McLoughlin, Denis (1918-2002). A Collection of Typescripts, Artwork, Correspondence, Photographs, and Annotated Paperback & Jacket Covers.
The collection fills an archive box and in brief comprises:
- 3 pieces of rough original artwork from the early 1940s;
- 19 typescripts (5 novels & 14 short stories), plus 1 manuscript short story, these totalling roughly 285,000 words;
- 37 letters, 2 contracts and 9 invoices from McLoughlin’s association with T. V. Boardman, 1949-1966.
- 12 letters from authors McLoughlin worked with or provided artwork for.
- 120 photographs (approximately) used by McLoughlin in the composition of jacket & cover artwork.
- 465 (approximately) dust jacket & paperback covers, all trimmed and often annotated & laminated by McLoughlin.
- Roughly 20 letters from fans & correspondence with U.S. institutions, plus other sundry items & ephemera.
From McLoughlin’s estate via a family member, this collection is presumed to represent all that remains extant, or at least existing and together, of material from his professional creative life. It demonstrates the scope and volume of his artistic endeavours, the esteem in which he was held by both colleagues and fans during his life, and provides evidence of his working methods and collaborative approach. It is also an important record of the considerably less well documented and not insignificant extent of McLoughlin’s thwarted ambitions as a writer of pulp fiction (including 3 excellent James Bond satires), ambitions which it is clear began in his early 20s, ran parallel to his paid work as an artist, and had not been abandoned at the end of his life. More details below.
ARTWORK:
Three rough original designs on stiff board for murals painted by McLoughlin during WW2 at the Woolwich Royal Arsenal Depot. One in pastels, signed & annotated in ink: “MURAL ROUGH DESIGN R.A. CANTEEN”, which is approximately 27cm x 21cm, giving the scale relative to the finished mural of one & a half inches to one foot. It depicts soldiers relaxing, arguing & flirting with two young women. The second, of similar dimensions, shows a young couple in uniform holding hands under a lamp, signed, and noting the scale of one to six inches, with a laminated photo of McLoughlin at work on the mural. Lastly, a slightly larger unsigned painting of a line of women dancing the can-can on-stage with an orchestra playing uproariously below, this cut down, without annotations and only one side of the scale remaining, though with rough pencil calculations to the reverse. All three are divided by grids to aid their translation to the finished murals. McLoughlin worked on roughly 50 morale-boosting murals at the R.A. depot, some of vast scale. In ‘The Hardboiled Art of D. Mcloughlin’ he writes: “The first three murals were of sufficient interest to be featured in the magazine ‘Illustrated’ of November 27, 1943. […] I still have the original roughs for these murals” (McLoughlin & David Ashford, 1994, page 10). The murals were destroyed by the V1 rocket attacks before the end of the war.
FICTION
A 1992 article in the Bolton Evening News states that McLoughlin wrote 4 novels, which suggests that the present material represents all that he wrote, at least in novelistic terms. None appear to have been published. These longer works, roughly chronologically, are as follows:
The earliest is untitled and dates from August 1942. It comprises: two detached pages, a: “Psychiatrist’s Report on a soldier.”, of authentic appearance and signed in blue ink, diagnosing the patient, an artist, with: “chronic nervous hysteria following nervous collapse”, and suggesting that he displays: “a noticeable trend of self-pity and a marked antipathy toward his fellows”. There follows a note of Apology, stating that this is fictional and “calculated to convey to the reader the workings and repercussions of a highly-strung and tortuous mind.”, adding: “May we say that by virtue of its theme, lofty ideals have been somewhat spurned and the sordid very much accentuated.”. Page 1 of Chapter 1 has been lost but the remaining pages are present and still bound by a corner butterfly clip, they are toned, marked and creased with minor damage to some page edges. Approximately 38,500 words. A hardboiled crime novel about a discharged and disturbed former soldier wreaking violent revenge, interspersed with sordid, back-alley liaisons with “floozies”.
Doctor Shame by Denis Mack, undated but circa 1965. Original typescript with ink hand corrections throughout. Comprising: title page, blurb, half-title, Contents, then 220 numbered pages, finishing with a page of combined spoof bibliography & glossary “For the more serious student.”. It is firmly bound in buff card wraps with a title label to the front cover, and robust card rear cover. Approximately 49,500 words, with McLoughlin’s address and phone number to the title page, and also in ink to the inside rear board. A superb James Bond parody or satire, featuring 00 agent James Bronze in pursuit of the Doctor, a sinister and perverted SMUDGE member who has been turning the youth of Britain into gyrating, long-haired, hooligans by flooding the market with his poisonous Purple Hearts. With references to mods and rockers, “X” rather than “M”, and ‘Miss Chastity Keeler’ rather than Miss Moneypenny, presumably inspired by Christine Keeler of Profumo affair fame.
Empire Made by Denis McLoughlin, undated but circa 1965. Original typescript, with manuscript corrections and alterations, firmly bound in blue card wraps. On the title page, next to McLoughlin’s name and address, are the handwritten details of his London literary agent, indicating attempts at publication. Comprising: title page, Author’s note, half-title, blurb, Contents, then 250 pages, finishing with a page of combined spoof bibliography and glossary “For the more serious student.”. Totalling approximately 56,500 words. Another James Bond parody, in which James Bronze investigates a sinister voodoo cult on Jamaica, which is funding disturbing experiments in genetic mutation with the sale of counterfeit goods. There’s a side-swipe at the Beatles & Beatlemania, and the character names drift beyond satire into the surreal, e.g. the dangerous and seductive Absinthe Bamboozle.
Thicker Than Water by Denis McLoughlin, undated but probably late-1960s. Original typescript, with hand corrections in ink. Bound in red card wraps with a title label to the front cover, this has become detached along with the half-title page. The rest of the script is firmly bound and comprises: title page, then 194 pages and a sheet confirming the page count and McLoughlin’s contact details. Approximately 52,000 words. A hard-boiled, hill-billy crime novel, violent and sleazy with an attempt at authentic (“frigging” as an expletive?!) dialect. It also contains lengthy metatextual musings about pulp fiction cover art, which begin: “I looked at the covers fust. There were HORROR STORIES, TERROR TALES, and WEIRD MYSTERY. All of them covers were a mite alike but they were all good and I wished I’d painted them. There’s allus a gal with a teared dress, and at least one bloke with a green or purple face, and there’s allus a hero who’s either tied up or comin’ ter the tart’s rescue.”.
The Wooin’ of The Widder Jones, by Denis McLoughlin, which can be dated to 1996-2002 by McLoughlin’s dedication to his wife, Dorothy (1923-1996) to the title page. Complete typescript, loose sheets, with hand corrections in ink. Comprising: title page then 154 numbered pages. Approximately 56,000 words. A 1971 laminated & annotated letter from Paramount Pictures to McLoughlin’s literary agent, a Mrs Whittacker of London Independent Books Ltd., states that this is a re-drafted version of a novel then titled ‘A Jug Full of Corn’. It's American swamp sleaze/crime pulp fiction of the variety popular in the 1950s and 1960s, and rather a good example of the genre.
Short stories, some probably published anonymously or pseudonymously, are as follows:
The Gold Plush Lion: stapled manuscript, mid-1960s or early 1970s. Comprising: title page, with McLoughlin’s address & a word count, and 6 numbered pages written on one side only in blue ink, corrected in red. 1435 words. Either a humorous short story, or an advert for the U.K.’s Egg Marketing Board. It’s a surreal skit about a little talking lion emerging from an egg & seeking a new egg to go to work on, playing on the famous mid-1960s advertising slogan.
Typescripts as follows, all stapled or bound with butterfly clips, most with ink corrections:
- The Assignment (Approx. 5000 words), a James Bond parody, featuring 00 agent, James Bronze, quite serious & hardboiled in tone.
- 5 horror stories. Two about modern vampires in London: ‘My Sister and I’ (2000 words) and ‘Wanted, Dead Sitter’ (1500 words). 2 versions of the same tale about a young girl roasting her baby brother: ‘Age of Innocence’ (1700 words) and ‘Something Special’ (1750 words), and one involving a pub with “special” pie fillings, ‘The Sinners Arms’ (2800 words).
- 5 crime fiction, generally of the gritty and sleazy variety: ‘The “Grape” Job’ (2000 words), ‘Fifty Percent’ (1400 words), ‘Thicker Than Water’ (2000 words), ‘Soak and Relax’ (2500 words), and ‘Club Night’ (2300 words).
- 3 children’s fantasies or fairy tales: ‘Weary Willie’ (1544 words), which notes “Rejected by Dean” on the cover sheet in pencil, ‘The Magic Pebble’ (6400 words) and ‘Hurrying Herbert’ (1580 words).
CORRESPONDENCE
T. V. Boardman related: 37 letters and 2 contracts from them, and 9 invoices from McLoughlin, 1949-1966. The majority relate to McLoughlin’s hardboiled artwork for the Bloodhound Series. All of the later letters are from Tom Boardman Jr and one 1953 letter is from Director Audrey Weir, who originally hired McLoughlin, discussing the jacket for Simon Rattray’s ‘Dead Silence’. The contracts are each for 3 years, beginning in 1957 & 1960, both signed by Boardman & McLoughlin. The letters from Tom Boardman are detailed but informal in tone, giving his views on the artwork, e.g. in June 1957 he writes: “Marked Down For Murder – Again, I like this very much but the girl in colour has a rather high waist-line and/or sagging bottom don’t you think!”. Most letters deal with multiple titles, though occasionally a single title merits its own letter, e.g. Ed McBain’s ‘See Them Die’: “I like it! I like it! Please go right ahead.”. A total of 105 Bloodhound covers are discussed in lesser or greater detail. Many urging McLoughlin to work faster, and the reverses of some have been used by him for notes and doodles. There are insights into the relationship between Boardman Jr. and McLoughlin, in one from July 1966 he writes: “Have you any plans for coming down? My Playboy card is burning a hole in my pocket and Joyce goes away on holiday with the children the last week in August.”. This was the month that the Playboy Club opened in London. McLoughlin’s invoices are all from the late ‘50s and give title specific detail of his work, showing on average earnings of £100 a month.
12 letters from authors McLoughlin worked with or illustrated for: a 1997 typed & signed letter from Evan Hunter (AKA Ed McBain), Hunter writing: “Those old Boardman jackets were really quite wonderful, and I still look at them with joy from time to time.”. Two handwritten letters from Boardman author Anthony Graham, dated 1955 & 1966, complimenting McLoughlin fulsomely on his jacket artwork for: ‘No Sale For Haloes’ and ‘The Deadly Lovers’. A 1958 TLS from John Croydon (AKA John C. Cooper) regarding the artwork for ‘Death in Aberration’: “I liked the girl very much, and I thought the stages of her disintegration were masterly.”. Three TLSs from children’s author Arthur Groom, dated 1952, 1953 and 1958, on headed paper, one regarding collaboration on a comic strip for Boardman. 2 long 1961 TLSs from Boardman author Peter George regarding cover art for ‘The Final Steal’, including George’s doodles of his ideas for the cover and two pages of story outline and characterisation to assist McLoughlin in his work. Lastly, 4 1956 & 1957 TLSs from the elusive but prolific Joan Whitford (AKA Rex James and others), discussing her stories for the Buffalo Bill Wild West Annuals published by Boardman, and a troublesome and pedantic fan who has been writing to “Rex James”, about whom Whitford writes: “I politely told him there was little I didn’t know about Western History – so that ought to keep him quiet. I should know something after seven years of continual reading – and living in the west. I’ve not only read the official reports on the Custer battle, but have read the accounts of the Indian chiefs as well.”. Plus, a staple-bound typescript copy of ‘Last of the Daltons’ for Buffalo Bill Annual No. 9, comprising: 9 pages and a cover sheet, the text of the story interspersed with instructions for McLoughlin’s accompanying artwork, which is uncredited but likely by Whitford.
Also present: several letters from D. C. Thomson & Co. and 7 from fans, including 4 from McLoughlin’s biographer, David Ashford. A 2-page handwritten letter by McLoughlin regarding a letter he sent to the Bolton Evening News, and adding as an aside: “Got a comedy or rather satire on James Bond – would like you all to give me an opinion on”. The unidentified recipient has written his reply in ink beneath. McLoughlin has also curated a faux leather folder with bound-in plastic sleeves containing a small quantity of correspondence & ephemera from various U.S. institutions & associations, including: the Arizona Fast Draw Association, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department in Arizona, the Universities of Wyoming & West Kentucky (who were keen to acquire McLoughlin material for their archives in the ‘70s & ‘80s). Plus, a long letter from a Tami Hickle of Washington State, a relative of Rosa Dunn, correcting some biographical details and clarifying her involvement with the Dillon/Dalton Gang, and a programme for the 1974 Comics 101 Convention, at which McLoughlin was present.
PHOTOGRAPHS
Approximately 120 photos used by McLoughlin as part of (or to aid) the composition of his Boardman Bloodhound designs, roughly half showing his wife, Dorothy and/or brother, Colin as the models. Most are small, printed to the scale desired for the artwork, and the majority are black and white. Some have notes to the reverse, a few with paint added, cropping them for the finished artwork, and some mounted showing a series of poses. There are also a few personal and souvenir photographs, one of a very suave looking Arthur Groom.
DUST JACKETS
Approximately 455 of McLoughlin’s Boardman Bloodhound dust jacket and crime paperback covers, just the artwork. Most carefully guillotined and laminated. Some were formerly mounted in scrapbooks and have been neatly excised with paper-backing attached, a few are loose. Plus 11 other laminated covers, mostly Buffalo Bill Annuals. Many have been annotated to the reverse by McLoughlin with the date of publication and occasional comments, e.g. regarding the woman in the artwork for Ed McBain’s ‘The Pusher’: “supposed to be a Puerto Rican”. Some feature his small gold ownership label. It’s an impressive collection, there are 30 discrete designs for Henry Kane alone. McLoughlin famously didn’t have much artwork returned by Boardman, so had to make do with the finished jackets as a record, trimming off any extraneous matter. Many are very rare. 11 are accompanied by their working photographs (see above).
SUNDRY ITEMS
Including: A 240-minute VHS tape labelled: “Denis McLoughlin Book Covers – Filmed 1996”; 2 of McLoughlin’s Kangaroo Books publications from the 1940s, Laughter for Home and Front (1944) and New Laughs For All); 4 small men’s magazines from the ‘40s with McLoughlin content; 7 collector’s magazines & fanzines devoted to or with articles about McLoughlin’s work; a 1994 first edition of The Hardboiled Art of D. McLoughlin, signed by Ashford & McLoughlin, and a copy of the 1943 issue of ‘Illustrated’ with the article about McLoughlin’s WW2 murals.
