Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch

We are working with Clive Boutle (Francis Boutle Publishers) to produce two new books.

1: Towards Troy: An Arthur Quiller-Couch Reader: Selected and edited by Alan Kent in cooperation with Gerry Hones and Andrew Symons.

Planned sections include the following:

• Poetry – Short Stories – Selections from Novels – Drama – Essays and Criticism – Journalism –  Lectures and Letters – Maritime life – Friends and relatives – View from a Cornish Window

2:  Views on Q: Selected and edited by Gerry Hones and Andrew Symons.

This collection has grown in size and variety and may require the imposition of size limitations. Some contributions are complete originals – including some specially written for this publication – while  others are selections from such longer works as his two biographies.

In his Preface, “My Debt to Q”, Professor Charles Thomas draws on the links between his family and that of Quiller-Couch, a very personal tribute to his great friend.

Brittain’s biographical study of 1947 was the view of a Jesus College contemporary and close friend while A.LRowse dedicated his 1988 “portrait of Q’ to Daphne du Maurier – ‘in common admiration for our old mentor and friend”.

Many other personal ’views’, reflecting both admiration and respect are notable for the way in which they show real affection. Isaac Foot from the world of politics and the drama critic, J.C. Trewin, were long standing friends – but the comments of an anonymous Cambridge undergraduate which recall “after-dinner discussions” with Q in 1923 are equally warm.

Adrian Barlow, Piers Brendon and Basil Willey  consider the effect of such books by Q as The Art of Writing and his leadership in the development of English literature, firstly at Cambridge and then in the wider context. In his biography, Nick Clarke records how Alistair Cooke chose to be a Jesus College undergraduate in order to be with Q, the man whose writings had so “impressed him”.

Writers Nina Bawden , Helen Hanff and Daphne du Maurier acknowledge the important influence of Q early in their careers while Ian Carter highlights the way in which Q’s elegaic style had a major impact on many Victorian novels.

Q’s major contribution to life in Cornwall in general is also well documented. Alan Kent pays tribute to his importance in Cornish literature, David Fryer looks at his involvement over many decades in the field of education while Philip Payton records Q’s constant interest in such broad social issues as ‘cultural identity’ and the effects of a growth of tourism.

The well known importance of Fowey in Q’s life is naturally mentioned in Helen Doe’s focus on his love of the sea. His involvement in the life of the town and the way in which it complement[1] ed his university activities is clearly represented in the BBC radio discussion recorded in 1958, with a title “Scholar among Gentlemen and Gentleman among Scholars”. The memories of his Cambridge colleagues integrate well with the stories of his social life in Fowey as told by some of the people of the town.

Both Simon Naylor and Andrew Symons draw attention to the way in which aspects of Q’s family background especially, the scientific element, have an effect on Q’s writing.

Two recently added contributions are very different in style. Helen Macdonald’s podcast ,“ Why I Really Like This Book”, offers a fresh contemporary look at Q’s writing. Christopher Pittard’s ‘Time. Space and Psychgeography in Castle Dor’ analyses the ways in which both Q and du Maurier used landscape as the setting for their story, showing how authors can develop the concept of ‘place’ over ‘time’