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Walter De la Mare Papers: Finding Aid
mssHM 65249-65611  
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Table of contents What's This?
  • Overview of the Collection
  • Access
  • Administrative Information
  • Related Materials in the Huntington Library
  • Biographical Note
  • Scope and Content
  • Arrangement
  • Indexing: Subjects
  • Indexing: Added Entries
  • Indexing Terms

    • Overview of the Collection

    Title: Walter De la Mare Papers
    Dates (inclusive): 1923-1956
    Collection Number: mssHM 65249-65611
    Creator: De la Mare, Walter, 1873-1956.
    Extent: 363 items in 8 boxes
    Repository: The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens. Manuscripts Department
    1151 Oxford Road
    San Marino, California 91108
    Phone: (626) 405-2129
    Email: reference@huntington.org
    URL: http://www.huntington.org
    Abstract: This collection contains correspondence of British writer Walter De la Mare (1873-1956), as well as five photographs. The strength of the collection is the correspondence, which spans decades, between De la Mare and other writers, including Morchard Bishop, H.C. Duffin, and Fredoon Kabraji. The correspondence traces De la Mare’s views of poetry and writing and also deal with personal matters.
    Language: English.

    Access

    Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader Services.

    Administrative Information

    Publication Rights

    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.

    Preferred Citation

    [Identification of item]. Walter De la Mare Papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

    Provenance

    Purchased from Cadmus and Sotheby's, 1978-1984:
    • Accession number 504, collection of correspondence and photographs from De la Mare to H.C. Duffin, 1933-1956; acquired from Cadmus, February 20-21, 1978 (Lot 385).
    • Accession number 553, 90 letters from De la Mare to Morchard Bishop, 1951-1956; acquired from Sotheby’s, June 6, 1978 (Lot 429).
    • Accession number 788, 42 letters from De la Mare to Margaret Miles, 1923-1945; acquired from Sotheby’s, July 21-22, 1980 (Lot 495).
    • Accession number 958, 15 letters from De la Mare and his secretary to Fredoon Kabraji, 1938-1956; acquired from Sotheby’s, July 22-23, 1982 (Lot 582).
    • Accession number 1148, eight letters from De la Mare to Marjorie Stannard, 1942-1952; acquired from Sotheby’s, December 6, 1984 (Lot 184).

    Related Materials in the Huntington Library

    • De la Mare, Walter. T.L.S. to R.N. Green-Armytage, also a T.L.S. from Clemence Dane, 1932 (Call number: mssHM 41003-41004)
    • De la Mare, Walter. A.L.S. to Mr. Whitall, 1925, Oct. 11 (Call number: HM 36046)

    Biographical Note

    Walter De la Mare (1873-1956) was a British poet, novelist, short story writer, critic, essayist, anthologist, dramatist, and a prolific writer of children's poetry and fiction. He was born in Charlton, Kent, England on April 25, 1873, the son of James Edward and Lucy Sophia (Browning) De la Mare. He married Constance Elfrida Ingpen in 1899 and had four children: Dick, Florence, Jenny, and Colin. He died in Twickenham, Middlesex, England on June 22, 1956.
    When De la Mare first came to London he worked for the Anglo-American (Standard) Oil Company as a clerk in the statistics department (1890-1908) but was eventually able to leave the unfulfilling job as a clerk and support himself by writing full time. De la Mare was a poet, novelist, short story writer, critic, essayist, anthologist, dramatist; he was also a prolific writer of children’s poetry and fiction.
    De la Mare won numerous awards and honors for his work, including the Polignac prize, Royal Society of Literature, 1911; the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction, 1922; the Carnegie Medal, American Library Association, 1947; Companion of Honour, 1948; Order of Merit, 1953; Foyle Poetry prize, 1954; and honorary degrees from Oxford, Cambridge, St. Andrews, Bristol, and London universities.

    Bibliography

    Contemporary Authors. Vol. 163. ed. Scot Peacock (Detroit: Gale Research Company, 1998), pp. 105-110.
    Contemporary Authors. New Revision Series, Vol. 3. ed. Ann Evory (Detroit: Gale Research Company, 1981), pp. 124-125.
    Contemporary Authors. Permanent Series, Vol. 1. ed Clare D. Kinsman (Detroit: Gale Research Company, 1975), pp. 187, 335, 606-607.
    Whistler, Theresa. Imagination of the Heart: The Life of Walter de La Mare (London: Gerald Duckworth & Co. Ltd., 1993).

    Scope and Content

    The collection consists entirely of correspondence and five photographs, it does not contain any manuscript material. The strength of the collection is the correspondence, which spans decades, between De la Mare and other writers, including Morchard Bishop, H.C. Duffin and Fredoon Kabraji; the collection also includes a series of letters from the poet Richard Church to H.C. Duffin. Over the course of the correspondence it is possible to trace De la Mare’s views of poetry and writing -- both the origin and expression of his own poetry and fiction, as well as the work of other writers.
    The letters also deal with personal matters: De la Mare’s own health and the illness and death of his son-in-law, Rupert Thompson. One subject which is not discussed is World War II; though the letters span the war years and were written in England there is no mention of the war, bombing raids, rationing, or other any details of living in England during the war.
    The De la Mare Papers include two collections previously cataloged as the Morchard Bishop and H.C. Duffin collections.

    Arrangement

    Correspondence and five photographs (Boxes 1-8) arranged alphabetically.
    Subjects in the collection include:
    • Audubon, John James, 1785-1851. In Walter De la Mare, 1873-1956, letter to Dorothy Duffin, 1949, Dec. 28. HM 65323.
    • Bishop, Morchard. In [Victor Gollancz, 1893-1967], letter to Walter De la Mare, 1873- 1956, 1951, Apr. 2. HM 65593.
    • Bishop, Morchard. Blake’s Hayley: The Life, Works, and Friendships of William Hayley. In Walter De la Mare, 1873-1956, letters to Morchard Bishop, 1951- 1952. HM 65283-65284.
    • Browning, Robert, 1812-1889. In Walter De la Mare, 1873-1956, letters to Henry Charles Duffin, 1884-, 1950. HM 65418-65419.
    • Carlyle, Thomas, 1795-1881. In Walter De la Mare, 1873-1956, letter to Henry Charles Duffin, 1884- & Dorothy Duffin, 1951, Aug. 31. HM 65506.
    • Church, Richard, 1893-. In Walter De la Mare, 1873-1956, letters to Henry Charles Duffin, 1884-, 1944-1949. HM 65348, 65408-65409.
    • Church, Richard, 1893-. In Walter De la Mare, 1873-1956, letter to Henry Charles Duffin, 1884- & Dorothy Duffin, [1949, Sep. 18]. HM 65477.
    • Church, Richard, 1893-. British Authors. In Richard Church, 1893-, letter to Henry Charles Duffin, 1884-, 1949, Mar. 29. HM 65256.
    • Church, Richard, 1893-. Collected Poems. In Richard Church, 1893-, letter to Henry Charles Duffin, 1884-, 1948, Aug. 5. HM 65255.
    • Church, Richard, 1893-. The Dangerous Years. In Richard Church, 1893-, letters to Henry Charles Duffin, 1884-, 1955-1957. HM 65267-65268, 65270-65272.
    • Church, Richard, 1893-. The Inheritors. In Richard Church, 1893-, letter to Henry Charles Duffin, 1884, 1957, Dec. 6. HM 65274.
    • Church, Richard, 1893-. The Nightingale. In Richard Church, 1893-, letter to Henry Charles Duffin, 1884-, 1952, July 25. HM 65264.
    • Church, Richard, 1893-. Over the Bridge. In Richard Church, 1893-, letters to Henry Charles Duffin, 1884-, 1955. HM 65267-65268.
    • Church, Richard, 1893-. Twentieth Century Psalter. In Richard Church, 1893-, letter to Henry Charles Duffin, 1884-, 1944, June 14. HM 65249.
    • Church, Richard, 1893-. Twentieth Century Psalter. In Henry Charles Duffin, 1884-, letter to Richard Church, 1893-, 1944, June 20. HM 65592.
    • Churchill, Winston, Sir, 1874-1965. In Walter De la Mare, 1873-1956, letter to Henry Charles Duffin, 1884- & Dorothy Duffin, 1948, Nov. 21. HM 65458.
    • Coleridge, Samuel Taylor, 1772-1834. In Walter De la Mare, 1873-1956, letters to Morchard Bishop, 1952. HM 65292, 65295.
    • De la Mare, Walter, 1873-1956. In Richard Church, 1893-, letters to Henry Charles Duffin, 1884-, 1948-1952. HM 65254-65255, 65260, 65263-65264.
    • De la Mare, Walter, 1873-1956. In B. Dagwell, letter to Morchard Bishop, 1952, Jan. 16. HM 65275.
    • De la Mare, Walter, 1873-1956. In Olive Jones, letters to Morchard Bishop, 1953-1954. HM 65595-65596.
    • De la Mare, Walter, 1873-1956. In [Nathalie Saxton], letters to Morchard Bishop, 1954. HM 65597-65598.
    • De la Mare, Walter, 1873-1956. In [Nathalie Saxton], letter to Henry Charles Duffin, 1884- & Dorothy Duffin, 1950, Dec. 20. HM 65600.
    • De la Mare, Walter, 1873-1956. In B.P.C. Sayers, letters to Fredoon Kabraji, 1939. HM 65601-65602.
    • De la Mare, Walter, 1873-1956. In Mona Tait, letters to Morchard Bishop, 1954-1956. HM 65603-65605.
    • De la Mare, Walter, 1873-1956. In Mona Tait, letter to Henry Charles Duffin, 1884-, 1956, Mar. 1. HM 65606.
    • De la Mare, Walter, 1873-1956. In Mona Tait, letter to Henry Charles Duffin, 1884- & Dorothy Duffin, 1956, Mar. 27. HM 65607.
    • De la Mare, Walter, 1873-1956. In Allan Chappelow, photograph, 1955. HM 65608.
    • De la Mare, Walter, 1873-1956. In John Gay, photograph, [ca. 1945?]. HM 65609.
    • De la Mare, Walter, 1873-1956. In E.W. Pannell, photographs, [ca. 1925?]. HM 65610.
    • De la Mare, Walter, 1873-1956. In -----, printed photograph, [ca. 1945?]. HM 65611.
    • De la Mare, Walter, 1873-1956. Bells and Grass. In Walter De la Mare, 1873-1956, letter to Margaret Miles, 1942, Jan. 12. HM 65560.
    • De la Mare, Walter, 1873-1956. Collected Poems. In Walter De la Mare, 1873-1956, letter to Margaret Miles, 1941, June 9. HM 65559.
    • De la Mare, Walter, 1873-1956. Inward Companion. In Walter De la Mare, 1873-1956, letter to Henry Charles Duffin, 1884- & Dorothy Duffin, 1950, Oct. 4. HM 65495.
    • De la Mare, Walter, 1873-1956. Limerick in letter to Henry Charles Duffin, 1884- & Dorothy Duffin, 1950, Nov. 6. HM 65498.
    • De la Mare, Walter,1873-1956. Love (editor). In Walter De la Mare, 1873-1956, letters to Margaret Miles, 1942-1943. HM 65563, 65569, 65571.
    • De la Mare, Walter, 1873-1956. Songs of Childhood. In Walter De la Mare, 1873-1956, letter to Fredoon Kabraji, 1939, Jan. 31. HM 65527.
    • De la Mare, Walter, 1873-1956. Songs of Childhood. In Walter De la Mare, 1873-1956, letter to Marjorie Stannard, 1944, May 15. HM 65586.
    • De la Mare, Walter, 1873-1956. The Three Mulla-Mulgars. In Walter De la Mare, 1873- 1956, letter to Margaret Miles, 1942, Jan. 12. HM 65560.
    • De la Mare, Walter, 1873-1956. The Traveller. In Walter De la Mare, 1873-1956, letters to Henry Charles Duffin, 1884-, 1946-1947. HM 65360, 65363, 65365, 65374.
    • De la Mare, Walter, 1873-1956. Winged Chariot. In Walter De la Mare, 1873-1956, letter to Henry Charles Duffin, 1884-, 1951, Apr. 27. HM 65425.
    • De la Mare, Walter, 1873-1956. Winged Chariot. In Walter De la Mare, 1873-1956, letter to Henry Charles Duffin, 1884- & Dorothy Duffin, 1951, May 4. HM 65502.
    • Duffin, Henry Charles, 1884-. In Walter De la Mare, 1873-1956, letters to Dorothy Duffin, 1949-1950. HM 65322, 65324-65325.
    • Duffin, Henry Charles, 1884-. Amphibian: A Reconsideration of Browning. In Richard Church, 1893-, letters to Henry Charles Duffin, 1884-, 1952-1956. HM 65265-65266, 65269-65271.
    • Duffin, Henry Charles, 1884-. Amphibian: A Reconsideration of Browning. In Walter De la Mare, 1873-1956, letter to Dorothy Duffin, 1952, Apr. 9. HM 65331.
    • Duffin, Henry Charles, 1884-. Amphibian: A Reconsideration of Browning. In Walter De la Mare, 1873-1956, letter to Henry Charles Duffin, 1884-, 1956, Feb. 20. HM 65437.
    • Duffin, Henry Charles, 1884-. Amphibian: A Reconsideration of Browning. In Walter De la Mare, 1873-1956, letter to Henry Charles Duffin, 1884- & Dorothy Duffin, 1952, Sep. 3. HM 65515.
    • Duffin, Henry Charles, 1884-. Thomas Hardy: A Study of His Wessex Novels. In Walter De la Mare, 1873-1956, letter to Henry Charles Duffin, 1884-, 1946, Oct. 20. HM 65368.
    • Duffin, Henry Charles, 1884-. Walter De la Mare: A Study of His Poetry. In Richard Church, 1893-, letters to Henry Charles Duffin, 1884-, 1949-1950. HM 65257-65260, 65262.
    • Duffin, Henry Charles, 1884-. Walter De la Mare: A Study of His Poetry. In Walter De la Mare, 1873-1956, letters to Henry Charles Duffin, 1884-, 1933-1949. HM 65335-65337, 65339-65340, 65341-65347, 65354-65355, 65401, 65404-65405, 65407, 65409.
    • Duffin, Henry Charles, 1884-. Walter De la Mare: A Study of His Poetry. In Walter De la Mare, 1873-1956, letters to Henry Charles Duffin, 1884- & Dorothy Duffin, 1949. HM 65472-65473, 65480, 65482.
    • Duffin, Henry Charles, 1884-. The Way of Happiness: A Reading of Wordsworth. In Richard Church, 1893-, letters to Henry Charles Duffin, 1884-, 1944. HM 65249-65250.
    • Duffin, Henry Charles, 1884-. The Way of Happiness: A Reading of Wordsworth. In Walter De la Mare, 1873-1956, letters to Henry Charles Duffin, 1884-, 1946. HM 65366, 65370.
    • Duffin, Henry Charles, 1884-. The Way of Happiness: A Reading of Wordsworth. In Walter De la Mare, 1873-1956, letter to Henry Charles Duffin, 1884- & Dorothy Duffin, 1948, Oct. 20. HM 65456.
    • Duffin, Henry Charles, 1884-. The Way of Happiness: A Reading of Wordsworth. In J.M. Dent & Sons (firm) to Henry Charles Duffin, 1884-, 1944, July 12. HM 65594.
    • Goldring, Douglas, 1887-. In Walter De la Mare, 1873-1956, letters to Morchard Bishop, 1952. HM 65290-65291.
    • Gollancz, Victor, 1893-1967. In Walter De la Mare, 1873-1956, letter to Morchard Bishop, 1951, Mar. 30. HM 65276.
    • Green-Armytage, R.N. (Robert N.), dd. 1966. Selected Poems (editor). In Walter De la Mare, 1873-1956, letter to Henry Charles Duffin, 1884- & Dorothy Duffin, 1954, Aug. 16. HM 65521.
    • Hardy, Thomas, 1840-1928. In Walter De la Mare, 1873-1956, letter to Henry Charles Duffin, 1884-, 1946, Nov. 16. HM 65369.
    • John, Augustus, 1878-1961. In Walter De la Mare, 1873-1956, letter to Henry Charles Duffin, 1884- & Dorothy Duffin, 1950, Jan. 30. HM 65487.
    • Kabraji, Fredoon. In Walter De la Mare, 1873-1956, letter to [Sir Hugh Walpole, 1884- 1941]?, 1938, Dec. 9. HM 65590.
    • Kabraji, Fredoon. The Cold Flame. In Walter De la Mare, 1873-1956, letter to Fredoon Kabraji, 1956, Mar. 13. HM 65539.
    • Kabraji, Fredoon. A Minor Georgian’s Swan Song. In Walter De la Mare, 1873-1956, letter to Fredoon Kabraji, 1945, Mar. 5. HM 65531.
    • Kabraji, Fredoon. This Strange Adventure (editor). In Walter De la Mare, 1873-1956, letter to Fredoon Kabraji, 1946, July 30. HM 65532.
    • Kipling, Rudyard, 1865-1936. In Walter De la Mare, 1873-1956, letter to Henry Charles Duffin, 1884-, 1946, Nov. 16. HM 65369.
    • Machen, Arthur, 1863-1947. In Walter De la Mare, 1873-1956, letters to Morchard Bishop, 1951. HM 65279, 65281.
    • Machen, Arthur, 1863-1947. The Hill of Dreams. In Walter De la Mare, 1873-1956, letters to Morchard Bishop, 1951. HM 65276-65277.
    • Machen, Arthur, 1863-1947. The Hill of Dreams. In [Victor Gollancz, 1893-1967], letter to Walter De la Mare, 1873-1956, 1951, Apr. 2. HM 65593.
    • Masefield, John, 1878-1967. In Walter De la Mare, 1873-1956, letter to Henry Charles Duffin, 1884-, 1934, Sep. 11. HM 65343.
    • Masefield, John, 1878-1967. In Walter De la Mare, 1873-1956, letter to Henry Charles Duffin, 1884- & Dorothy Duffin, 1951, Jan. 24. HM 65501.
    • Melville, Herman, 1819-1891. Moby Dick. In Walter De la Mare, 1873-1956, note to Henry Charles Duffin, 1884-, 1953, Aug. 24. HM 65434.
    • Moore, George, 1852-1933. In Walter De la Mare, 1873-1956, letters to Margaret Miles, 1942-1944. HM 65561, 65574.
    • Newbolt, Henry, Sir, 1862-1938. In Walter De la Mare, 1873-1956, letter to Henry Charles Duffin, 1884-, 1946, Nov. 16. HM 65369.
    • Peake, Mervyn Laurence, 1911-1968. In Walter De la Mare, 1873-1956, letters to Henry Charles Duffin, 1884- & Dorothy Duffin, 1948-1953. HM 65448, 65516.
    • Pocock, Guy Noel, 1880-1955. In Richard Church, 1893-, letter to Henry Charles Duffin, 1884-, 1949, Nov. 15. HM 65260.
    • Ruskin, John, 1819-1900. In Walter De la Mare, 1873-1956, letter to Henry Charles Duffin, 1884-, 1946, Nov. 16. HM 65369.
    • Stannard, Marjorie. The Springing Wood. In Walter De la Mare, 1873-1956, letter to Marjorie Stannard, 1947, Mar. 3. HM 65588.
    Additional contributors in the collection include:
    • Bishop, Morchard. Addressee for B. Dagwell, 1952, Jan. 16. HM 65275.
    • Bishop, Morchard. Addressee for Walter De la Mare, 1873-1956, 1951-1956. HM 65276-65318.
    • Bishop, Morchard. Addressee for Olive Jones, 1953-1954. HM 65595-65596.
    • Bishop, Morchard. Addressee for [Nathalie Saxton], 1954. HM 65597-65598.
    • Bishop, Morchard. Addressee for Mona Tait, 1954-1956. HM 65603-65605.
    • Church, Richard, 1893-. Addressee for Henry Charles Duffin, 1884-, 1944, June 20. HM 65592.
    • De la Mare, Walter, 1873-1956. Addressee for [Victor Gollancz, 1893-1967], 1951, Apr. 2. HM 65593.
    • De la Mare, Walter, 1873-1956. A.N.S. on a letter from [Nathalie Saxton] to Henry Charles Duffin, 1884- & Dorothy Duffin, 1947, Nov. 8. HM 65599.
    • De la Mare, Walter, 1873-1956. “How pleased it is to discourse on one’s ills…:” poem. In Walter De la Mare, 1873-1956, letter to Henry Charles Duffin, 1884-, 1947, Aug. 26. HM 65389.
    • De la Mare, Walter, 1873-1956. “I Love Mr. Dalton:” poem. In Walter De la Mare, 1873-1956, letter to Henry Charles Duffin, 1884-, 1947, Apr. 14-21. HM 65379.
    • Duffin, Dorothy. Jt. addressee for Walter De la Mare, 1873-1956, 1947-1956. HM 65438-65525, 65591.
    • Duffin, Dorothy. Jt. addressee for [Nathalie Saxton], 1947-1950. HM 65599-65600.
    • Duffin, Dorothy. Jt. addressee for Mona Tait, 1956, Mar. 27. HM 65607.
    • Duffin, Henry Charles, 1884-. Addressee for Richard Church, 1893-, 1944-1957. HM 65249-65274.
    • Duffin, Henry Charles, 1884-. Addressee for Walter De la Mare, 1873-1956, 1933-1956. HM 65335-65525, 65591.
    • Duffin, Henry Charles, 1884-. Addressee for J.M. Dent & Sons (firm), 1944, July 12. HM 65594.
    • Duffin, Henry Charles, 1884-. Addressee for [Nathalie Saxton], 1947-1950. HM 65599- 65600.
    • Duffin, Henry Charles, 1884-. Addressee for Mona Tait, 1956. HM 65606-65607.
    • Kabraji, Fredoon. Addressee for Walter De la Mare, 1873-1956, 1938-1956. HM 65526-65539.
    • Kabraji, Fredoon. Addressee for B.P.C. Sayers, 1939. HM 65601-65602. Saxton, Nathalie. A.N.S. on letters from Walter De la Mare, 1873-1956, to Henry
    • Charles Duffin, 1884- & Dorothy Duffin, 1949-1950. HM 65468, 65493.
    • Saxton, Nathalie. Jt. author with Walter De la Mare, 1873-1956, [not after 1956]. HM 65591.
    • [Walpole, Hugh, Sir, 1884-1941]? Addressee for Walter De la Mare, 1873-1956, 1938, Dec. 9. HM 65590.

    Indexing Terms

    The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Huntington Library's Online Catalog.  

    Subjects

    Church, Richard, 1893-1972.
    De la Mare, Walter, 1873-1956 -- Correspondence.
    Duffin, Henry Charles, 1884-.
    Authors, English -- 20th century -- Archives.
    English literature -- 20th century.
    Great Britain -- Intellectual life -- 20th century -- Sources.

    Forms/Genres

    Letters(correspondence) -- Great Britain -- 20th century.
    Photographs -- Great Britain -- 20th century.

    Additional Contributors

    Bishop, Morchard, correspondent.
    Church, Richard, 1893-1972, correspondent.
    Duffin, Henry Charles, 1884- correspondent.
    Kabraji, Fredoon, correspondent.

    Collection Contents
    Correspondence and Photographs
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