John Johnson (Authors’ Agents) Ltd
A recently acquired archival treasure is brought to light
Andrea Hricikova uncovers the riches of a recent acquisition, the archive of John Johnson (Authors’ Agents) Limited.
At the end of 2019 London Metropolitan Archives (LMA) was pleased to receive the donation of a rich collection of records from literary agency John Johnson (Authors’ Agents) Limited. The archive, compromising hundreds of boxes containing a variety of material from extensive authors’ correspondence to original authors’ manuscripts and digital material, was at the time stored in an off-site storage unit, with its future in doubt. When I joined the Collections team at LMA in late February 2020 as a Collections intern, I was pleased that I would be working to safeguard this collection for future generations to enjoy. Uncovering the material, it became increasingly clear that it sheds light on the day to day interaction of the literary agency and their clients, providing valuable evidence about these relationships. The archive joins other literary archives held at the LMA including Pollinger Limited authors’ agency, together documenting the inter-relationship of author, agent and publisher across the United Kingdom.
John Johnson (Authors’ Agents) Limited, traces its origins to 1956 when it was run by John Johnson, a prominent literary agent who amongst the many writers he represented, helped to establish Dick Francis CBE. Following Johnson’s retirement, in 1977 the agency was taken over by Andrew Hewson who ran the agency with fellow literary agent, his wife Margaret. The duo together represented a group of well-known literary novelists, poets, playwrights and non-fiction authors. Amongst these are award-winning British playwright David Pownall who is best known for his radio dramas broadcast across the world; prominent British poet and novelist D M Thomas best known for his surrealist novel The White Hotel; and well-renowned British author Beryl Bainbridge who in 2000 was appointed DBE for her remarkable contribution to British literature. The relationship between the Hewsons, particularly Margaret, and Dame Beryl flourished and the two became dear friends. This special relationship is clearly documented in the archive which includes personal correspondence between the two families, some illustrated. Often presented as hectic short notes, written on scraps of paper with handwriting in several directions, these letters unlock a gate not only to the nature of the relationship between literary agents and the author, but also to the personality of Dame Beryl herself, giving us a rare glimpse at her unique way of thinking.
Other highlights of the collection include files of Clare Francis, a British author who took up writing in later life following a successful career as a yachtswoman. Having sailed across the Atlantic on her own twice and been the first woman to captain a successful boat on The Ocean Race, Francis became a bestselling writer of crime and thriller novels. The archive also uncovers not only the successes, but also the difficulties, such as D M Thomas’s battle over screen rights for The White Hotel. The astonishing variety of the material held in this collection from photographs of Dame Beryl, to recordings of Stephen Wiltshire MBE and his travels, to the unpublished manuscripts of writers like Ursula Holden and David Pownall, demonstrate how important it is to safeguard collections like this and business records generally.
The records were originally stored in the offices of John Johnson (Authors’ Agents) Ltd in Clerkenwell Green, before being sent away to an off-site commercial storage unit for a short period of time. Although the majority of records were stored safely, some were unfortunately water damaged. John Johnson (Authors’ Agents) Ltd approached LMA so that the records could be preserved for the future. In my role as an archive trainee it is rewarding working on a collection with such a variety of material, whilst learning about the journey from the onsite survey at the acquisition stage to discoveries of important documents and rare material during more in depth listing. My work is crucial for making the collection accessible, creating a spreadsheet of key information which will be used by an archivist fully cataloguing the archive in future. Most of the records had been kept in an orderly way. To organise them most efficiently, each box and file in the spreadsheet is assigned to a specific series, ensuring that anyone who wishes to work or consult these records in the future will be able to locate the files they want effortlessly.
I have also been able to work closely with the donor of the collection, Andrew Hewson. As a partial creator of these records, Mr Hewson’s guidance is essential in making clearer sense of the collection and providing background information. The relationship has been rewarding for both myself and the donor, as he shares his thoughts on the project below:
"'When I joined the agency in early 1969, I very soon realised what a rare niche of literary significance I had stumbled into quite by chance. Our founder John Johnson had after the Second World War graduated from the British Council, where he had helped Benjamin Britten and Peter Peers set up the Aldeburgh Festival, moving on to general publishing as an editor at Jonathan Cape. He became a literary agent with someone else in 1952 and just three years later set up on his own a company with a tiny office in Sackville Street."
"John Johnson’s sister the actress, Celia Johnson, was married to Peter Fleming elder brother of Ian who was to enjoy huge fame as the creator of 007 James Bond. Peter Fleming had published many distinguished travel books and was previously Literary Editor of the Spectator."
"John’s own special literary interest lay in contemporary British poets and he quickly collected a distinguished stable of them. Henry Treece who was also a very prolific novelist, the Jesuit classics don at Oxford, Peter Levi who one day would take the poetic crown at that university, the young Indian travel writer and poet, the remarkable George Barker, and Jenny Joseph twice accorded the BBC’s award as most popular poet in Britain, remembered for ever for Warning, that hymn to letting ones hair down in old age."
" In 1958 he began to act for William Trevor who would receive huge critical praise for his novels, short stories and plays. His other major discovery in this early period was Dick Francis, recently retired National Hunt Champion Jockey whose racing thrillers became enormously successful until just before his death ten years ago he bequeathed his good name to his son Felix, who continues to publish a novel every year."
"It seemed to me when we moved to a smaller office and the fate of more than sixty years paper became critical, I was hugely relieved to register the interest of the London Metropolitan Archives sited a mere quarter of a mile from the cellarage in Clerkenwell Green where the files had been accumulating since 1977."
"The more I reviewed the files the more I understood the historical significance of what might one day become a research resource for any student of Book Publishing looking to understand the increasing importance to authors being strongly represented by their literary agents."
"I shall greatly enjoy observing how Andrea establishes our Archive. After a mere three weeks I am extremely impressed by the way she creates great order from our haphazardly organised raw material. I know we are in very capable hands.'"
Andrew Hewson, 15 March 2020
The entire project is just at its first stage of cataloguing, establishing a rough order and creating a list of files which will serve as a detailed guide at a later stage. From the small sample I have already uncovered, it is unmistakable that these documents have vast potential for future research. Working on the collection has also revealed that preserving it faces some challenges, most significantly around data protection.
The majority of the documents relate to living persons or their families and therefore cannot be made available for research immediately in order to protect individual confidentiality and to comply with the legislation. However, processing these records properly now, protects the material and their history for the future. This collection is a major addition to LMA’s holdings of literary agencies, demonstrating the significant position literary agents hold in the world of publishing.