VBH - Papers of Vivian Beynon Harris - 1935-1996
There are a number of complete and incomplete manuscripts as well as typescripts, of Vivian Beynon Harris' work, including notes and revisions. The majority of this archive is complied of correspondence and financial documents (which are closed). Most of the papers refer to the estate (including the...
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| Archive level description: | Sub-fonds |
| Physical Description: | 19 boxes, 3 of manuscripts/photo albums, 16 of papers/correspondence (7 boxes of which are financial papers which are closed to the public). |
| Languages: | English |
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| Summary: | There are a number of complete and incomplete manuscripts as well as typescripts, of Vivian Beynon Harris' work, including notes and revisions. The majority of this archive is complied of correspondence and financial documents (which are closed). Most of the papers refer to the estate (including the literary estate) of John Wyndham (Vivian Beynon Harris's older brother), whose archive is also held in the Special Collections and Archives section of the University of Liverpool Library. |
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| Date: | 1935-1996 |
| Reference Number: | VBH |
| Arrangement: | There is no real original arrangement to this archive. It has been sorted chronologically, in the first place, and then by subject matter (for instance, the content of correspondence, or of the manuscripts). The collection has been arranged under the following headings:
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| Biographical/Administrative Information: | Vivian Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris (1906-1987) was the younger brother of the celebrated science fiction writer John Wyndham (Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris). The two brothers were very close all their lives, experiencing an unsettled childhood together following the separation of their parents in 1911, then attending the same boarding school - Bedales, near Petersfield, Hampshire. Vivian Beynon Harris initially pursued a career as an actor, studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art from 1925-27 but, achieving little success, he embarked on a career as a novelist under encouragement from his brother. Vivian published four novels: Trouble at Hanard (1948), Confusion at Camden Trig (1948), One Thing Constant (1949) and Song for a Siren (1951). Vivian's success seems to have spurred his brother on, as it was at this time that Wyndham revised his style and published The Day of the Triffids, followed by a sequence of novels that were to become enduring classics of science fiction. Meanwhile, Vivian Beynon Harris' literary career faltered and many of his further attempts at writing fiction were unfinished. The two brothers remained in almost daily contact until Wyndham's death in 1969 and it is perhaps Vivian's memoirs of his brother that are his greatest legacy. There is evidence in the archive that Vivian was planning to write a biography of Wyndham. His manuscripts of Jack and me: growing up with John Wyndham and John Wyndham, 1903-1969 are short but provide rare insights into the life of his famous brother. After Wyndham's death, Vivian Beynon Harris became one of the executors of his brother's literary estate until Vivian himself died in 1987. |