The collection, 1936-58, comprises general correspondence files containing letters dealing with a wide variety of matters that affected the publishing house. Many deal with the ephemeral day to day matters of Duckworth, such as the canvassing and selection of manuscripts, and the depression of the book trade as a result of the rise of Fascism, while other issues are broader responses to the politics of the time. The files contain considerable correspondence between the publisher and its authors although this is often of an ephemeral nature.
Many of the firm's records were destroyed as a result of enemy action in 1942 and in a fire in 1953, meaning that there are no records of sales or any accounts of the firm, beyond some invoices and receipts from the 1950s. An earlier fire in 1929 destroyed many of the records of the firm, and the general correspondence occasionally makes reference to the firm's inability to consult their early correspondence in response to enquiries.
A second deposit of files made in August 1998 (reference MS959B) contains files of press-cuttings and journal reviews, c1970s-80s, relating to books published by Duckworth as well as 'Author Files' and papers of former Managing Director, Colin Haycraft. ncludes files on Penelope Fitzgerald, A. N. Wilson, Nicholas Kaldor, Brian Redhead, A.L. Rowse, Ernie Wise, Michael Dummett, Kenny Everett, Kenneth Dover, A. J. Ayer, Mary Beard, John Toshack, Francis Wyndham, Jack Trevor Story, John Vaizey, Ronald Dworkin, Quentin Crisp, Herbert Butterfield, Louis Blom-Cooper, Roy Porter, Geoffrey Grigson, John Sparrow, Rachel Kempson, and Isaiah Berlin.
Gerald Duckworth and Co Ltd