Edwin Muir Materials in Other EUL Collections

Overview

There is much material of Muir interest in other EUL Collections, including creative and critical writings by George Mackay Brown, Norman MacCaig, and Marion Lochhead, letters from Muir to MacCaig, Maurice Lindsay, and Hugh MacDiarmid, and works by Muir in the personal library of Lewis Grassic Gibbon. Muir is also mentioned in correspondence to Helen Cruickshank, Tom Scott, Fred Urquhart, and Hugh MacDiarmid (particularly in relation to the feud with MacDiarmid triggered by Muir's Scott and Scotland).

Collections

George Mackay Brown (Coll-50)

Creative Writings by Brown

• 'Five Poems for Edwin Muir, 1887-1987' (1986-87) - MSS and TSS (MS 2845/2/1)
• Edwin Muir and the Labyrinth: A Play (1987) - MS drafts (MS 2844/4)

Critical Writings by Brown

• Essay on Edwin Muir (1966) - MS (Gen 1777)
• Review of Selected Letters of Edwin Muir (1974?) - MS (Gen 1970)
• ‘Edwin Muir’, essay (May 1979) - TS (MS 3115/2b)
• ‘Edwin Muir at Newbattle’, with notes for essay on Muir (3 October 1980) and Script for BBC Radio broadcast on Muir (October 1980) - MSS (E2001.36)
• Notes for Edwin Muir: Selected Prose, ed. Mackay Brown, with ‘Introduction’ and ‘Envoy: Edwin Muir at Newbattle’ (1986) - MS and TS drafts (MS 2844/5/3-5)
• ‘Edwin Muir’ (June 1985), article for The Glasgow Herald - MS (MS 2846/2/3)
• Reviews of George Marshall’s In a Distant Isle: The Orkney Background of Edwin Muir and of Edwin and Willa, broadcast readings by Tom Fleming and Anne Kristen (1987) - MS (MS 3114/2/1/2)
• Review of Muir’s The Truth of Imagination for The Scotsman (23 July 1988) - MS notes, MS, and TS (MS 3112/8/6)
• ‘Edwin Muir: A Memoir’ (1992) - MS and TS (MS 3118/16c)
• ‘Edwin Muir's Poetry: The Double Aspect’, broadcast script (undated) - MS (Gen 1866/5)
• ‘Edwin Muir’, article for Orkney View (undated) - MS and TS (MS 2845/1/4)
• ‘Edwin Muir’, article for Radio Times (undated) - MS and TS (MS 2845/1/5)

Helen Cruickshank (Coll-81)

• Muir mentioned in letter from Peggy Grieve to Cruickshank, [1930?] (Gen 886/5)
• Muir mentioned in letter from Valda Grieve to Cruickshank, [1938?] (Gen 886/36 and 42-43)
• Muir mentioned in letters from Hugh MacDiarmid to Cruickshank, [1938?] (Gen 886/79-80)

David Daiches (Coll-694)

• Muir mentioned in 3 letters from Willa Muir to Daiches, 10 February 1959, 12 May 1960, and 16 April 1961 (E92.46)

At E92.46, there are also letters to Daiches from Eric Linklater, Sydney Harrison, and lawyer J. H. Smith, addressing Willa Muir's financial difficulties following Edwin's death.

Lewis Grassic Gibbon (Personal Library)

• Copies of Muir's John Knox: Portrait of a Calvinist (Gibbon.118) and of his novels The Three Brothers (Gibbon.119) and The Marionette (Gibbon.307) from the library of Lewis Grassic Gibbon/James Leslie Mitchell.

The ‘Jabberwock’ Archive (Coll-1611)

• Letter from Muir to Ian Holroyd editor of The Jabberwock, 14 January 1953 (E2015.15)

Maurice Lindsay (Coll-56)

• 2 letters from Muir to Lindsay, 11 July 1945 and 16 June 1948 (Gen 2030/31/87-88)

Marion Lochhead (Coll-809)

• His childhood memories discussed in chapter 18 of TS of Lochhead's Their First Ten Years (Gen 2156/1, Folder 6)

Norman MacCaig (Coll-69)

• Letter from Muir to MacCaig, 28 March 1955 (MS 3204/2/21)
• Biographical sketch of Edwin Muir - MS (MS 3202/5/1)
• Sketch of Edwin Muir's life and work - MS (MS 3202/5/2)
• Obituary for Edwin Muir - TS (MS 3202/5/3)
• Transcript of review of J. C. Hall's book Edwin Muir broadcast on Arts Review (BBC Scottish Home Service), 26 February 1956 - TS (MS 3203/1/18)
• Review of P. H. Butter's book Edwin Muir - MS (MS 3203/4/54)
• Photograph of headstone of Muir's grave (Swaffham Prior, Cambridgeshire) (MS 3207/13/17)

Hugh MacDiarmid (Coll-18)

• 15 letters from Muir to MacDiarmid, 1928-48 (MS 2955.19)

Muir is also mentioned in many other letters in our Hugh MacDiarmid Papers, including:

• 2 letters from MacDiarmid to F. G. (Francis George) Scott, 1939-40 (Gen 887/9 and 18)
• 9 letters from W. R. (William Russell) Aitken to MacDiarmid, 1936-39 (MS 2942.2/10-12, 24, 41-42, 59-60, 63-64, 68-75, 102-03)
• 3 letters from Catherine Carswell to MacDiarmid, 17 February 1934, 2 November 1936, and 7 October 1938 (MS 2946.1/3-4, 32, and 35)
• 3 letters from Helen Cruickshank to MacDiarmid, 26 February 1934, 4 August 1935, and 23 November 1938 (MS 2946.9/4-5, 11-12, 32)
• 17 letters from George Elder Davie to Hugh MacDiarmid, 1936-39 (MS 2946.12/6, 20-24, 35-43, 44-46, 55-60, 71-73, 89-97, 102-105, 113-115, 118, 128, 129-35, 147-148)
• Letter from T. S. Law to MacDiarmid, 29 November 1946, (MS 2953.2/9)
• Letter from Norman MacCaig to MacDiarmid, 11 July 1954 (MS 2953.7/30-31)
• 2 letters and 1 postcard from W. D. (William Dugald) MacColl to MacDiarmid, 4 September and 17 November 1941, 6 February 1942 (MS 2953.9/72-80)
• Letter from F. Marian McNeill to MacDiarmid, 21 October 1935 (MS 2955.2/5-6)
• 6 letters from William Soutar to MacDiarmid, 1934-41 (MS 2960.18/6-7, 22, 25, 30-31, 39-41)
• Letter from Douglas Young to MacDiarmid, 17 July 1941 (MS 2961.18/8)

Tom Scott (Coll-1077)

• Mentioned in undated letter to Scott from Babette Deutsch, ca. 1954 (E95.02)
• Mentioned in letters to Scott from G. S. Fraser, 8 September 1956 and 9 November 1957 (E95.02)
• Mentioned in letters to Scott from Hugh MacDiarmid, in letters of 8 October 1963 and 8 March 1969 (E2001.34)

Fred Urquhart (Coll-49)

• Muir discussed in Urquhart's essay 'Modern Scottish Poetry' [193-?] (MS 2803)
• His Scottish Journey discussed in Urquhart's Diary, 14 November 1936 (MS 2826)
• Muir mentioned in letter from George Scott-Moncrieff to Urquhart, 7 December 1941 and in 3 undated (MS 2832)
• Mentioned in letter from Robert Kemp to Urquhart, 10 May 1943 (MS 2837)
• Mentioned in letter from Alexander Reid to Urquhart, 4 June 1943 (MS 2833)
• Mentioned in letter from J. F. Hendry to Urquhart, 16 April 1952 (MS 2834)
• Mentioned in copy of letter from Urquhart to Maurice Lindsay, 12 June 1980 (MS 2838)