Finding Aid for the Arthur Christopher Benson Papers LSC.0656
Finding aid prepared by Brooke Whiting, July and November 1962; machine-readable finding aid created by Myra Villamor and
Caroline Cubé.
UCLA Library Special Collections
Online finding aid last updated 2002.
Room A1713, Charles E. Young Research Library
Box 951575
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575
Business Number: 310-825-4988
Fax Number: 310-206-1864
spec-coll@library.ucla.edu
Contributing Institution:
UCLA Library Special Collections
Title: Arthur Christopher Benson papers
Creator:
Benson, Arthur Christopher
Identifier/Call Number: LSC.0656
Physical Description:
1.0 Linear Feet
(2 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1900-1925
Abstract: Arthur Christopher Benson (1862-1925) published his first volume of essays in 1896. In all, he published more than seventy
books, including poetry, short stories, novels, biographies, and essays. The collection consists of correspondence and literary
manuscripts, an unpublished novel and a presentation copy of a book of Benson's poems.
Physical Location: Stored off-site. All requests to access special collections material must be made in advance using the request button located
on this page.
Language of Material: Materials are in English.
Restrictions on Access
Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance using the request button located
on this page.
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the physical objects belong to UCLA Library Special Collections. All other rights, including copyright,
are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright
and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Arthur Christopher Benson Papers (Collection 656). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E.
Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Processing Information
Processed by Brooke Whiting, July and November 1962.
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interest and research value, availability of staff and resources, and competing priorities. Library Special Collections provides
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UCLA Catalog Record ID
Biography
Benson was born April 24, 1862; his father was Edward White Benson, who later became Archbishop of Canterbury; entered Eton
as King's scholar, 1874; went to King's College, Cambridge, 1881; returned to work at Eton, 1885-1903; published first volume
of essays, 1896; produced various works, including a biography of his father,
Edward White Benson (1899),
The Schoolmaster (1902),
Land of Hope and Glory, and
Peace and Other Poems (1905); in all, published more than seventy books, including poetry, short stories, novels, biographies, and essays; became
master of Magdalene College, Cambridge, 1915; died June 17, 1925 at Cambridge.
Scope and Content
Collection consists of the correspondence and literary manuscripts of Arthur Christopher Benson. Manuscript titles include:
The Art of the Biographer,
Biographic Studies,
Loopholes,
Memoir of Mary Benson,
Poems,
The War 1914, and
Bibliography of Arthur Christopher Benson. Also includes an unpublished novel and a presentation copy of a book of Benson's poems,
Le Cahier Jaune.
Organization and Arrangement
Arranged in the following series:
- Correspondence, book of poetry, and typescripts.
- Manuscript and typescripts of unpublished material.
Derived from in-house card file.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Poets, English -- 20th century -- Archives.
Authors, English -- 20th century -- Archives
Benson, Arthur Christopher
Benson, Arthur Christopher, 1862-1925--Archives.
box 1
Correspondence, mainly from Gordon G. Wordsworth to Arthur Christopher Benson, but with 2 letters from other people, and also
copies of 3 letters from various people to Gordon Wordsworth. v.p.
September 1924-February 1925.
General Physical Description note: 24 pieces.
Scope and Contents note
These letters concern the purchase of Mount Scawfell by Benson and Wordsworth for the purpose of giving it to the National
Trust.
box 1
Le Cahier Jaune; poems. Eton: Privately printed.
1892.
General Physical Description note: 99pp. 22.5cm.
- Presentation copy from the author to Sir Walter Durnford, Provost of King's College, Cambridge.
-
With this is bound: His, The Myrtle Bough, a Vale. Eton, Spottiswoode, 1903. 70pp.,
and his, The Olive Bough. Eton: Spottiswoode, 1904. 31pp.
General note
Ex libris: C.K. Ogden.
box 1
The Art of the Biographer. Cambridge.
1917.
General Physical Description note: 49 leaves. Typescript with holograph corrections, bound.
Scope and Contents note
Published in
Royal Society of Literature of the United Kingdom, London. Essays by diverse hands, being transactions. London, 1926. 22cm. New [i.e. 3rd] series, vol.6, pp. [139]-164.
Read April 29th, 1925.
box 1
Biographical studies: Issak Walton, Edward Ernest Bowen, William Collins, Evelyn Shirley Shuckburgh, Henry James, The Angel
[fiction?], Matthew Arnold, Crevasse [fiction?]. Cambridge.
v.d.
General Physical Description note: 8 typescripts with holograph corrections, bound in 1 vol.
General note
Apparently all unpublished.
box 1
Letters to various persons. v.p.
v.d.
General Physical Description note: 2 items. Typescript, holograph.
Scope and Contents note
With these: 1 letter of July 26, 1926 (typescript copy) from R.M. Welsford to Lord Charnwood, and 1 letter of August 2, 1926 (typescript
copy) from Charnwood to Welsford, both regarding Arthur Christopher Benson's estate.
box 1
Loopholes. Cambridge.
1916.
General Physical Description note: Typescript with holograph corrections, bound.
- These were... made into a little book called Loopholes [unpublished]...
- Title on backstrip reads Fragments 1917 (omitted from
Loopholes).
box 2
[Manuscript without title. n.p.,]
n.d.
General Physical Description note: 190 leaves. 23cm. Holograph marked in pencil.
General note
A novel, apparently unpublished.
box 2
Memoir of Mary Benson. Cambridge.
1925.
General Physical Description note: Typescript (carbon), bound.
Scope and Contents note
A life of the author's mother.
General note
Ex libris: E.F. Benson.
Unpublished.
box 2
Poems. [A volume of miscellaneous pieces, both poetry and prose. n.p.]
v.d.
General Physical Description note: 24 typescripts, some with holograph corrections.
Scope and Contents note
The dates, 1904, 1909, and 1916 appear on several items.
One item dated December 13, 1903, is printed. Poems. A.C.B. appears on the spine. Bound in boards.
Ex libris: C.K. Ogden.
box 2
The War 1914. Cambridge.
n.d.
General Physical Description note: Typescript with holograph corrections, bound.
General note
Apparently unpublished.
box 2
Bibliography of Arthur Christopher Benson. n.p.
n.d.
General Physical Description note: 25pp. 26cm. Typescript with corrections in ink.
- Compiler unknown.
- Included are several biographical quotations from various sources.
