Harold Walsby Papers
Period
(1942-)
1955-1972 and n.d
Total size
0.6 m.
Consultation
Not restricted
Biography
Born 1911, died in Ambleside, Great Britain 1973; lecturer in logic at Reading University; revolutionary socialist in the late 1930s; he developed a theory of ideology explaining why the Left, although claiming to represent the interests of the majority, remains in the minority.
Content
Appointment diaries 1955-1966, 1968-1972; notebooks on his scholarly work n.d.; correspondence on, and drafts of the manuscript (incomplete) of `The Dialectic Algebra' 1962, 1964-1965; manuscript of his lectures `Logic, Philosophy of Language and Scientific Method' 1970; documents on his lecturing at the Braziers Park School of Integrative Social Research 1951, 1959, 1965 and documents on his Design Research Project 1966-1968; some academic papers by others 1958, 1964, 1972; typescript of `Why is it that the Socialist Party, whose case appears so logical, is patently impotent as an influential factor in modern political life' n.d.; pamphlets and a leaflet 1942 and n.d.
INTRODUCTION
Harold Walsby was born 6 December 1911, probably in Downham Market, Norfolk. He was an artist-painter and a revolutionary socialist in the late 1930s and developed a theory of ideology explaining why the Left, although claiming to represent the interests of the majority, remained in the minority.
After his father had died in the First World War he moved with his mother to Tunbridge Wells, where he visited King Charles' School.
Subsequently he worked during 18 months in an engineer's drawing office and then left for London in the early thirties, where he was to live for about the first twenty years of his adult life. Before the Second World War he was a quite wellknown figure in Trafalgar Square and an active participant in the intellectual society of the Soho cafes. He earned his living mainly by painting and drawing and other artistic production. For some years he was an educational salesman and publisher and also taught Logic for a year to sociology students at the University of Reading in 1970-1971. The last twenty years he spent in Oxfordshire, the Pennines and the Lake District. Walsby's book The Domain of Ideologies. A Study of the Origin, Development and Structure of Ideologies was published in 1948.
He died 2 May 1973 in Ambleside, Cumbria.
His papers were received by the IISH in 1988. A small amount of documents were found in the papers of George Walford , whose papers were received by the IISH in 1998 and were then added to the Walsby papers.
The size of the papers is 0.6 m.
LIST
PUBLIC LIFE
Manuscripts and notes
- 6
-
Manuscripts of lectures in
logic, philosophy of language and scientific method, given at the
University of Reading
.
1970.
1 folder.
NB. See also inv.no. 15
Lecturing
- 14
-
Documents concerning
Braziers Park School of Integrative Social Research
,
including programme with lectures by
Walsby
.
1951, 1959, 1965.
1 cover.
NB. From Walford papers.