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Gerhardie, William Alexander, 1895-1977 (writer and critic)

 Person

Dates

  • Existence: 1895 - 1977

Biography

William Alexander Gerhardie (1895-1977), novelist and critic, was born in St Petersburg, Russia, on 21 November 1895, where he attended the St Annen Schule and Reformierte Schule. He moved to London, with the intention of training for a commercial career, but joined the Royal Scots Greys at the outbreak of the First World War. He was posted to the British embassy in Petrograd, 1916-1918, and in 1918 was attached to the Scots Guards. After the war, Gerhardie travelled the world before attending Worcester College, Oxford, where he obtained a B.A. in Russian in 1922. His first two novels, Futility (1922) and The polyglots (1925), were well received, and he became a prolific writer of novels and short stories. Gerhardie travelled widely before settling in London in 1931, where he remained for the rest of his life. During the Second World War, he worked for the B.B.C. He published his last novel in 1940, and thereafter lived in increasing obscurity, involving himself in a l ittle broadcasting and essay-writing. He was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1975. He died in London on 15 July 1977.

Found in 6 Collections and/or Records:

 Series

Letter from William A. Gerhardi (1895-1977) to Oliver Stones, 9 Aug. 1966

 Series
Reference Code: GBR/0012/MS Add.8781/178
Scope and Contents

Stoner could get a newspaper to publish his book as a disguised attack on the Labour government; or Eyre and Spottiswoode might publish it; the effects of bad reviews

Dates: 9 Aug. 1966
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
 File

Photographs of William Gerhardie, 1971

 File
Reference Code: GBR/0012/MS Add.9750/214
Scope and Contents From the Fonds:

Comprises single items or small collections, chiefly correspondence, donated to or purchased by Cambridge University Library, together with a number of items and fragments found in Cambridge University Library books and bindings.

Dates: 1971
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
 Fonds

William Gerhardie: Correspondence and literary papers

 Fonds
Reference Code: GBR/0012/MS Add.8292
Scope and Contents The collection consists of around eight thousand items of correspondence and more than forty boxes of drafts, notes and other working material, personal and financial documents, press cuttings, many of them annotated, and photographs. The majority of Gerhardie's surviving literary papers date from his most productive period, from the mid-1920s to the late 1930s. His earlier and later work is less well represented. His letters include significant correspondence with fellow writers, in...
Dates: 1900-1970 (circa)
Conditions Governing Access: Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
 Series

William Gerhardie: Correspondence to C.E. Askew, 1923 (Circa)

 Series
Reference Code: GBR/0012/MS Add.8812/125-127
Scope and Contents From the Fonds:

Artificial collection of single item or small collection accessions. Mainly correspondence but includes other papers.

Dates: 1923 (Circa)
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
 Fonds

William Gerhardie: Letters to Margaret Penn, 1941-1977

 Fonds
Reference Code: GBR/0012/MS Add.8841
Scope and Contents

39 personal letters from Gerhardie to Margaret Penn, 1941-1977, including a few typed copies; newscuttings (2); photographs of Gerhardie at Bixlet Haven (3); letters to Margaret Penn from 'Selma', 7 May 1963, and from Harold [Sergings], 13 December 1966; and a letter from Margaret Penn to Gerhardie, 13 July 1977.

Dates: 1941-1977
Conditions Governing Access: Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
 Fonds

William Gerhardie papers of Michael Holroyd

 Fonds
Reference Code: GBR/0012/MS Add.9598
Scope and Contents

Manuscripts, correspondence and other items created or accumulated by Holroyd in the course of his relationship with and work on Gerhardie.

Dates: 1900-2000
Conditions Governing Access: Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).

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Archival Object 3
Collection 3