Ben Duncan and Dick Chapman papers 4079734Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Butler Library, 6th FloorColumbia University, Mail Code 1127535 W. 114th St.New York, NY 10027Business Number: (212) 854-5153Fax Number: (212) 854-1365rbml@libraries.cul.columbia.eduURL:

This finding aid is made available for public use following the Universal 1.0 Public Domain Dedication Creative Commons designation.

Contents list, 1p

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2024-01-10 11:13:42 -0500.Description is written in: English, Latin script.Describing Archives: A Content Standard2009-06-26File created.2018-03-09Restriction lifted. Revised for DACS 2.0 compliance.2018-03-13Collection title and description revised to reflect multiple creators.2019-05-20EAD was imported spring 2019 as part of the ArchivesSpace Phase II migration. Rare Book and Manuscript Library Ben Duncan and Dick Chapman papers Duncan, Ben Chapman, Dick 4079734 MS#0370 English . 2.15 linear feet 5 boxes 1939-2000 Ben Duncan (1927-2016) was an American-born English writer and advertising executive. His partner, Dick Chapman (1930-2012), was an English advertising executive. The collection includes correspondence Duncan and Chapman exchanged between 1956 and 1957, when Chapman worked in New York City, away from the couple's home in England. It also includes Duncan's literary manuscripts and published materials. Arrangement

Arranged in three series.

 Restrictions on Access

This collection is located off-site. You will need to request this material at least three business days in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room.

 Scope and Content

The collection contains the correspondence of Ben Duncan and Dick Chapman, as well as Duncan's manuscripts and published materials. Series I: Correspondence and Personal Materials consists chiefly of letters exchanged daily between Duncan and Chapman during 1956 and 1957. At the time Duncan, an American, was working in advertising in England, and Chapman, an Englishman, was working in advertising in New York. These letters illuminate the experiences of a gay couple living on both sides of the Atlantic during the mid-1950s. They also provide a broader perspective on daily life, including such topics as books, plays, current events, and customs of that period. Letters between Duncan and his literary agent, Tony Mendez, and his publishers are included in the series as well.

 Scope and Content

Series II: Manuscripts and Publications includes manuscripts for the novels Little Friends and and Angels' Faces, as well as the manuscript for Late Starter, an unpublished sequel to Duncan's memoir The Same Language. Radio-scripts for essays read by Duncan on the BBC in the 1950s-1970s are also present in the series. Finally, the series includes printed articles by Duncan; reviews of his work; and copies of three of his books, The Same Language, Little Friends, and Short Cuts.

 Scope and Content

Series III: Essays contains manuscripts of short essays written by Ben Duncan.

 Preferred Citation

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Ben Duncan and Dick Chapman papers; Box and Folder; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.

 Terms Governing Use and Reproduction

Reproductions may be made for research purposes. The RBML maintains ownership of the physical material only. Copyright remains with the creator and his/her heirs. The responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.

 Acquisition

Donated by Ben Duncan and Dick Chapman in three installments beginning in 1990.

 Acquisition

04/05/1990 M-90-04-05 Papers Duncan, Ben and Dick Chapman Gift

 Acquisition

09/07/1993 M-93-09-07 135 items Duncan, Ben Gift

 Acquisition

Ben Duncan, Gift 2004.2005.M038

 Biography

Ben Duncan (1927-2016) was an American-born English writer and advertising executive. He lived for most of his life in England with his partner and eventual husband, the English advertising executive Dick Chapman (1930-2012).

 Biography

Duncan met Chapman at Oxford and proposed to him in 1952. More than fifty years later, on December 21, 2005, the couple became the first people in Cambridgeshire to form a legal civil partnership. They remained married until Chapman's death in 2012. Duncan died in 2016.

 Biography

Duncan is perhaps best known for his memoir The Same Language. The book was originally published in 1962, a time when homosexuality was illegal and aggressively prosecuted in Britain. As a result, the original edition omitted any mention of his sexuality or life with Chapman. In 2005, Duncan published a substantial revision, in which he reflected on the impact of concealing those aspects of his identity, and recounted life in the underground British gay community in the 1950s and 1960s.

 Ownership and Custodial History

Gift of Ben Duncan and Dick Chapman, 1990.

 Processing Information

Papers Entered in AMC 02/1991 HR

 Processing Information

135 items Processed 06/13/1997 HR

 Processing Information

Addition processed by PTL 9/2013

 Processing Information

Finding aid revised by KWS and CLB, 3/2018

 Processing Information

The collection was closed to researchers until the deaths of both Chapman and Duncan, according to the conditions of the donors' agreement with the Rare Book and Manuscript Library. In March 2018, the finding aid was revised to remove restrictions, include information about Ben Duncan and Dick Chapman's partnership and marriage, and to comply with the DACS 2.0 standard. The title of the collection was also changed from the Ben Duncan Papers to the Ben Duncan and Dick Chapman Papers, to reflect the fact that it had two creators.

 Related Material

Dallas Pratt Documents Collection - Chapman wrote and privately printed a biography of Pratt.

 Related Material

John Howard Papers, Duke University - John Howard edited Ben Duncan's 2005 revision of his memoir, The Same Language.

 Accruals

Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. Contact rbml@columbia.edu for more information.

 Advertising -- England -- 20th century Advertising -- United States -- 20th century Authors -- 20th century -- Correspondence Expatriate authors -- England Popular culture -- History -- 20th century Popular culture -- England -- 20th century Gay men -- England Popular culture -- United States -- History -- 20th century England -- Intellectual life -- 20th century England -- Social life and customs -- 20th century United States -- Intellectual life -- 20th century United States -- Social life and customs -- 20th century Southern States Articles Contracts Financial records Greeting cards Lists (document genres) Manuscripts for publication Receipts (financial records) Reviews (documents) Advertising executives Authors, American -- 20th century Businessmen -- 20th century Executives Gay authors Gay autobiographies LGBTQ+ immigrants Gay male couples Duncan, Ben Chapman, Dick Series I: Correspondence and Personal Materials1939-1995Chapman to Duncan10 folders1956-19571Duncan to Chapman8 folders1956-19571Correspondence, 1946-1995526-27Business-related correspondence1 folders1General correspondence1School Grade Report for Ben Duncan1939523Newspaper clipping re: Ben Duncan1950 February 19524Series II: Manuscripts and Publications1954-1973Angels' Faces2The Family2Little Friends2Other Ways of Living3List of previous submissions of his autobiography525"My Antonia," a play in one act. 15 pages522Jolly Journal519Truly Yours. Play scenario, 5 pages520Printed materials:3Reviews of Little Friends3Reviews of The Same Language3Printed materials, miscellaneous3Little Friends,(1 bound volume)3The Same Language,(1 bound volume)3Short Cuts: Using Texts to Explore English by Mel Calman and Ben Duncan4Late Starter by Ben Duncan. Bound Mss of his autobiography, 226 pages4The Thunderbird and The Sunday Journal Trends2000 October 29, November 5526BBC Writings:The Last Yank at Oxford by Ben Duncan in The Listener Volume LI, No. 13151954 May 1341The Last Yank at Oxford by Ben Duncan. Mss of playscript, 17 pages42A Yank Among the Debs by Ben Duncan. Mss of radio-script, 8 pages195543Essay on post-WWII writers by Ben Duncan. Mss, 7 pages (with German printed version)195544Drawn From Life by Ben Duncan. Mss of radio-script, 8 pages195645An Innocent in Greece by Ben Duncan. Mss of radio-script, 9 pages196146Woman's Hour From Cambridge No. 30, 8 pages and 6 pages27 November 197347Woman's Hour. Quote from In Cap and Gown, 3 pages (2 copies)48Woman's Hour: Poetry on a Theme: Home, 8 pages49Woman's Hour9 May 1973410Series III: Essays1948, undated"As I See It: a good word for Puritans," 4 pages411"A Visit Home," 5 pages412"Alone," 4 pages413"A Man In The House," 4 pages414"Doing It Yourself," 4 pages415"Tea Time," 2 pages416"E.M. Forster," 5 pages417"Age," 3 pages418"Acting," 4 pages419"Ely Cathedral," 3 pages420"Elections," 3 pages421"Spices," 3 pages422"St George's Hospital," 3 pages423"Conferences," 3 pages424"Army and Business," 3 pages425"Vivien Leigh," 3 pages426"Teaching," 6 pages427"Chinese Exhibition," 4 pages428"Horticulture," 3 pages429"Non-Smokers," 4 pages430"The Speed Limit," 4 pages431"Magistrate's Court," 4 pages432"Protest," 4 pages433"Mary Quant Exhibition," 3 pages51"Obscenity Legislation," 3 pages52"Male Midwife," 3 pages53"My Part of England," 5 pages54"Education," 4 pages55"British Style and Dress," 4 pages56"Private and Public Language," 3 pages57"British and American Language," 6 pages58"Thomas Wolfe," 27 pages59"The South," 22 pages510"Return to Birmingham, Alabama," 13 pages511"Mr. Forster," 10 pages512"The Novels of E.M. Forster," 5 pages513"E.M. Forster," 14 pages514"The Warrior," 4 pages515"Hamlet and Death," 8 pages1948 December 3516"She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways," 2 pages517"Education in Birmingham, Alabama," 11 pages518"Features of Verse and Evidences of Miltonic Characteristics in Lines 220-240 of Paradise Lost," 4 pages521