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Howard (Elizabeth Jane) papers
mssEJH 1-5257
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Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: Elizabeth Jane Howard papers.
Identifier/Call Number: mssEJH 1-5257
Physical Description:
191.2 Linear Feet
(6,907 cataloged items + ephemera in 170 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1925-2014
Abstract: This collection contains manuscripts, correspondence, photographs, diaries, passports and ephemera of English writer Elizabeth
Jane Howard (1923-2014). The manuscripts cover the entire span of Howard's writing career and include her major novels, as
well as articles, essays, plays, short stories, book reviews, and interviews. In addition, there are manuscripts and correspondence
of other authors and artists, most notably Kingsley Amis and Cecil Day Lewis. Within the correspondence, there are large groups
of letters pertaining to Howard's involvement with the Cheltenham Literary Festival, the charity Bulgarian Orphans Fund Ltd.,
and personal letters discussing life in England during World War II.
Language of Material: English.
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material,
nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and
obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
[Identification of item]. Elizabeth Jane Howard papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Part I of the collection was acquired from Elizabeth Jane Howard in August, 1995 (acquisition number 1747).
Part II was acquired from Ms. Howard in February, 2001 (acquisition number 2087).
Part III was acquired from Ms. Howard in July, 2010 (acquisition number 2669).
Part IV was acquired through Bertram Rota Booksellers from Jonathan Clowes Ltd., Ms. Howard's Literary Executor, June 11,
2014-June 2018 (acquisition numbers 3019, CSmH_2014_073 and CSmH_2018_153).
This collection was cataloged by Gayle M. Richardson, August 12, 1999 – August 6, 2018.
Cataloging Decisions
1. Elizabeth Jane Howard's handwriting appears on manuscripts and letters throughout the collection, so it was decided not
to index each instance separately.
2. Items dealing with the Second World War have been subject indexed only when substantive.
3. Nicknames occur frequently in the correspondence; the letters are cataloged and indexed using the full, authorized name
and the nickname is noted on the front of the folder.
4. There are references to Elizabeth Jane Howard throughout the collection; only substantive references and author/title
references for her works have been subject indexed.
5. The Elizabeth Jane Howard Papers were cataloged over a span of 17 years and multiple acquisitions, resulting in a collection
organized by accretion, with each new acquisition added on in sequence at the end of the collection, rather than interspersed
with similar or related materials. Therefore, each separate acquisition must be searched in order to locate all of the relevant
manuscripts or correspondence by a particular author.
6. Because the collection was cataloged over a span of 17 years, the names and dates of various people in the collection
have changed, usually in order to conform to changing standards in national cataloging practices. For example: Elizabeth,
Countess Russell, became Elizabeth von Arnim. In other instances, an individual remarried or died. It was not practical for
us to retroactively update the previously cataloged names on the folders on in the Finding Aid, so researchers will find different
forms of names used for the same individuals in discrete sections of the collection.
Note -- Material Previously Restricted
The previously restricted material numbered 419 items (EJH 2105-2524), and consisted of the following material:
- Kingsley Amis (manuscripts, letters to Elizabeth Jane Howard)
- Cyril Connolly (letters to Kingsley Amis and Elizabeth Jane Howard)
- Antony Craxton (letter to Peter Scott)
- C. (Cecil) Day Lewis (manuscripts, letters to Elizabeth Jane Howard)
- City Register Office (London, England) (Certified Copy of an Entry of Marriage)
- Gillian Dearman (letter to Kathleen Scott)
- Elizabeth Jane Howard (letters to Kingsley Amis, Kathleen Scott, Peter Scott)
- Katherine Howard (letter to Peter Scott)
- Elspeth Huxley (letter to Elizabeth Jane Howard)
- John O'Neil (letter to Peter Scott)
- Peter Scott (letters to Elizabeth Jane Howard)
The material was originally restricted by the request of Elizabeth Jane Howard but, upon her request, portions of the restricted
material were opened for research in January 2000 and April 2005; the remainder of the material was opened in August 2010,
the expiration of the original date of restriction.
Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more
information.
Elizabeth Jane Howard was born in London, England on March 26, 1923. She trained as an actress and, before the Second World
War, played at Stratford-upon-Avon as well as repertory theater in Devon. At various times she worked as a model, a broadcaster
for the BBC (1939-1946), as an editor for various publishers, and as a writer. She has been widely published as a novelist,
journalist, reviewer, and has written plays for stage, film, and television. In 1962, she was the Artistic Director for the
Cheltenham Literary Festival, and in 1973, the Artistic Co-Director of the Salisbury Festival of Arts; Howard was awarded
a CBE in 2000. She married Sir Peter Scott in 1942, (one daughter; div. 1951); James Douglas Henry in 1958 (div. 1964); and
Sir Kingsley Amis in 1965 (div. 1983). Elizabeth Jane Howard, died, aged 90, at home on January 2, 2014.
A partial list of her publications includes:
The Beautiful Visit (1950, winner of the John Llewelyn Rhys Memorial Prize, 1951),
The Long View (1956),
The Sea Change (1959),
After Julius (1965),
Something in Disguise (1969; television series, 1982),
Odd Girl Out (1972),
Mr. Wrong (1975),
A Companion for Lovers (editor, 1978),
Getting It Right (1982; film script, 1985),
Howard and Maschler on Food: Cooking for Occasions (with Fay Maschler, 1987),
The Light Years (1990),
Green Shades (anthology, 1991),
Marking Time (1991),
Confusion (1993),
Casting Off (1995),
Falling (1999),
Slipstream (2002),
Love All (2008) and
All Change (2013); as well as scripts for the television series,
Upstairs, Downstairs. She has contributed articles to
Encounter,
Sunday Times,
Daily Express,
The New Yorker, and
Town and Country.
The collection consists of Elizabeth Jane Howard's manuscripts, correspondence, photographs and ephemera. The manuscripts
cover the entire span of her writing career and include her major novels, as well as articles, essays, plays, short stories,
book reviews, and interviews. In some cases there are multiple drafts of a work, enabling a researcher to trace Howard's creative
process. The correspondence includes personal letters and letters related to Howard's work. The collection holds over 800
photographs and seven boxes of printed ephemera.
Notable people in the collection include, among others: Robert Aickman, Kingsley Amis, Martin Amis, Jill Balcon, John Betjeman,
Cyril Connolly, Cecil Day Lewis, Daniel Day-Lewis, Louis De Bernières, Robert Fitzroy Foster, Selina Hastings, Laurie Lee,
Robert Newton Linscott, Hilary Mantel, John Julius Norwich, Peter Scott, Stephen Spender, Elizabeth Taylor (novelist), and
Leonard Woolf.
Scope and Content Note -- Part I
The papers in Part I consist of the following series:
1. Manuscripts (Boxes 1-21), are arranged alphabetically by author and title. The manuscripts cover a wide span of Elizabeth
Jane Howard's literary career, with examples of some of her earliest writing and of articles written as recently as the early
1990s. In some cases there are both manuscript and typewritten versions, as well as initial notes, for a play or novel, which
enables a researcher to trace the creative process of writing a work through several stages.
Included in this series are: articles, essays, interviews, short stories, plays, book reviews, and novels (in both manuscript
and typewritten versions) written by Elizabeth Jane Howard. The series also includes manuscripts by other authors, most notably,
Kingsley Amis and Cecil Day Lewis.
2. Correspondence (Boxes 22-57), are arranged alphabetically by author. This series includes personal letters and letters
related to Elizabeth Jane Howard's writing. Many of the personal letters were written during the Second World War and discuss
life in England during the war. A large number of business letters pertain to the Cheltenham Literary Festival and details
relating to the running of the Festival; notable authors in this group of letters are Kingsley Amis, Robert Frost, Agatha
Christie, Cecil Day Lewis, John Betjeman, Laurie Lee, Rosamond Lehmann, Iris Murdoch, J.B. Priestley, Siegfried Sassoon, Stephen
Spender, Angus Wilson, and Leonard Woolf.
Another group of letters are replies to an appeal by Elizabeth Jane Howard to notable British artists, for financial support
for Cecil Day Lewis, during his final illness. These letters are subject indexed under the C.D.L. Fund. There is also a large
group of letters that were written in response to an article which Elizabeth Jane Howard wrote upon the death of Cecil Day
Lewis in 1972, including one letter written by Rosamond Lehmann (EJH 1203), who is highly critical of the article and Elizabeth
Jane Howard's memories of the past and Cecil Day Lewis.
3. Oversize Manuscripts and Correspondence (Boxes 58-60), are arranged alphabetically by author. These items were removed
from boxes 1-57 so the call numbers are not consecutive. Place holder cards were left in Boxes 1-57 to indicate when an item
was removed to an oversize box.
4. Ephemera (Boxes 61-63, Extra Oversize Boxes 64-65), are arranged alphabetically by author and title. The ephemera consists
mainly of printed copies of newspaper and magazine articles written by Elizabeth Jane Howard or written about her life and
work. There are also several publications dealing with the fortieth anniversary of the Second World War. The Extra Oversize
ephemera consists mainly of printed first proofs for articles and book reviews by Elizabeth Jane Howard, many with autograph
corrections.
Scope and Content Note -- Material Previously Restricted
The papers consist of the following series:
1. Manuscripts and Correspondence (Boxes 66-73), arranged alphabetically by author and title. Includes poems by Kingsley
Amis and Cecil Day Lewis; the correspondence includes, among others, letters by Kingsley Amis, Cyril Connolly, Cecil Day Lewis,
Elizabeth Jane Howard, and Peter Scott. Note: Elspeth Huxley borrowed the Elizabeth Jane Howard and Peter Scott correspondence
for a biography on Peter Scott; her autograph notations (mainly dates) appear throughout the letters and envelopes.
2. Oversize Manuscripts and Correspondence (Box 74), arranged alphabetically by author and title; these items were removed
from boxes 66-73.
Scope and Content Note -- Part II
The papers in Part II consist of the following series:
1. Manuscripts (Boxes 75-83), are arranged alphabetically by author and title. The manuscripts include typescripts for the
third and fourth books of the
Cazalet Chronicle,
Confusion (1993) and
Casting Off (1995), as well as the typescript for Ms. Howard's novel,
Falling (1999); also included in this series are research notes for all three novels.
2. Correspondence (Boxes 84-94), are arranged alphabetically by author. This series includes personal letters, as well as
business letters. Many of the letters are from family, friends, and fans congratulating Elizabeth Jane Howard on the publication
of various books and discussing their reactions to the books. A significant number of letters, written in May/June 2000, are
congratulating Howard upon being awarded the Commander Order of the British Empire (C.B.E.).
There are several interesting letters pertaining to Elizabeth Jane Howard's writing in this series. In a letter from Howard
to Robert Aickman (EJH 2762), she critiques his writing as well as her own; pointing out they both share and suffer from "a
disinclination to attach ourselves to contemporary life" in their writing. There is also a letter from the British writer,
Hilary Mantel, to Elizabeth Jane Howard (EJH 2871), describing, in detail, what is good about Howard's writing and why its
"luminous quality" has "haunted" her own writing. A third letter, from the actor Paul Scofield to Howard (EJH 2988), explains
why he is turning down her offer to play the character of "the Brig" in the television adaptation of the
Cazalet Chronicle even though he admires the books and her writing.
3. Ephemera (Box 94), is arranged alphabetically by author and title. The ephemera consists mainly of printed copies of
newspaper and magazine articles about Elizabeth Jane Howard, Kingsley Amis, and Howard's novels. There is also an interesting
printed biographical booklet (ca. 1972) which includes photographs of Howard, her family, and Amis, published for publicity
purposes at the time of
Odd Girl Out (folder 54).
Scope and Content Note -- Part III
The papers in Part III consist of the following series:
1. Manuscripts (Boxes 95-104), are arranged alphabetically by author and title. The manuscripts include previously unpublished
poems by Kingsley Amis and Cecil Day Lewis, and an early draft of Maureen Duffy's novel
Alchemy. This series also includes drafts of Elizabeth Jane Howard's novel,
Love All, and her memoir,
Slipstream, as well as various articles, essays, and poems.
2. Correspondence (Boxes 105-124), is arranged alphabetically by author. This series includes mainly personal letters from
family and friends. There are a number of early letters, one from Peter Scott to Elizabeth Jane Howard, written during the
war in October 1941, a series of letters, written 1948-1954, from Howard to Anthea and James Sutherland, and letters from
John Betjeman and Cecil Day Lewis.
The majority of the personal letters were written from 1999 to 2009, and many contain congratulations upon the publication
of Howard's memoir and the televising of
The Cazalet Chronicle and
Falling on British and American television. This series includes letters by Maeve Binchy, Louis De Bernières, Selina Hastings, Elspeth
Huxley, Verity Lambert, Penelope Lively, Joanna Lumley, Hilary Mantel, John Julius Norwich, and Kristin Scott Thomas.
3. Ephemera (Box 124), is arranged by subject. This material includes printed copies of essays and articles by Elizabeth
Jane Howard, artwork, commemorative booklets, menus and invitations. Also included, is a folder of printed material from Howard's
investiture in 2000.
Scope and Content Note -- Part IV
The papers in Part IV consist of the following series:
1. Manuscripts (Boxes 125-138), are arranged alphabetically by author and title. The manuscripts include the novel
All Change, the fifth and final volume of the Cazalet Chronicle, radio scripts for "The Cazalets,"
Percy, an unpublished novel, a revised edition of her memoir
Slipstream and various articles, essays, poems and reviews. The series also includes manuscripts by, among others, Andrew Davies, Cecil
Day Lewis, Selina Hastings and Hilary Mantel.
2. Correspondence (Boxes 139-156), is arranged alphabetically by author. This series includes personal letters, including
a group of letters from Elizabeth Jane Howard to Roland Anthony Oliver written during the Second World War, and letters related
to Howard's writing. A large group of letters pertain to Howard's involvement with the charity, Bulgarian Orphans Fund Ltd.
Other notable authors in this series are Robert Aickman, Kingsley Amis, Julian Barnes, Sybille Bedford, Julian Lennox Berkeley,
Louis De Bernières, Anton Felton, Robert Fitzroy Foster, Selina Hastings, Laurie Lee, Nick McDowell, Hilary Mantel and Kristin
Scott Thomas.
3. Photographs (Boxes 157-159), are arranged chronologically (ca. 1925-2013). The photographs cover almost all of Howard's
life, her career and her marriage to Kingsley Amis; notable photographers are Antony Armstrong-Jones (Earl of Snowdon) and
Cecil Beaton. This series also includes family photos, as well as photos of Peter Scott, Robert Aickman, Jill Balcon, Cecil
Day Lewis, Charlie Chaplin, Laurie Lee, Robert and Anthea Sutherland.
4. Volumes (Box 160), are arranged chronologically. The volumes include Elizabeth Jane Howard's 1942 wedding album with
17 B&W photographs, Visitor Books for Lemmons and Bridge House, and Howard's bound Reading List covering the years 2001-2013.
5. Literary Agent and Publishing Correspondence (Box 161), arranged alphabetically by name. This series includes business
correspondence, contracts and printed material for Jonathan Clowes Ltd., and various publishers including, among others, BBC,
Daily Express, Macmillan London/Pan Macmillan, Oxford University Press,
The Times, Viking Press/Viking Penguin and Virago Press.
6. Computer Printed Manuscripts by Howard and Others; Bulgarian Orphans Fund Material (Boxes 162-166), arranged alphabetically
by author and title. This material includes manuscripts produced on the computer and include Howard's novels
All Change and "Percy," her memoir
Slipstream and her gardening articles for
Woman's Journal, as well as printed manuscripts, a dissertation, and a thesis by other authors. This series also includes correspondence and
material related to the Bulgarian Orphans Fund Ltd., fund-raising luncheons.
7. Ephemera (Boxes 167-170), is arranged by author and title. This series includes printed articles by Elizabeth Jane Howard;
also printed articles and interviews about Howard and her works. This series also includes printed material about, among others,
Kingsley Amis, Sybille Bedford, Inland Waterways Association, Pat Kavanagh and Wayland Kennet. Box 169 contains audio cassettes,
a VHS cassette, CDs, DVDs and thumb drives and Box 170 contains passports and daily diaries.
Related materials in the Huntington Library
- Kingsley Amis Papers, mssAMS 1-1362
The collection is organized by accretion, with each new acquisition added on in sequence at the end of the collection as a
new "part":
- Part I (Call numbers: EJH 1 - 2524): Manuscripts (Boxes 1-21), Correspondence (Boxes 22-57), Oversize manuscripts and correspondence (Boxes 58-60), Ephemera (Boxes 61-63, Extra Oversize Boxes 64-65)
- Part I Material Previously Restricted (Call numbers: EJH 2105-2524): Manuscripts and Correspondence (Boxes 66-73) and Oversize Manuscripts and Correspondence (Box 74)
- Part II (Call numbers: EJH 2525 - 3129): Manuscripts (Boxes 75-83), Correspondence (Boxes 84-94), and Ephemera (Box 94)
- Part III (Call numbers: EJH 3130 – 4171): Manuscripts (Boxes 95-104), Correspondence (Boxes 105-124), and Ephemera (Box 124)
- Part IV (Call numbers: EJH 4172 - 5257): Manuscripts (Boxes 125-138), Correspondence (Boxes 139-156), Photographs (Boxes 157-159), Volumes (Box 160), Computer Printed Manuscripts by Howard and Others; Bulgarian Orphans Fund Material (Boxes 162-166), and Ephemera (Boxes 167-170)
Indexing: Subjects and Added Entries
A comprehensive indexing of subjects and contributors represented in the collection is available as a supplemental PDF.
Bennett, Nicola.
Speaking Volumes: A History of the Cheltenham Festival of Literature (Phoenix Mill, United Kingdom, Sutton Publishing, 1999).
Evory, Ann and Linda Metzger (eds.).
Contemporary Authors. New Revision Series, Vol. 8 (Detroit: Gale Research Company, 1983), pp. 256 - 257.
Harte, Barbara and Carolyn Riley (eds.).
Contemporary Authors. Vols. 5-8. First Revision (Detroit: Gale Research Company, 1963), p. 567.
Howard, Elizabeth Jane.
Slipstream: A Memoir (London: Macmillan, 2002).
Jones, Daniel and John D. Jorgenson (eds.).
Contemporary Authors. New Revision Series, Vol. 62 (Detroit: Gale Research Company, 1998), pp. 219 - 223.
Leader, Zachary (ed.).
The Letters of Kingsley Amis (London: HarperCollins, 2000).
Leader, Zachary.
The Life of Kingsley Amis (London: Jonathan Cape, 2006).
Who's Who 1997. Vol. 149. (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1997), p. 958.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Cheltenham Literary Festival, 1962.
Women authors, English -- 20th century -- Archives.
World War, 1939-1945.
Diaries -- Great Britain -- 20th century.
Drawings -- Great Britain -- 20th century.
Ephemera -- Great Britain -- 20th century.
Interviews -- Great Britain -- 20th century.
Letters (correspondence) -- Great Britain -- 20th century.
Manuscripts -- Great Britain -- 20th century.
Passports -- Great Britain -- 20th century.
Photographs -- Great Britain -- 20th century.
Poems -- Great Britain -- 20th century.
Screenplays -- Great Britain -- 20th century.
Heller, Joseph