Description
This collection contains manuscripts, correspondence,
photographs, and ephemera of Scottish
historian and writer Patrick Balfour (1904-1976), Lord Kinross, from his earliest
columns as a journalist to his final major work, The Ottoman Centuries.
Background
John Patrick Douglas Balfour, Baron Kinross, was born June 25, 1904, in Edinburgh,
Scotland; he inherited the title of 3rd Baron Kinross of Glasclune in 1939 upon the
death of his father. He was educated at Winchester and Balliol Coll. Oxford (B.A.
History 1925), and while at Oxford he became one of the “Bright Young People” along
with Harold Acton, Evelyn Waugh, Cyril Connolly, Brian Howard and John Betjeman.
Kinross began his writing career as a journalist on the editorial staffs of various
newspapers and as the society gossip columnist, “Mr. Gossip.” He married Angela Mary
Culme-Seymour in 1938 but the marriage ended in divorce in 1942. At the start of the
war, he joined the Royal Air Force and became a squadron leader and worked in
Intelligence, 1940-1944, he then served as Director, Publicity Section, British
Embassy, Cairo, with rank of 1st Sec. H.M. Diplomatic Service 1944-47. It was while
traveling and serving during the war Kinross began a life-long interest in the
Middle East and, especially, Turkey.
Restrictions
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.