Overview
This literary club was in fact an institution, in the sense of being a building where club members met for in/formal literary and social events and activities. The club was founded in 1911 and located at 266 St Vincent Street. It had club rooms, bedrooms, a dining room as well as its own library for club members. Membership lists were separated into town and country members.
Whilst later in date than the materials considered in this project (and later than the magazines investigated in our sister project, Literary Bonds), of interest amongst the collection for this group is the club’s magazine. The earliest is dated Christmas 1921, and is entitled the Glasgow Literary Club Magazine. This issue contains type-written original poetry, essays, artwork, music, and recipes. Later, in the 1930s, the club had another magazine called The Chap Book, which contains original essays and poetry, and reports on various events at the club. It also included news of various reading and study circles that were running within the club. For example, there was a study circle, French circle, and Poetry and Literature circle.
Date of Existence
Premises opened 1/5/1911 (Formal Opening 15/5/1911) -1964?
Source of Information
The Glasgow Literary Club (Constitution and bye-laws, 1928-51; membership records, 1911-49; magazines, 1921-35; visitors books, 1934-40; finance, 1958)
Repository
Glasgow City Archives
Reference Number
GB243 TD1858
Additional Notes
The documents from this club are contained in 2 large boxes with the following reference numbers on them: first box: TD1858/8/1-6; second box: TD1858/1-7, TD1858/9-11. In pencil underneath is the following ‘(See Box 2/2 for TD1858/8)’.