Add MS 73496

George Barker: three unpublished radio plays in verse by George Barker (b 1913, d 1991); [circa 1946]-1969. Typewritten. Purchased from Paul Rassam, 25 Jan. 1997.

Paper; ff. 156. British Library arrangement.

1. ff. 1-100. Draft with autograph revisions of ‘The Degradations of Guatemozin’; [circa 1946]. With illustrations by Barker’s younger brother Albert Gordon Barker (b.1916, d.1988), known as Kit, who also helped with background historical research. Radio play about the Aztec Emperor Guatemozin, first broadcast 10 May 1947 on the Third Programme. For the composition and reaction to the play, as well as an extract from Act V, see Robert Fraser, The Chameleon Poet: A Life of George Barker (2001), pp. 243-261. Another draft is held at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at the University of Texas at Austin. A recording of the play is available from the British Library Sound Archive, BBC reference 16103-16105.

2. ff. 101-130. BBC script with autograph revisions of ‘The Gardens of Altering Eros’; [circa 1956]. ‘Theological eclogue’ between Gerald Manley Hopkins and Charles Baudelaire. Includes autograph inscription by Barker: ‘This is the only copy remaining of this play. It was broadcast on the Third Programme sometime during the ‘60s’. In fact the date of first broadcast listed in the Radio Times is 9 April 1956. For the composition and an extract from the play see The Chameleon Poet, p. 332.

3. ff. 131-156. BBC script with autograph revisions of ‘A Comedy of Masks’; 1969. Radio play originally titled ‘A Mask of Masks’, first broadcast 7 Sept. 1969 on Radio Three.