RECENT ADDITIONS TO THE PETER HUCHEL COLLECTION IN THE JOHN RYLANDS UNIVERSITY LIBRARY OF MANCHESTER STEPHEN PARKER DEPARTMENT OF GERMAN, UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER

Following the acquisition by the John Rylands University Library of Manchester in 1989 of some 350 books collected by the German poet Peter Huchel (1903-81) and his wife Dora (1904-85) in the years up to 1946, in March 1991 a second consignment of papers was acquired from Huchel's daughter Susanne. 1 Like the library, the papers relate to Huchel's activities until just after the end of the Second World War. When Peter and Dora Huchel separated in 1946, the papers remained in Dora Huchel's hands until her death in 1985. They then passed to their daughter. The papers consist of the following items: fifty-four letters and postcards to Dora and Susanne Huchel, of which fifty-two were written by Huchel between 1929 and 1945; twenty-four photographs, most of them featuring Huchel and dating from the first decade of the century to the mid-1930s; and three drafts of Dora Huchel's hand-written account of her life with Peter Huchel. Miscellanea include typescripts of the poems 'Abschied', 'Requiem' and 'Madchen im Mond'; a cutting of 'Die Kammer' taken from the journal Die Kolonne; and a copy of Huchel's school-leaving certificate. In my introductory piece dealing with the Huchel library I sought to shed light on its significance for our understanding of the literary development of a poet hitherto regarded as a singularly 'enigmatic figure'. 2 My appreciation of Huchel's development, which included historical and biographical as well as stylistic considerations, was supported by reference to a small selection of the letters and by the reproduction of four of the photographs which have now been added to the Huchel Collection. The material released by Susanne Huchel in 1991 complements the earlier consignment of books in that it provides the researcher for the first time with information essential for an informed appreciation of the first half of the poet's life. It is in relation 1 I-nr an introduction see my essay The Peter Huchel Collection of German literature in the John Rylands University Library of Manchester', Bulletin of the John Rylands University Library o/.Uam/;