Loan 96 RLF 1

The main work of the Literary Fund since its foundation in 1790 has been the provision of grants to writers in distressed circumstances. Throughout the period the archive covers, writers applied confidentially and their applications and works were considered by the Fund's Committee. If applicants were considered to have displayed sufficient literary merit in their writings and their claims to be in need were substantiated, a grant was made based on their perceived need and on the resources available to the Committee. After flurries of applications from serveral early applicants, the Fund determined that it would only aid any applicant once a year (once every three years from the 1920s). Widows and relatives of deceased authors could also apply for aid from the Fund, although at most one grant would be made to them.

The Case Files contain the correspondence, forms and other documents associated with these applications. Each file contains all the papers relating to every application by a single applicant, as well as any applications made based on that applicant's claim by their widows or families after their death. The files retain their original numbering and are ordered largely chronologically, based on the date of the first application made by each applicant. Materials within files are ordered by date of application, and broadly chronologically within applications, although the letter and/or form that initiated the application is often placed first to demarcate it, with earlier-dated supporting letters and documents following.

For each file, the file-level record gives the name of the applicant, along with any variations or pseudonyms, in the title field. The names of relatives making applications based on their relationship with an author, most commonly widows and orphans, are given in this field alongside the author’s name where appropriate. The scope and content field gives information on the types of works published by the applicant as well as details of their career, where available, in order to assist the reader in identifying applicants and to allow for more comprehensive and flexible searches of the records. In addition, brief details of each application made (date of application and result, including the value of any grant awarded) are given to assist with the interpretation of the items. Where appropriate, a notes field has been added to highlight connections between applicant files in the archive, to clarify the provenance of unusual items in the file or to detail any problems with the material.

The majority of the items in the archive are letters written to the Committee of the Literary Fund or to its officers, principally the Secretary after the establishment of that post in 1836. Letters are given as ‘[writer] to [addressee]’ throughout the archive, with additional details where the letter contains unusual information or is not directly related to an application. Application Forms, introduced in 1841 by the then-Secretary, Octavian Blewitt, also form a major part of the archive. On these forms applicants were required to give details of their name, profession, age, date and place of birth, marital status, previous applications to the Fund, incomes and published works. These are given as ‘Application Form, [name of applicant]’, with additional endorsements or other non-standard additions to the form noted where present. Other documents in the archive include receipts for grants, press clippings, advertisements, extracts from the Committee’s minutes, administrative materials and subscription lists – these are described where present and their contents briefly noted where appropriate.

Throughout the series, names are given as fully as possible to facilitate searching. Creation dates are given for every item – where items themselves are undated, contexts and reference sources have been used to provide as close an estimate as the available evidence supports.