G. K. Chesterton Collection

The G. K. Chesterton Collection includes more than 3,000 volumes connected to the life and work of English writer, journalist, critic, and Catholic convert G. K. Chesterton (1874–1936). The collection includes works by Chesterton, many in first edition, as well as pamphlets, novels, works to which he contributed, books he illustrated, and a complete set of the serial G.K.’s Weekly. It also includes a significant body of biographical and critical works about Chesterton.

The foundation of the collection was a donation made in 1973 by the Reverend Kevin Scannell. The collection is further supported by the Kelly Library’s broader rare book holdings in the works of several of Chesterton’s contemporaries and colleagues, including Hilaire Belloc and Maurice Baring.

The collection includes several notable rare books, association copies, sketches, and manuscript materials that document Chesterton’s work as a writer, illustrator, playwright, and public Catholic intellectual.

All items in the G.K. Chesterton Collection are listed in the University of Toronto Libraries catalogue.

Collection Highlights

The library holds more than a dozen sheets of original Chesterton sketches, as well as one of his sketchbooks. Many of the sketches date from Chesterton’s time at the Slade School of Art, though some are earlier. These materials were originally part of the Reverend Kevin Scannell’s collection and had been given to him by Chesterton’s secretary and literary executor, Dorothy Collins.

Chesterton’s papers were held for many years by Dorothy Collins near his home in Beaconsfield, England, and were later acquired by the British Museum. The Kelly Library holds microfiche copies of the full collection, comprising more than 1,500 fiche.

These microfiche holdings include manuscripts of many published works, illustrations from Chesterton’s time at the Slade School of Art and later, correspondence with family and friends, and albums of press clippings. The library also holds microfiche copies of papers belonging to Chesterton’s wife, Frances Chesterton, including her plays and poems.

Chesterton’s first work, Greybeards at Play: Literature and Art for Old Gentlemen, appeared in 1902. It is a book of three satirical poems: “The Oneness of the Philosopher with Nature,” “The Dangers Attending Altruism on the High Seas” and “The Disastrous Spread of Aestheticism in All Classes.” The book is illustrated with Chesterton’s own sketches. It did not receive a particularly warm response from the public. Chesterton himself said of this work, “To publish a book of my nonsense verse seems to me exactly like summoning the whole of the people of Kensington to see me smoke cigarettes.”

The library has two copies of the first edition. One of these was given by Chesterton’s uncle Arthur to Dorothy Charlotte Corbin. Arthur Chesterton was one of the five younger brothers of Chesterton’s father (and the only one of his uncles to remain in England). Chesterton’s sister-in-law describes Arthur as “an extremely charming handsome man, … always well dressed with a marvellous taste in ties and literature.”

The library holds a signed presentation copy of the first edition of The Secret of Father Brown, Chesterton’s fourth collection of Father Brown mystery stories, published in 1927. The copy was presented by Chesterton to Monsignor John O’Connor, the Catholic priest who inspired the character of Father Brown.

This copy includes a handwritten poem by Chesterton, “Six Detectives Went Fishing,” making it one of the collection’s most significant association copies.

Among the many works written by Chesterton but not published in his lifetime is a two-act play, The Surprise. It was eventually published in 1952 sixteen years after his death. The library owns the manuscript notes for the play written in a school exercise notebook. The manuscript was given by Chesterton’s literary executrix, Dorothy Collins, to the Reverend Kevin Scannell who donated it to the library.

Special Collections: Archives and Rare Books also holds the papers of Monsignor John O’Connor (1870–1952), the Catholic priest who became the model for Chesterton’s Father Brown. O’Connor and Chesterton first met in 1904 and maintained a friendship for more than thirty years. O’Connor was also present at Chesterton’s reception into the Catholic Church in 1921.