Kenneth Neill Cameron Papers
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Abstract
Kenneth Neill Cameron was a literary scholar and professor who specialized in English Romantic poetry and, especially, the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley and his contemporaries. He was the editor of "Shelley and His Circle" volumes one through four, a celebrated chronological retrospective and catalogue of Percy Bysshe Shelley's (and his contemporaries') works. Kenneth Neill Cameron continued to write about Shelley and his circle of contemporaries throughout his life, but also developed an interest in and wrote about Marxist philosophy, history, and politics (which was partly inspired by Shelley-and-Circle's rebelliousness). The materials in this collection include Cameron's early academic works, correspondence, and a manuscript of a play.
Biographical / Historical
Kenneth Neill Cameron was a literary scholar and professor who specialized in English Romantic poetry and, especially, the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley and his contemporaries.
Cameron was born in England but spent most of his life in North America, moving to Canda in 1914 and receiving a degree from McGill University in 1931 in Montreal, Canada. He also attended Pembroke College at Oxford University (Oxford, England) as a Rhodes Scholar, where he received a BA and Bachelor of Letters degree, and developed an interest in percy Bysshe Shelley.
After receiving a PhD from the University of Wisconsin in 1939, Kenneth Neill Cameron served as an English Professor at the University of Indiana until 1952.
From 1952 to 1966/67, Cameron supervised acquisitions, and performed arrangement and editorial work at Carl H. Pforzheimer Library, a private repository of late-18th and early-19th century English literature. Here, Cameron was the editor of "Shelley and His Circle" volumes one through four, a celebrated chronological retrospective and catalogue of Percy Bysshe Shelley's (and his contemporaries') works.
Kenneth Neill Cameron's other most notable works include "The Young Shelley: Genesis of a Radical," a biography of Percy Bysshe Shelley published in 1950, and 1973's "Romantic Rebels: Essays on Shelley and His Circle." Inspired by Shelley's (and the Circle's) rebellious nature and interests, Cameron became interested in Marxist philosophies, and is also known for writing "Marx and Engels Today: A Modern Dialogue on Philosophy and History" in 1976, as well as "Marxism: The Science of Society; An Introduction" in 1985.
In later life, Cameron received the Keats-Shelley Association's very first Distinguished Scholar Award (1982).
Kenneth Neil Cameron was married in 1945 to Mary Owen, with whom he had one daughter, and died of pneumonia in New York City on March 14, 1994.
Arrangement
This collection has not been arranged by an archivist. The materials are arranged in the order in which they were received from the donor.
Scope and Contents
The collection contains K.N. Cameron's typewritten Dissertation, titled "Shelley and the Struggle for National Liberation," with revisions, as well as three copies of his Modern Language Association of America (MLA) research project, titled "Research or Interpretation, On English Literature, 1790-1830, under way in 1946." The collection also contains Cameron's 393-page-long, typewritten Thesis on the topic of Shelley and the National Liberation Movement, including a preface, chapters 1 through 8, notes, and bibliography. Finally, the collection contains a hard-bound manuscript of "Stars in the Morning," Cameron's play about Shelley and his first wife, Harriet, as well as correspondence between Cameron and several publishers (Robert Hogan, English Department, University College Dublin, 1967-1968; F. Andrew Leslie, Dramatists Play Service Inc., 1965; and Helga Greene, Helga Greene Literary Agency, 1964).
Conditions Governing Access
Materials are open without restrictions.
Conditions Governing Use
Copyright (or related rights to publicity and privacy) for materials in this collection, created by creator was not transferred to New York University. Permission to use materials must be secured from the copyright holder.
Preferred Citation
Identification of item, date; Kenneth Neill Cameron Papers; MSS 531; box number; folder number; Fales Library & Special Collections, New York University.
Location of Materials
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Materials found in collection; provenance is unknown.
About this Guide
Processing Information
Materials were placed in new acid-free folders and boxes. Original folder information, when available, was transcribed onto new folders. Materials are not arranged and original order was maintained.
