Duncan, Ronald, 1914-1982

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From the description of Papers 1960. (Indiana University). WorldCat record id: 702663838

Ronald Duncan, playwright.

From the description of The death of Satan: typescript, 1955. (New York Public Library). WorldCat record id: 122626260

Ronald Duncan (1914-1982) was born of Austro-German parents in Salisbury, Rhodesia (now Harare, Zimbabwe) in 1914. When World War One broke out Ronald came to South London with his mother and sister. His father was due to follow, but died of an illness before he could join them. As a boy Duncan holidayed in Welcombe, North Devon and aged 18 rented a cottage there with the hope of settling one day. In 1933 he went up to Cambridge University to read English with F.R. Leavis at Downing College. After graduating Ronald worked briefly in a mine near Chesterfield and became sympathetic with the strikers' cause and the politics of peaceful protest. This led to him writing a pamphlet for the Peace Pledge Union in 1936 and he met Benjamin Britten through the pacifist leader Dick Sheppard. Such connections prompted an invitation to visit the Mahatma Gandhi in India in 1937. On his way back the young traveller called in on Ezra Pound in Italy. The exiled poet became a long time friend as did the British-Hispanist Gerald Brenan who Duncan also met at this time. During the Second World War Duncan ran a community farm near Bideford in North Devon. His wife Rose Marie was an artist and their son and daughter were born during the war years. His main home was based at West Mill from 1937 and during that time visitors included Britten, Peter Pears, the singer Kathleen Ferrier, Lord Harewood as well as glamorous actresses of their day, Virginia Maskell and Anna Proclemer.

Duncan farmed, rode, fished, wrote and welcomed friends from both near and far to Welcombe including Henry Williamson, a close neighbour who had himself farmed in Norfolk and who was a regular visitor in the 1940s (EUL MS 44). Duncan died on 3 June 1982 at the age of 68.

Ronald Duncan is perhaps now best known for preparing the libretto for Benjamin Britten's opera The Rape of Lucretia, first performed in 1946 but he had an extremely productive literary career encompassing fiction, poetry, film scripts, plays, journalism and autobiography. He wrote the film script for the filrm Girl on a Motorcycle (Jack Cardiff 1968) and his own plays include This Way to the tomb (1946) and Ableard and Heloise (1961). He also published an epic poem Man (five books, published as Man: The Complete Cantos, 1970). Three controversial autobiographies, All Men are Islands (1964), How to Make Enemies (1968) and Obsessed (1977) described his relationships with contemporaries in literature and theatre and his personal life.

From the guide to the Archive of Ronald Duncan, 20th century, (Special Collections Archives, University of Exeter (GB0029))

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf Stratford Festival Collection. Heloise and Abelard / by Ronald Duncan ; directed by Keith Batten, 1978 - house program. University of Guelph. McLaughlin Library
creatorOf Duncan, Ronald, 1914-1982. Letter to J. Walker. London, Eng. 1947 Aug. 7. University of Iowa Libraries
referencedIn Pound, Ezra, 1885-1972. Papers, 1915-1959. Columbia University in the City of New York, Columbia University Libraries
creatorOf Eliot, T. S. (Thomas Stearns), 1888-1965. T.S. Eliot Collection, 1905, 1917-1979. Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center
creatorOf Duncan, Ronald Frederick Henry, 1914-. The catalyst : a comedy of lovers : a comedy of manners in two acts : playscript, [between 1958 and 1963] / by Ronald Duncan. Indiana University
creatorOf Britten, Benjamin, 1913-1976. Benjamin Britten's the rape of Lucretia [sound recording] / music by Benjamin Britten ; libretto by Ronald Duncan. University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Semans Library
referencedIn Manuscripts and proofs of New Directions books, 1937-1997. Houghton Library
creatorOf Pound, Ezra, 1885-1972. Ezra Pound Collection, 1905-1975, (bulk 1930-1960). Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center
creatorOf English Stage Company at the Royal Court Theatre Correspondence Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center
creatorOf Grand Theatre Collection (University of Guelph). The Eagle Has Two Heads / by Jean Cocteau ; adapted by Ronald Duncan, 1957 - house program. University of Guelph. McLaughlin Library
creatorOf Guelph Spring Festival Archives. The rape of Lucretia / music by Benjamin Britten ; libertto by Ronald Duncan - vocal score. University of Guelph. McLaughlin Library
creatorOf Duncan, Ronald Frederick Henry, 1914-. The death of Satan: typescript, 1955. New York Public Library System, NYPL
referencedIn English Stage Company/Royal Court Theatre Archive, 1934-2007 V & A Department of Theatre and Performance
creatorOf Stratford Festival Collection. Heloise and Abelard: Love Letters from the Middle Ages / from poems by Ronald Duncan ; aditional material by Ann Hutchison ; directed by Keith Batten, 1978 - reviews and articles. University of Guelph. McLaughlin Library
creatorOf Archive of Ronald Duncan, 20th century Special Collections Archives, University of Exeter (GB0029)
referencedIn E. Martin (Elliott Martin) Browne papers, 1925-1975. Harvard Theater Collection, Houghton Library, Harvard College Library, Harvard University
creatorOf Duncan, Ronald, 1914-1982. Papers 1960. Indiana University
referencedIn T. S. Eliot Collection TXRC07-A6., 1905, 1917-1979 Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Britten, Benjamin, 1913-1976. person
correspondedWith Browne, E. Martin (Elliott Martin), 1900- person
associatedWith Eliot, T. S. (Thomas Stearns), 1888-1965 person
associatedWith Grand Theatre Collection (University of Guelph) corporateBody
associatedWith Guelph Spring Festival Archives. corporateBody
associatedWith New Directions Publishing Corp. corporateBody
associatedWith Pound, Ezra, 1885-1972. person
associatedWith Royal Court Theatre corporateBody
associatedWith Stratford Festival Collection. corporateBody
associatedWith Stratford Festival Collection. corporateBody
Place Name Admin Code Country
Subject
Occupation
Librettists
Activity
Librettist

Person

Birth 1914-08-06

Death 1982-06-03

Britons

English

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