Mark Hinchliffe, and came to the University from Hinchliffe’s widow, Julie.

The collection was acquired with the help of generous funding from the National Heritage Memorial Fund, the Victoria and Albert/Arts Council England Acquisition Fund, The Friends of the National Libraries, and the University of Huddersfield.

Dr Steve Ely, Director of the Ted Hughes Network at the University comments: “We are delighted to have acquired Mark Hinchliffe’s outstanding collection. It comprises over 170 items, including signed first editions of dozens of Hughes’ trade, limited-edition and fine-press publications; original letters written by Hughes and his first wife, the poet Sylvia Plath; signed and annotated books from Hughes’s personal collection; and, some absolutely unique items: a very fine ceramic jaguar sculpted by Hughes in 1967, the only intact example anywhere in the world of Hughes’s work in the plastic arts.

Manuscript with Ted Hughes handwriting holograph of Hughes' radio script for Orpheus.
A holograph of Ted Hughes’ radio script for Orpheus.
© University of Huddersfield
Becky Bowd sat at table smiling with two Baskin watercolours on the table
Dr Rebecca Bowd, University Archivist with Baskin watercolours.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“There is an album containing hundreds of photographs, including some previously unknown photographs of both Hughes and Plath; a holograph manuscript of the radio play ‘Orpheus & Eurydice’ with some significant differences to the broadcast and published versions, and, a bespoke edition of the Gehenna Press’ limited edition Howls & Whispers, comprising the original fine-book, 8 original watercolours by Leonard Baskin – two of which are pictured here –  and a unique copper-plate, engraved portrait of Sylvia Plath.”

Watercolour of woman swathed in blue.
‘Woman swathed in blue’ from Howls and Whispers. By permission of the Estate of Leonard Baskin.
© University of Huddersfield
Watercolour by Leonard Baskin showing heads coloured orange, blue and yellow.
‘Woman swathed in blue’ from Howls and Whispers. By permission of the Estate of Leonard Baskin.
© University of Huddersfield

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Mark was a significant figure in the international Ted Hughes scholarly and collecting communities, a friend and correspondent of Ted and other members of the Hughes family, a member of the Ted Hughes Society, a founding member and chair of the Elmet Trust, a key figure in the development of the Ted Hughes Poetry Festival in the Upper Calder Valley, a scholar and a published poet – a significant figure in his own right.

Photograph of Mark Hinchliffe
Mark Hinchliffe, who died in 2019, first corresponded with Ted Hughes while still in his teens and built up a substantial collection of Hughes-related material.

“He was a great supporter of the work of the Ted Hughes Network at the University, and it is fitting that his collection should be retained in his hometown.”

Julie Hinchliffe comments: “I am absolutely delighted that the University of Huddersfield has acquired Mark’s extensive Ted Hughes collection. It was his wish that the collection should remain intact and be available for academics, students and the public to enjoy as much as he did. I know that he would be very pleased with its new home.”

The Collection will be housed in the University’s archive, Heritage Quay. Dr Rebecca Bowd, University Archivist comments: “We are thrilled to be able to preserve Mark Hinchliffe’s fantastic collection at Heritage Quay where for the first time it will be freely accessible to the public. The Ted Hughes Archive at Heritage Quay already holds three other Ted Hughes-related deposits: the Donald Crossley Papers, the Christopher Reid Papers and a comprehensive collection of Hughes’ fine and small press work.

“The purchase of this collection cements Heritage Quay’s reputation as a must-visit archive for Ted Hughes scholars world-wide and we can’t wait to welcome researchers to explore the collection here at the University of Huddersfield.

Heritage Quay will also work with the Ted Hughes Network to arrange public-facing events to engage people with the collection—a symposium, talks, poetry readings, exhibitions, creative writing workshops and events for young people are planned. The first of these, an exhibition featuring highlights from the collection will take place at Heritage Quay from late June to mid-September.”

Dr Simon Thurley CBE, Chair, National Heritage Memorial Fund comments: “The National Heritage Memorial Fund are delighted to support the University of Huddersfield with £33,775 to enable the purchase of the final five works from Mark Hinchcliffe’s private collection. The works that we have supported are considered unique and will now be shared widely by the university’s Ted Hughes Network & Heritage Quay, including through children’s workshops and creative writing activities.”

Black Ceramic Jaguar on white background
A ceramic jaguar sculpted by Ted Hughes, the only intact example of his work in the plastic arts.
© University of Huddersfield

The Arts Council England/V&A Purchase Grant Fund, which has contributed £35,000, adds that “‘we are delighted to be able to support the acquisition of the Hinchcliffe Archive by the University of Huddersfield. Not only is it an important collection of material which explores the life and work of Ted Hughes, but the collection is fascinating in how it reflects the relationship between Hughes and Hinchcliffe; it has much research potential for students and academics alike, both national and international.”

Heritage Minister Nigel Huddleston said: “It is fitting that this extensive Ted Hughes collection has been acquired by the University of Huddersfield in the poet’s home county. I am delighted that UK Government funding through the National Heritage Memorial Fund has enabled it to happen. These brilliant works will now be available to academics, students and members of the public where they will provide endless inspiration and enjoyment for years to come.”

For further information about the collection or to arrange a visit, email us at archives@hud.ac.uk or see https://heritagequay.org/archives/mhth/

Story originally published at https://www.hud.ac.uk/news/2022/may/ted-hughes-collection-acquired-heritage-quay/

Adding to the collections

The priorities for future collecting are to develop the current strengths of the archival collections and develop the Archive as a world-class repository for
• British music of the 19th-21st centuries,
• Rugby League as a national and international sport,
• the history of Huddersfield and the surrounding area in the key areas of the arts, politics, education and women’s history.

Major acquisitions during 2015 include the archive of Mikron Theatre Company, the Charles Hippisley-Cox collection of British dance band music, and institutional records of the University of Huddersfield.

We are always interested in hearing from you if you have material we might interested in.  While we are particularly interested in records that will fill the gaps we have currently in our collections we are are also interested in adding to those collections where coverage is better.  For further information of what we collect see our Acquisition Policy.  There is information on gifting or depositing archives with us here. [links updated August 2017]

We would appreciate your feedback on any key areas you feel we do not currently cover, or would like to access more information on. Please contact us with ideas and suggestions at archives@hud.ac.uk.

Clarion call from the archives

The acquisition of the Robert Blatchford Collection by the University Archives and Special Collections service demonstrates an on-going commitment to building political resources of both local and international significance at the University of Huddersfield.  Robert Peel Glanville Blatchford (1851-1943) grew up in Halifax, and was a soldier, patriot, author and journalist who founded the weekly socialist newspaper The Clarion in 1891.  Blatchford’s political beliefs created tensions within the International Labour Party, and his views on subjects including education, religion and war continued to be controversial throughout his life, even to his supporters, and may have influenced the unstable readership history of the Clarion throughout the early twentieth century.  More than just a newspaper, it generated a dynamic ‘Clarion Movement’, through which socialist Britons formed social clubs embracing activities from cycling to Scouts, some of which have endured to the present day.  An activist driven by his own beliefs, rather than bound by organisational loyalties, in the 1920s Blatchford became disillusioned with labour and eventually voted Conservative. Defiantly atheist, after a number of personal tragedies he turned to Spiritualism.  He was also a steadfast patriot, and his love for his country is reflected throughout his work.

The archive relates to Blatchford’s professional and personal life, and includes a long, affectionate and witty correspondence with his two daughters about the personal and political issues of the day, and correspondence received by the sisters upon his death in 1943.  It also contains copies of his books and publications, and a large number of articles written by or about him on his beliefs, from Socialism to Spiritualism and the impending threat from Germany during the 1930s.  The collection comes to the university following the recent success of the second annual JH Whitley lecture in political history, and joins a core of important political archives reflecting the work of local MPs and the history of the Labour party and socialist politics in nineteenth and twentieth century West Yorkshire.

The collection was deposited by Lord David Clark, Baron Clark of Windermere, a former MP for the Colne Valley and previously a Senior Lecturer in Politics for the University of Huddersfield.  Once catalogued, the collection will be available for consultation from Summer 2014 by appointment with the university archives.

2013-11-14 Lord Clarke depositing Blatchford WEB
Lord Clarke exploring the collection with Amy-Jo and Sue White, Director of Computing and Library Services