Add MS 89008/1

This file contains various printed papers and typescripts relating to the Fabian Society, along with a small amount of correspondence and notes. Whilst some of the Fabian material can be found in other collections, there are a number of items such as minutes, manifestos and meeting cards, which do not appear elsewhere. Most significantly, this files contains Shaw's third edition of the Fabian Tract No. 1: 'Why are the Many Poor?', which is thought to be the only surviving copy.

Fabian related items include:

• - 'Why are the Many Poor?', 1889. [Fabian Tract No. 1]. Third Edition. First issue of the text as revised by Shaw. Printed.
• - 'Capital and Land', n.d. [Fabian Tract No. 7]. Printed.
• - 'Figures for Londoners', n.d. [Fabian Tract No. 10]. A short extract from Fabian Tract No. 8, 'Facts for Londoners'. Printed.
• - 'Socialism and Superior Brains: A Reply to Mr Mallock', by G. B. Shaw, 1931. [Fabian Tract No. 146]. First Published 1909. Seventh Reprint December 1931. Printed.
• - 'The Inefficiency of Strikes: Is There Not a Better Way?', by Alfred R. Wallace, n.d. [Corrected galleys]. Printed with annotations in unknown hand.
• - 'Fiscal Policy', n.d. [Corrected galleys].
• - 'Report of Executive Committee', n.d. [Corrected galleys]. Heavily corrected proof of a list of Fabian Society publications, 1900. Printed with annotations in unknown hand.
• - Four Pamphlets: Rules of the Fabian Society, n.d., 1886-1887, 1887-1888, and 1888-1889. Printed.
• - 'The Insurance Bill and the Workers: Criticisms and Amendments of the National Insurance Bill', 1911. Prepared by the Executive Committee. Printed.
• - Draft statement of Principles of the Fabian Society, 20 May 1887. Printed.
• - Election Manifesto, 1892. Printed.
• - Notice appealing for contributions to the Keir Hardie Election Fund, East Bradford Election, 1896. Printed.
• - Election addresses of candidates for the election of the Executive Committee, 1907. Printed.
• - Notice from the Fabian Women's Group, appealing for help for the London County Council Election candidates, December 1909. Printed.
• - 'Manifesto on the Railway Situation', 1911. Issued by the Executive Committee. Printed.
• - Duplicated proposal for a Socialist Alliance issued by the Hammersmith Socialist Society, 27 January 1893. Handwritten.
• - 'The Fabian Society. It's Aims and Methods', n.d. Broadside on green paper. Printed.

Correspondence includes:

• - Two letters from Shaw bibliographer Dan H. Laurence (1973 and 1974) regarding the significance of the third edition of Fabian Tract No. 1. Typewritten and signed.
• - Letter to Shaw from R. Page Arnot regarding Shaw's resignation from the Labour Research Department, n.d. Handwritten and signed.
• - Letter from Bernard Ricket, 1904. Handwritten and signed.
• - Copy of a letter from Shaw to Edward Pease regarding proposed Fiscal Tract (30 September, 1903), n.d. Typewritten.

Other items include: a typewritten copy of the Manifesto of the Fabian Reform Association (n.d.); 'Syllabus for Speeches at Liebknecht Meeting 5 June 1896 by G.B.S.' (n.d.), typewritten (7 pp); a notice for the St Pancras Borough Council election of 1900, in which Shaw stood as a candidate; handwritten notes on card, listing the total polls of various St Pancras elections between 1892 and 1904; a London School of Economics and Political Science booklet: 'Arrangements for Lent Term 1906.'

Also included is an auction slip from the Bonhams sale (2009), which describes some of the items found in this file.