Table of Contents

Restrictions on Access

Unrestricted access.

Terms Governing Use and Reproduction

To quote in print, or otherwise reproduce in whole or in part in any publication, including on the World Wide Web, any material from this collection, the researcher must obtain permission from (1) the owner of the physical property and (2) the holder of the copyright. Persons wishing to quote from this collection should consult Special Collections Research Center to determine copyright holders for information in this collection. Reproduction of any item must contain the complete citation to the original.

Citation

[after identification of item(s)], Envoy, A Review of Literature and Art records, Special Collections Research Center, Morris Library, Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

Historical Note

During its brief existence, Envoy, A Review of Literature and Art, published the work of a broad range of writers, Irish and others. The first to publish J. P. Donleavy, Brendan Behan's first short stories and his first poem, and an extract from Samuel Beckett's "Watt," Envoy was begun by John Ryan, a Dublin artist, who was editor and prime mover. Among the distinguished associate editors were Valentin Iremonger, Irish diplomat and poet who served as poetry editor, J. K. Hillman, Michael Huron, and Owen Quinn.

In December of 1949 Envoy was inaugurated in response to Irish trade and censorship restrictions which had forced many writers to seek publication outside their homeland. Though the Envoy Publishing Company's goal of publishing books died with the magazine in July, 1951, the short-lived enterprise succeeded, with the lone publication of Valentin Iremonger's prize-winning book of poetry Reservations, and with its lively magazine, in breaching some of the barriers of Irish publication, as well as providing outstanding prose, poetry, criticism, and reviews of the contemporary Irish art scene during its twenty-month existence.

Among Envoy contributors were Samuel Beckett, Brendan Behan, Anton Chekhov (in translation), Padriac Colum, Anthony Cronin, Aidan Higgins, Pearse Hutchinson, Maria Jolas (in translation), Patrick Kavanagh, who wrote the monthly "Diary," Mary Lavin, Ethel Mannin, Lionel Miskin, Brian O'Nolan, Edward Sheehy, Francis Stuart, Patrick Swift, Arland Ussher, Thomas Woods, and many others.

Scope and Content Note

The collection consists mainly of published and unpublished manuscripts and letters to Envoy of a literary nature. Other correspondence includes incoming business letters and out-going letters, which are organized into separate files in alphabetical order. Published manuscript material has been organized by issue in boxes 1-3, in chronological order from its founding issue in December, 1949, to its demise in July, 1951. Within the issue folder, items have been arranged in the order in which they appeared; unidentified manuscripts and correspondence are in box 4, folders 2 and 3 respectively. Literary correspondence and unpublished manuscripts are in boxes 4 and 5, arranged alphabetically, and a scrapbook of clippings related to Envoy is also in box 4. General correspondence is in box 6, arranged alphabetically, and outgoing correspondence is in alphabetical order by the recipient with miscellaneous business materials in box 7. Twenty-one issues of Envoy (two copies of the February, 1951 issue) and a copy of the June 1942 issue of The Bell complete the collection. [Removed to periodicals-RBR 7/8/74-KWD]

Arrangement Note

Arranged by material type.

Finding Aid Note

Index to selected correspondents available.

---

Selected Search Terms

Topical Terms

Irish poetry-20th century.

Poets, Irish--20th century