Twentieth Century Literature Collections   Tags: engl, english, literature  

This guide identifies manuscript collections, university records and VFMs (Vertical File Manuscripts) that are related to Twentieth Century British and American literature.  The Special Collections Research Center (SCRC) of Southern Illinois University Carbondale houses a diverse body of literary primary sources, from the personal papers of several notable authors to an extensive collection of rare books and other printed material.  SCRC holdings are particularly strong in Modernist and expatriate authors of the former half of the twentieth century.  The collections include an extensive collection of correspondence, literary manuscripts, photographs, and ephemeral material as well as rare books, periodicals, pamphlets, and other printed matter.  For additional assistance, visit the SCRC website.

This guide is not intended to be a complete finding aid to the collections.  It serves as a preliminary research tool, providing a brief description of holdings with basic information on size, inclusive dates, types of records, and broad subject areas.  More detailed descriptions of the sources listed below are available in the Special Collections Research Center (SCRC) and through SIUCat, Morris Library's online catalog.  I-Share contains bibliographic records for the majority of the manuscript collections held in SCRC as well as books and other printed material available at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Finding aids for these sources are also available through SCRC's Web site in the finding aid database ARCHON.

Please note that not all manuscript collections are housed in SCRC.  Some collections are located at an off-site storage facility and must be requested in advance.  In addition, some collections have access restrictions.  Researchers are encouraged to contact SCRC to insure that materials will be available.  We are also happy to pull materials in advance of a research visit.

Although this guide focuses on British and American Literature, SCRC also holds an extensive Irish literature collection.  More information about the Irish literature and history materials in SCRC can be found here.