Scope and Contents of the Fonds


The Desmond Pacey Fonds consists of 4.3m (35 cases) primarily of textual records, with approximately 17 photographs, predominantly black and white. The time coverage for the material spans 1915-1976, with predominant dates 1934-1974. Correspondence, both handwritten and typescript, and literary manuscripts and typescripts comprise the bulk of the Pacey Fonds. Other formats include journal articles, newspaper clippings, lecture notes, programmes, income tax forms, photographs, reports, and scrapbooks. The fonds documents aspects of Dr. Pacey's personal and professional life. The material was donated to the UNB Archives piecemeal, and consequently, some physical rearrangement of the fonds was necessary. Files have been organized into five series. Series 1 (Cases 1-5), Genealogy, early education, family correspondence and family records, consists of materials spanning 1915 to 1975, which document Pacey's family history and his early education. Files are arranged alphabetically by title, with chronological arrangement of photographs.

Series 2 (Case 6) comprises alphabetical files of chronologically arranged Personal and general correspondence dated between 1940-1975. Any correspondence concerned primarily with UNB themes was collocated in the UNB Series 4. Series 2.1 (Cases 7-8), 2.2 (Cases 9-10), 2.3 (Case 12), 2.4 (Case 13), and 2.5 (Case 14) consist of photocopies of correspondence between Pacey and Elizabeth Brewster, Irving Layton, Dorothy Livesay, and Miriam Waddington, and between Lorne Pierce and Frederick Philip Grove , respectively. Originals for the Brewster, Layton, Livesay and Waddington correspondence are housed in the National Archives Pacey Literary Fonds; the Pierce-Grove correspondence is a part of the Lorne Pierce collection at Queen's University Archives. Brief series descriptions of these series have been included with the original UNB Pacey Fonds' material in order to provide researchers with a clearer appreciation of how the UNB Archives material complements the collection of Pacey literary papers in the National Archives. The Pierce-Grove correspondence photocopies were used by Dr. Pacey in his research on Grove. Inclusion of the photocopies should simplify research and act as a guidepost leading researchers to the National Archives and Queen's University collections. Chronological arrangement of files predominates Series 2.1 - 2.5.

Manuscripts, typescripts, and correspondence related to Dr. pacey's literary activities comprise a significant portion of this fonds, and series 3 to 3.5 highlight both his creative and critical writings. Arrangement of these series is alphabetical by title of the work. Series 3 (Cases 5-21) collocates manuscripts, typescripts, working notes, and correspondence related to Pacey's major book publications, and includes an unpublished manuscript. A broad selection of articles and editorials written by Pacey, together with many of his undergraduate essays, are included in series 3.1 (Cases 22-23). Fourteen of Dr. Pacey's short stories comprise series 3.2 (Case 24), and an extensive collection of newspaper and journal publication reviews written by Pacey comprise series 3.3 (Case 25). Encyclopedia contributions, speeches, poems and notes make up series 3.4 (Case 26) and series 3.5 (Case 27) contains newspaper and journal reviews of Pacey's work.

Series 4 (Cases 28-34) consists of University of New Brunswick and English department files. The series includes correspondence, reports, and lecture notes.

Series 5 (Case 35) brings together miscellaneous items.



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Document Maintained by:
UNB Archives
email address archives@unb.ca
Last Update:12/12/95