Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
Bell (Thomas Hastie) Correspondence
mssHM 37562-37616, 41995-42118, 42277-42350
View entire collection guide
Search this collection
Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: Thomas Hastie Bell correspondence
Creator:
Bell, T. H. (Thomas H.),
1867-1942
Identifier/Call Number: mssHM 37562-37616, 41995-42118, 42277-42350
Physical Description:
4.68 Linear Feet
(4 boxes)
255 items
Date (inclusive): 1901-1942
Abstract: A collection of correspondence related
to the life and work of American author Thomas Hastie Bell; also includes a small amount of
manuscripts, documents, and ephemera.
Language of Material: Materials are in
English.
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department.
For more information, contact Reader Services.
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]. Thomas Hastie Bell correspondence, The Huntington Library, San
Marino, California.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Six separate acquisitions all purchased from Miss Marion Bell (1972-1976): Frank Harris
material, October 1972; Upton Sinclair material, December 1972; Elmer Gertz material, April
1973; Thomas Hastie Bell material, June 1975; Leonard Abbott material, August 1975; Thomas
Hastie Bell material, February 1976.
Materials in this collection were separated into three collections (Thomas Hastie Bell
papers, Upton Sinclair correspondence, and Frank Harris correspondence) by Huntington staff
during 1973-1976. Sometime after 1976, all six acquisitions were interfiled chronologically
into three boxes (255 items total); however, the catalog records for this material were
never combined to reflect thier arrangement in a single collection.
Thomas Hastie Bell (1867-1942) was an American author who was associated with a number of
important literary and political figures during his lifetime. He was an anarchist by
political conviction, having come to that position through socialist thought which for Bell
did not adequately provide for the maintenance of personal liberties. Bell denounced the
Bolsheviks from the beginning of the Russian Revolution for their suppression of personal
freedom and their doctrinaire approach to politics. Bell served as secretary to the
publisher and editor Frank Harris for about seven years early in the 20th century and,
during that time, he came to know many of the important literary figures of the day. Bell's
books include: Edward Carpenter, the English Tolstoi (1932), and Oscar Wilde Without
Whitewash. His book on Oscar Wilde was never published in English but was published in
Buenos Aires with the title Oscar Wilde: Sus Amigos, Sus Adversaries, Sus Ideas (1946).
The collection contains correspondence written by Bell and his friends and colleagues; it
is predominantly concerned with both political issues (especially anarchism) and Bell's
literary work. The letters are arranged alphabetically by correspondent name with incoming
and outgoing correspondence kept together. There are a small number of original autograph
letters by Bell but the majority are carbon copies, author's retained copies, photocopies,
and contemporary copies. Correspondents include, among others, Leonard Dalton Abbott, Roger
Baldwin, Ekaterina Konstantinovna Breschko-Breshkovskai͡a, Lord Alfred Douglas, Elmer Gertz,
Frank Harris, Pryns Hopkins, Joan London, Nellie O'Hara, Upton Sinclair, and George
Sylvester Viereck. The collection also contains a small number of manuscripts, documents,
and ephemera; the manuscripts, mostly by Bell, concern both political and literary matters
and focus on Oscar Wilde and Frank Harris.
Processed by Huntington Library Staff, 1973-1976; in 2020, Gayle Richardson created the
finding aid.
Arranged alphabetically by correspondent's name.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Anarchists -- United States -- History -- 20th century
Authors, American -- 20th century
Communism -- Soviet Union -- History -- 20th century
Communism -- United States -- History -- 20th century
Labor movement -- United States -- History -- 20th century
Labor unions -- United States -- History -- 20th century
Parapsychology -- United States -- History -- 20th century
Socialism -- United States -- History -- 20th century
Socialists -- United States -- History -- 20th century
Spain -- History -- Civil War, 1936-1939
United States -- Politics and Government -- 20th century
Ephemera -- United States -- 20th century
Documents -- United States -- 20th century
Letters (correspondence) -- United States -- 20th century
Manuscripts -- United States -- 20th century
Berkman, Alexander,
1870-1936
Harris, Frank,
1856-1931
Rocker, Rudolf,
1873-1958
Sexauer, Hermann Frederick, 1883-1971
Trotsky, Leon,
1879-1940
Wilde, Oscar,
1854-1900
Abbott, Leonard Dalton,
1878-1953
Abelson, Sidney J.
Baldwin, Roger N.
(Roger Nash), 1884-1981
Blackwell, Alice Stone,
1857-1950
Breshko-Breshkovskai︠a︡,
Ekaterina Konstantinovna, 1844-1934
Bronson, Oliver Hart, 1870-1950
Davray, Henry-D.,
1873-
Douglas, Alfred Bruce,
1870-1945
Gertz, Bernice R.
Gertz, Elmer,
1906-2000
Hopkins, Pryns,
1885-
Kimmelman, Bessie
Lloyd, J. Wm. (John
William), 1857-1940
London, Joan
McDougall, William,
1871-1938
Mencken, H. L. (Henry
Lewis), 1880-1956
O'Hara, Nellie
Parry, Albert,
1901-1992
Sinclair, Upton,
1878-1968
Tobin, A. I.