Jack Eric Morpurgo Papers

Access and use

Location of collection:
College of William and Mary
Special Collections Research Center
Earl Gregg Swem Library
College of William and Mary
400 Landrum Drive
PO 8795
Williamsburg, VA 23187-8795
Contact for questions and access:
Phone: (757) 221-3090
Fax: (757) 221-5440
Restrictions:

Collection is open to all researchers. Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, such as the Virginia Public Records Act (Code of Virginia. § 42.1-76-91); and the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (Code of Virginia § 2.2-3705.5). Confidential material may include, but is not limited to, educational, medical, and personnel records. If sensitive material is found in this collection, please contact a staff member immediately. The disclosure of personally identifiable information pertaining to a living individual may have legal consequences for which the College of William and Mary assumes no responsibility.

Terms of access:

Before reproducing or quoting from any materials, in whole or in part, permission must be obtained from the Special Collections Research Center, and the holder of the copyright, if not Swem Library.

Preferred citation:

Jack Eric Morpurgo Papers, Special Collections Research Center, Swem Library, College of William and Mary.

Summary

Extent:
23.00 Linear Feet
Creator:
Morpurgo, Jack Eric
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

Jack Eric Morpurgo Papers, Special Collections Research Center, Swem Library, College of William and Mary.

Background

Scope and content:

*Note to reserachers: Series 2 is stored offsite. Please allow 72 hours notice for retrieval.*

Papers, 1937-2000, bulk 1950-1970, of Jack Morpurgo, writer, educator, and editor. Includes correspondence, speeches, lectures, radio scripts, published and unpublished essays, articles, and novels, books from his personal library, certificates and awards, photographs, and framed prints.

Most of the collection consists of Morpurgo's personal writings and business correspondence related to his work as a professor, editor, and director of the National Book League. Morpurgo was a British citizen and graduate of Christ's Hospital school. During his career, he wrote extensively on the subject of Christ's Hospital school. The school was founded in 1552 as a charity to benefit needy children with shelter, food, clothing, and an education. By the eighteenth century, Christ's Hospital was known as one of England's great public schools. It continues to educate British children in the twenty-first century. The papers include correspondence with Edmund Blunden, Virginia Hamilton Adair, Charles Forte, and Russel B. Nye.

Addition 2008.252 contains a typed carbon manuscript for book entitled, "Apprenticeship in Colonial Virginia" by Jack E. Morpurgo, probably written after 1939.

Series 2, Their Majesties Royall Colledge Material, Acc. 1980.126: Five boxes of notes and drafts about Morpurgo's book "Their Majesties' Royall Colledge", correspondence with the Society of the Alumni, and a broadcast script of a Backdrop Club presentation from 1938.

Biographical / historical:

Jack Morpurgo (1918-2000) graduated from Christ's Hospital School in England. He was the first British graduate of the College of William and Mary in Virginia after the American Revolution. He served in the British military during World War II. In his professional life, he was an editor and author of fiction and non-fiction. He was a frequent contributor of articles and book reviews to magazines, scholarly journals, and newspapers. He wrote and participated in numerous radio and television broadcasts in Britain, the United States, Canada, and Australia. A significant portion of his career was spent under the tutelage of Alan Lane, founder of Penguin Books.

Acquisition information:
Acc. No. 2001-4; Gift: ca. 3,700 items, 01/2001. Acc. 1980.126 acquired on 08/25/1980, 08/30/1985, and 06/02/1988. Acc. 1984.060 acquired on 08/16/1984.
Physical description:
3700 items