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Collection Description
Maurice Benington Reckitt (1884–1980) devoted his life to advocating
closer ties between politics and religion. A committed socialist who
happened to have been raised a Tractarian (the High Church movement
of the nineteenth century), Reckitt wrote and debated widely on the
application of Christian values to public. His work brought him into
contact with figures from theology and literature: Philip Mairet, Ruth
Kenyon, T S Eliot, G K Chesterton and Dorothy L Sayers were among his
correspondents. The documents in the collection reflect all aspects
of Reckitt’s public life between 1915 and 1970. Substantial quantities
of Reckitt’s own writings survive. Many files record the activities
of the organisations of which he was a member. Correspondence includes
letters from T S Eliot, Ezra Pound, H N Brailsford and Philip Mairet.
The papers were deposited at Sussex in 1979 and bequeathed to the University
on Maurice Reckitt’s death the following year. There is an accompanying
collection of books and pamphlets.
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