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White, Eric Walter, 1905-

Eric Walter White fonds. -- 1826-1969; predominant 1951-1969. -- 44 cm of textual records and graphic material.

Eric White, music critic and arts administrator, was born in Bristol on 10 September 1905 and educated at Balliol College, Oxford. From 1929 to 1933 he worked as a translator for the League of Nations. Later on, from 1942 to 1971 he was employed by the Council for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts (CEMA) and its successor, the Arts Council. His most important book is considered to be Stravinsky: The Composer and His Work (1966), based on a long study. He also wrote The Rise of English Opera (1951) and A History of English Opera (1983). He died in September 1985 in London.

There have been four accruals. The first accrual consists of research materials White gathered for his writings on English opera. It includes letters from Ethel Smyth and correspondence of other composers, photographs and engravings. The second accrual consists mainly of an incomplete run of White's correspondence relating to his work as an arts administrator. Some correspondence concerns The Poetry Book Society Bulletin. The third accrual consists of a manuscript and a typescript bound together. The fourth accrual consists to two letters to Keith Scott written in 1953 and 1954 re The Battle of Hexham.

There is also a collection of opera books from White's library; these have been catalogued for Research Collections. There is a much larger White fonds at the University of Texas in Austin.

Title based on content of fonds.
First accrual was purchased from Bertram Rota in 1977. Second accrual was purchased from Bertram Rota in 1990. The third accrual (6-2005) was purchased from Peter Ellis bookseller in April 2005. The fourth accrual (20-2010) was acquired from Keith Scott in 2010.
Finding aid available in hard copy and electronically.
There are no access restrictions.
Further accruals are not expected.

Contact: archives@mcmaster.ca
Last Reviewed: March 29, 2010
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