Typescript entitled "A Lost Night" by Nancy Cunard, c 1920-1921
Scope and Contents
This is an eight-page typescript of a previously unknown story from the early 1920s, written by Nancy Cunard. This short, well-written piece is the only fiction Cunard is known to have written, and is set in Paris in the beginning of the 1920s. It relates the unravelling of a relationship between the narrator and Leo, a ‘casual loitering adventurer’, told from a self-aware female perspective. It reveals much of the author's' thinking on relationships, sexuality and emotional involvements; and sheds light on her relationship with the novelist Michael Arden, whom she frequented in Paris in the early 1920s and to whom she had given the typescript to read or edit.
The typescript was found folded in Anne Chisholm's biography Nancy Cunard (London: Sidgwick & Jackson, 1979) which is here also, exactly as found.
This recently discovered story is published by Anna Girling for the first time in: '"A Lost Night" - A newly discovered story by Nancy Cunard', The Times Literary Supplement, 8 January 2019, at https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/public/a-lost-night-cunard-story/ [accessed 10 January 2019 - external link]
Dates
- Creation: c 1920-1921
Creator
- Cunard, Nancy, 1896-1965 (writer) (Author, Person)
Language of Materials
English
Physical Description
A short story or vignette, 8 pages, typed one side; with some minor corrections in ink (spelling, commas). Typed on plain white paper, of good quality though much darkened and with some soiling.
Conditions Governing Access
Open. Please contact the repository in advance.
Extent
1 volume
1 folder
Custodial History
Nancy Cunard wrote this story in the early 1920s, and then gave the typescript to Michael Arlen, who kept it until his death nearly thirty-six years later. After this the typescript was kept by Arlen’s daughter Venetia, and passed to a New York bookseller following her death in 2011. In 2018 it was found by Anna Girling, and purchased by Edinburgh University Special Collections.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased in August 2018. Accession no SC-Acc-2018-0148.
Bibliography
Physical Description
A short story or vignette, 8 pages, typed one side; with some minor corrections in ink (spelling, commas). Typed on plain white paper, of good quality though much darkened and with some soiling.
Processing Information
Catalogued by Aline Brodin in December 2018 and May 2019.
Creator
- Cunard, Nancy, 1896-1965 (writer) (Author, Person)
Source
- Arlen, Michael, 1895-1956 (British writer and playwright) (Former owner, Person)
Repository Details
Part of the University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections Repository
Centre for Research Collections
University of Edinburgh Main Library
George Square
Edinburgh EH8 9LJ Scotland
+44(0)131 650 8379
heritagecollections@ed.ac.uk