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Aldous Huxley Oral History Papers: Finding Aid mssHM 56777-56907

Processed by Gayle M. Richardson, completed April 1, 1997; machine-readable finding aid created by Xiuzhi Zhou; supplementary encoding and revision by Diann Benti.
The Huntington Library
1998
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Business Number: (626) 405-2191
reference@huntington.org

Note

Finding aid last updated on May 11, 2022, by Maggie Hughes.
Contributing Institution: The Huntington Library
Title: Aldous Huxley oral history papers
Creator: Dunaway, David King
Identifier/Call Number: mssHM 56777-56907
Physical Description: 2 Linear Feet (5 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1985-1990
Abstract: This collection contains audio cassette interviews and transcripts of interviews conducted by David K. Dunaway with twenty-six people who knew or came into contact with English writer Aldous Huxley (1894-1963) and his family. A majority of the interviewees are people who knew Huxley while he lived in California and, for the most part, cover his life after 1937. Some of the interviews include Lady Juliette Huxley (the widow of Sir Julian Huxley), Christopher Isherwood, Mary Loos, Burgess Meredith, and Lawrence Clark Powell.
Language of Material: English.

Conditions Governing Access

Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more information.
The following interviews were restricted until March 2004 (HM 56897-HM 56907): Ellen Hovde (2 interviews and 2 tapes); Laura Huxley (3 interviews and 2 tapes); Matthew Huxley (1 interview and 3 tapes); Rosalind Rajagopal (1 interview and 1 tape); Claire White (1 interview and 1 tape); Jake Zeitlin (2 interviews and 2 tapes); Note: the restricted interviews have not been subject indexed in this finding aid.

Conditions Governing Use

Transcripts may be copied for research purposes. Tapes may not be copied. Anyone wishing to quote from or publish any of the interviews must obtain written permission from the holder of the Literary Rights:
David K. Dunaway, The University of New Mexico, Department of English Language and Literature, Humanities Building 217, Albuquerque, NM 87131
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]. Aldous Huxley oral history papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Purchased from David K. Dunaway in three installments: April, 1989 (accession number 1456), March, 1990 (accession number 1529), and July, 1992 (accession number 1627).

Biographical / Historical

David K. Dunaway is American writer and historian. He received his Phd in American Studies from the University of California, Berkeley in 1981 and has since held positions at the University of New Mexico and San Francisco State University. Dunaway's published works include Huxley in Hollywood (1989) and Aldous Huxley Recollected (1995).

Biographical / Historical

English writer Aldous Huxley 1894-1963 was born in Surrey, England, on July 26, 1894, to a family distinguished in science, education and literature. He began writing while at Oxford University. With his first wife, Maria, he departed for California in 1937 and for a time wrote motion picture screenplays. After the death of Maria, Huxley married Laura Archera and together they explored the worlds of Eastern religion and drugs. Huxley died on November 22, 1963. His novels include: Brave New World, The Gioconda Smile, The Doors of Perception, and Brave New World Revisited. He also published poetry and collections of essays. While in California he wrote the scenario for Pride and Prejudice with Jane Murfin (1940) and the treatment for Madame Curie (1943), both for M-G-M. In 1944 he wrote the scenario for 20th Century-Fox's Jane Eyre.

Scope and Contents

This collection contains audio cassette interviews and transcripts of interviews conducted by David K. Dunaway with twenty-six people who knew or came into contact with English writer Aldous Huxley and his family. The collection was created by Dunaway for his book Aldous Huxley Recollection (1995) and comprises a total of 31 interview transcripts and 36 audio tapes. A majority of the interviewees are people who knew Huxley while he lived in California and, for the most part, cover his life after 1937. There is some material on his early life but it amounts to a very small part of the overall collection.
The following individuals are represented in the papers: Don Bachardy (b. 1934); Sidney Field (1905-1988); Juliette Huxley (b. 1896); Mark Trevenen Huxley; Christopher Isherwood (b. 1904); Mary Loos; Burgess Meredith (b. 1908); Lawrence Clark Powell (b. 1906). Topics discussed in the collection include: the Bates method of othopics, hallucinogenic drugs, LSD, marijuana, mescaline, and pacifism. Persons discussed in the collection include: W.H. Auden, Don Bachardy, Vanessa Bell, H. Abigail Bok, Charlie Chaplin, George Dewey Cukor, Sidney Field, Greta Garbo, George Gershwin, Rose de Haulleville, Gerald Heard, Edwin Powell Hubble, Julian Huxley, Juliette Huxley, Christopher Isherwood, D.H. Lawrence, Frieda von Richthofen Lawrence, Mary Loos, Burgess Merdith, Naomi Mitchison, Lawrence Clark Powell, Siegfried Sassoon, Bernard Shaw, Lytton Strachey, Igor Stravinsky, Virginia Woolf, and Jake Zeitlin.

Arrangement

Arranged in the following manner: 1. Transcripts, HM 56877-56896 (Box 1); 2. Audio cassettes, HM 56877-56896 (Boxes 2-3); 3. Transcripts, HM 56897-56907 (Box 4); 4. Audio cassettes, HM 56897-56907 (Box 5).

General

Acosta, Mercedes de, 1893-1968.
  1. In Loos, Mary (HM 56889).
Arno, Peter.
  1. In Loos, Mary (HM 56889).
Auden, W.H. (Wystan Hugh), 1907-1973.
  1. In Isherwood, Christopher, 1904 -(HM 56884).
Bates Method of orthoptics.
  1. In Kiskadden, Peggy (HM 56885), (HM 56886), (HM 56887)
  2. In Loos, Mary (HM 56889)
  3. In Neveux, Jeanne (HM 56892)
  4. In Wessburg, Sigfried (HM 56896).
Bedford, Sybille, 1911 -.
  1. In Halsey, Dorris (HM 56880)
  2. In Haulleville, Rose de (HM 56881)
  3. In Huxley, Juliette, 1896 -(HM 56882)
  4. In Huxley, Mark Trevenen (HM 56883)
  5. In Kiskadden, Peggy (HM 56885)
  6. In Wendel, Betty (HM 56894).
Bell, Vanessa, 1879-1961.
  1. In Huxley, Juliette, 1896 -(HM 56882).
Bok, Curtis, 1897-1962.
  1. In Haulleville, Rose de (HM 56881)
  2. In Kiskadden, Peggy (HM 56885).
Bok, Derek Curtis.
  1. In Haulleville, Rose de (HM 56881).
Brett, Dorothy, 1883-1977.
  1. In Haulleville, Rose de (HM 56881)
  2. In Huxley, Juliette, 1896 -(HM 56882)
  3. In Neveux, Jeanne (HM 56892).
Chaplin, Charlie, 1889-1977.
  1. In Halsey, Dorris (HM 56880)
  2. In Haulleville, Rose de (HM 56881)
  3. In Isherwood, Christopher, 1904 -(HM 56884)
  4. In Kiskadden, Peggy (HM 56885)
  5. In Loos, Mary (HM 56889).
Collier, Constance, 1878-1955.
  1. In Loos, Mary (HM 56889).
Cukor, George Dewey, 1899 -.
  1. In Barchardy, Don, 1934 -(HM 56877)
  2. In Halsey, Dorris (HM 56880)
  3. In Isherwood, Christopher, 1904 -(HM 56884)
  4. In Kiskadden, Peggy (HM 56887)
  5. In Wendel, Betty (HM 56894).
Cunard, Nancy, 1896-1965.
  1. In Haulleville, Rose de (HM 56881).
Disney, Walt, 1901 -1966.
  1. In Halsey, Dorris (HM 56880).
Garbo, Greta, 1905 -.
  1. In Kiskadden, Peggy (HM 56887)
  2. In Loos, Mary (HM 56889).
Garrett, Eileen Jeanette Lyttle, 1893-1970.
  1. In Huxley, Juliette, 1896 -(HM 56882)
  2. In Huxley, Mark Trevenen (HM 56883).
Gershwin, George, 1898-1937.
  1. In Loos, Mary (HM 56889).
Gertler, Mark, 1891-1939.
  1. In Huxley, Juliette, 1896 -(HM 56882).
Goddard, Paulette.
  1. In Isherwood, Christopher, 1904 -(HM 56884)
  2. In Loos, Mary (HM 56889)
  3. In Meredith, Burgess, 1908 -(HM 56890).
Graves, Robert, 1895 -.
  1. In Huxley, Juliette, 1896 -(HM 56882).
Hallucinogenic drugs.
  1. In Huxley, Mark Trevenen (HM 56883)
  2. In Kiskadden, Peggy (HM 56886).
Hallucinogenic drugs and religious experiences.
  1. In Barchardy, Don, 1934 -(HM 56877)
  2. In Bok, H. Abigail (56878)
  3. In Huxley, Juliette, 1896 -(HM 56882)
  4. In Huxley, Mark Trevenen (HM 56883)
  5. In Kiskadden, Peggy (HM 56886)
  6. In Mitchison, Naomi, 1897 -(HM 56891)
  7. In Neveux, Jeanne (HM 56892)
  8. In Wendel, Betty (HM 56894), (HM 56895)
  9. In Wessburg, Sigfried (HM 56896).
Haulleville, Rose de.
  1. In Neveux, Jeanne (HM 56892).
Heard, Gerald, 1889-1971.
  1. In Barchardy, Don, 1934 -(HM 56877)
  2. In Bok, H. Abigail (HM 56878)
  3. In Haulleville, Rose de (HM 56881)
  4. In Huxley, Juliette, 1896 -(HM 56882)
  5. In Isherwood, Christopher, 1904 -(HM 56884)
  6. In Kiskadden, Peggy (HM 56885)
  7. In Le Put, Marie (HM 56888)
  8. In Loos, Mary (HM 56889)
  9. In Powell, Lawrence Clark, 1906 -(HM 56893)
  10. In Wendel, Betty (HM 56894).
Hepburn, Audrey, 1929 -.
  1. In Barchardy, Don, 1934 -(HM 56877).
Hovde, Ellen.
  1. In Haulleville, Rose de (HM 56881)
  2. In Huxley, Mark Trevenen (HM 56883).
Hubble, Edwin Powell, 1889-1953.
  1. In Kiskadden, Peggy (HM 56885)
  2. In Loos, Mary (HM 56889)
  3. In Meredith, Burgess, 1908 -(HM 56890).
Hubble, Grace Burke, d. 1980.
  1. In Kiskadden, Peggy (HM 56885)
  2. In Le Put, Marie (HM 56888)
  3. In Loos, Mary (HM 56889).
Hughes, Howard, 1905-1976.
  1. In Loos, Mary (HM 56889).
Huxley, Julian, 1887-1975.
  1. In Haulleville, Rose de (HM 56881)
  2. In Huxley, Juliette, 1896-(HM 56882)
  3. In Huxley, Mark Trevenen (HM 56883)
  4. In Isherwood, Christopher, 1904 -(HM 56884)
  5. In Kiskadden, Peggy (HM 56885)
  6. In Mitchison, Naomi, 1897 -(HM 56891)
  7. In Wendel, Betty (HM 56894).
Huxley, Laura Archera.
  1. In Haulleville, Rose de (HM 56881)
  2. In Huxley, Mark Trevenen (HM 56883)
  3. In Kiskadden, Peggy (HM 56885)
  4. In Le Put, Marie (HM 56888)
  5. In Neveux, Jeanne (HM 56892)
  6. In Wendel, Betty (HM 56894), (HM 56895)
  7. In Wessburg, Sigfried (HM 56896).
Huxley, Matthew.
  1. In Haulleville, Rose de (HM 56881)
  2. In Huxley, Mark Trevenen (HM 56883)
  3. In Isherwood, Christopher, 1904 -(HM 56884)
  4. In Kiskadden, Peggy (HM 56885)
  5. In Wendel, Betty (HM 56894)
  6. In Wessburg, Sigfried (HM 56896).
Huxley, Maria.
  1. In Haulleville, Rose de (HM 56881)
  2. In Huxley, Juliette, 1896 -(HM 56882)
  3. In Isherwood, Christopher, 1904 -(HM 56884)
  4. In Kiskadden, Peggy (HM 56885), (HM 56887)
  5. In Le Put, Marie (HM 56888); Loos, Mary (HM 56889)
  6. In Meredith, Burgess, 1908 -(HM 56890)
  7. In Mitchison, Naomi, 1897 -(HM 56891)
  8. In Neveux, Jeanne (HM 56892)
  9. In Wendel, Betty (HM 56894), (HM 56895)
  10. In Wessburg, Sigfried (HM 56896).
Isherwood, Christopher, 1904 -.
  1. In Barchardy, Don, 1934 -(HM 56877)
  2. In Bok, H. Abigail (HM 56878)
  3. In Haulleville, Rose de (HM 56881)
  4. In Kiskadden, Peggy (HM 56885)
  5. In Meredith, Burgess, 1908 -(HM 56890)
  6. In Powell, Lawrence Clark, 1906 -(HM 56893)
  7. In Wessburg, Sigfried (HM 56896).
Kiskadden, Peggy.
  1. In Haulleville, Rose de (HM 56881)
  2. In Le Put, Marie (HM 56888).
Krishnamurti, J., 1895 -.
  1. In Field, Sidney, 1905-1988 (HM 56879)
  2. In Haulleville, Rose de (HM 56881)
  3. In Kiskadden, Peggy (HM 56885)
  4. In Loos, Mary (HM 56889)
  5. In Wessburg, Sigfried (HM 56896).
Lawrence, D.H. (David Herbert), 1885-1930.
  1. In Haulleville, Rose de (HM 56881).
Lawrence, Frieda von Richthofen, 1879-1956.
  1. In Haulleville, Rose de (HM 56881)
  2. In Huxley, Juliette, 1896 -(HM 56882)
  3. In Kiskadden, Peggy (HM 56885)
  4. In Powell, Lawrence Clark, 1906 -(HM 56893).
Leary, Timothy Francis, 1920 -.
  1. In Field, Sidney, 1905-1988 (HM 56879).
Litvak, Anatole, 1902-1974.
  1. In Loos, Mary (HM 56889).
Loos, Anita, 1894-1981.
  1. In Halsey, Dorris (HM 56880)
  2. In Kiskadden, Peggy (HM 56885), (HM 56887)
  3. In Loos, Mary (HM 56889)
  4. In Wendel, Betty (HM 56894), (HM 56895).
LSD (Drug).
  1. In Field, Sidney, 1905-1988 (HM 56879)
  2. In Haulleville, Rose de (HM 56881)
  3. In Huxley, Mark Trevenen (HM 56883)
  4. In Kiskadden, Peggy (HM 56886), (HM 56887).
Marijuana.
  1. In Huxley, Mark Trevenen (HM 56883).
Mescaline.
  1. In Kiskadden, Peggy (HM 56886), (HM 56887)
  2. In Mitchison, Naomi, 1897 -(HM 56891)
  3. In Neveux, Jeanne (HM 56892)
  4. In Wendel, Betty (HM 56894).
Morrell, Ottoline Violet Anne Cavendish-Bentinck, Lady, 1873-1938.
  1. In Haulleville, Rose de (HM 56881)
  2. In Huxley, Juliette, 1896 -(HM 56882)
  3. In Kiskadden, Peggy (HM 56885)
  4. In Loos, Mary (HM 56889)
  5. In Neveux, Jeanne (HM 56892).
Ogden, C.K. (Charles Kay), 1889-1957.
  1. In Powell, Lawrence Clark, 1906 -(HM 56893).
Pacifism.
  1. In Isherwood, Christopher, 1904 -(HM 56884)
  2. In Kiskadden, Peggy (HM 56885), (HM 56887)
  3. In Mitchison, Naomi, 1897 -(HM 56891)
  4. In Wendel, Betty (HM 56894).
Pascal, Gabriel, 1894-1954.
  1. In Halsey, Dorris (HM 56880).
Rajagopal, Rosalind.
  1. In Field, Sidney, 1905-1988 (HM 56879)
  2. In Haulleville, Rose de (HM 56881)
  3. In Kiskadden, Peggy (HM 56885).
Rhine, J.B. (Joseph Banks), 1895-1980.
  1. In Huxley, Juliette, 1896 -(HM 56882).
Russell, Bertrand, 1872-1970.
  1. In Huxley, Juliette, 1896 -(HM 56882).
Sale, Richard, 1911 -.
  1. In Loos, Mary (HM 56889).
Sassoon, Siegfried, 1886-1967.
  1. In Huxley, Juliette, 1896 -(HM 56882).
Shaw, Bernard, 1856-1950.
  1. In Isherwood, Christopher, 1904 -(HM 56884)
  2. In Kiskadden, Peggy (HM 56885).
Strachey, Lytton, 1880-1932.
  1. In Huxley, Juliette, 1896 -(HM 56882).
Stravinsky, Igor, 1892-1971.
  1. In Kiskadden, Peggy (HM 56885), (HM 56887)
  2. In Le Put, Marie (HM 56888)
  3. In Meredith, Burgess, 1908 -(HM 56890).
Thalberg, Irving G., 1899-1936.
  1. In Loos, Mary (HM 56889).
Vidor, King, 1894-1982.
  1. In Loos, Mary (HM 56889).
Viertel, Salka.
  1. In Kiskadden, Peggy (HM 56887)
  2. In Loos, Mary (HM 56889).
Wessberg, Sigfried.
  1. In Haulleville, Rose de (HM 56881).
White, Claire.
  1. In Neveux, Jeanne (HM 56892).
Wood, Christopher, 1911 -.
  1. In Bok, H. Abigail (HM 56878)
  2. In Isherwood, Christopher, 1904 -(HM 56884)
  3. In Kiskadden, Peggy (HM 56885).
Woolf, Virginia, 1882-1941.
  1. In Huxley, Juliette, 1896 -(HM 56882).
Zeitlin, Jake, 1902 -.
  1. In Kiskadden, Peggy (HM 56885)
  2. In Powell, Lawrence Clark, 1906 -(HM 56893).

Bibliography

Dictionary of Literary Biography. Vol 100. ed. Robert Beum (Detroit: Gale Research Inc.), pp. 127 -138.
Twentieth Century Authors, A Biographical Dictionary of Modern Literature. Eds. Stanley J. Kuntiz and Howard Haycraft (New York: The H.W. Wilson Co.), pp. 698 -699.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

Bates method of orthoptics.
Hallucinogenic drugs.
Hallucinogenic drugs and religious experience.
LSD (Drug)
Marijuana.
Mescaline.
Pacifism.
Audio cassettes -- 20th century
Interviews -- 20th century
Transcripts -- 20th century
Huxley, Aldous, 1894-1963.
Auden, W. H. (Wystan Hugh), 1907-1973
Bachardy, Don, 1934-
Bell, Vanessa, 1879-1961
Bok, H. Abigail.
Chaplin, Charlie, 1889-1977
Cukor, George, 1899-1983
Field, Sidney, 1905-1988
Garbo, Greta, 1905-1990
Gershwin, George, 1898-1937
Haulleville, Rose de.
Heard, Gerald, 1889-1971
Hubble, Edwin, 1889-1953
Huxley, Julian, 1887-1975
Huxley, Juliette, 1896-1994
Huxley, Mark Trevenen.
Isherwood, Christopher, 1904-1986
Lawrence, D. H. (David Herbert), 1885-1930
Lawrence, Frieda, 1879-1956
Loos, Mary.
Meredith, Burgess, 1907-1997
Mitchison, Naomi, 1897-1999
Powell, Lawrence Clark, 1906-2001
Sassoon, Siegfried, 1886-1967
Shaw, Bernard, 1856-1950
Strachey, Lytton, 1880-1932
Stravinsky, Igor, 1882-1971
Woolf, Virginia, 1882-1941
Zeitlin, Jake, 1902-1987
Bachardy, Don, 1934-
Bok, H. Abigail.
Field, Sidney, 1905-1988
Haulleville, Rose de.
Halsey, Dorris.
Hovde, Ellen.
Huxley, Juliette, 1896-1994
Huxley, Laura Archera.
Huxley, Mark Trevenen.
Huxley, Matthew.
Isherwood, Christopher, 1904-1986
Loos, Mary.
Meredith, Burgess, 1907-1997
Mitchison, Naomi, 1897-1999
Powell, Lawrence Clark, 1906-2001
Rajagopal, Rosalind.
White, Claire Nicolas, 1925-
Zeitlin, Jake, 1902-1987
 

Transcripts

Arrangement

The materials are filed alphabetically and then chronologically by date of interview.
Box 1

Transcripts (HM 56877-56896)

 

Bachardy, Don, 1934 -. HM 56877 1989 September 18

Scope and Contents

1 transcript; 1 audio cassette
 

Bok, H. Abigail. HM 56878 1989 September 17

Scope and Contents

1 transcript; 1 audio cassette
 

Field, Sidney, 1905-1988. HM 56879 1985 August 13

Scope and Contents

1 transcript; 1 audio cassette
 

Halsey, Dorris. HM 56880 1985 August 12

Scope and Contents

1 transcript; 1 audio cassette
 

Haulleville, Rose de. HM 56881 1985 August 11

Scope and Contents

1 transcript; 1 audio cassette
 

Huxley, Juliette, 1896 -. HM 56882 1985 July 5

Scope and Contents

1 transcript; 2 audio cassettes
 

Huxley, Mark Trevenen. HM 56883 1985 July 12

Scope and Contents

1 transcript; 1 audio cassette
 

Isherwood, Christopher, 1904 -. HM 56884 1985 June 2

Scope and Contents

1 transcript; 2 audio cassettes
 

Kiskadden, Peggy. HM 56885 1985 May 31

Scope and Contents

1 transcript; 2 audio cassettes
 

Kiskadden, Peggy. HM 56886 1985 June 3

Scope and Contents

1 transcript; 1 audio cassette
 

Kiskadden, Peggy. HM 56887 1988 August 13

Scope and Contents

1 transcript; 1 audio cassette
 

Le Put, Marie. HM 56888 1986 July 10

Scope and Contents

1 transcript; 1 audio cassette
 

Loos, Mary.. HM 56889 1986 July 10

Scope and Contents

1 transcript; 2 audio cassettes
 

Meredith, Burgess, 1908 -. HM 56890 1986 August 7

Scope and Contents

1 transcript; 1 audio cassette
 

Mitchison, Naomi, 1897 -. HM 56891 1990 June 19

Scope and Contents

1 transcript; 1 audio cassette
 

Neveux, Jeanne. HM 56892 1985 July 8

Scope and Contents

1 transcript; 1 audio cassette
 

Powell, Lawrence Clark, 1906 -. HM 56893 1985 December 10

Scope and Contents

1 transcript; 1 audio cassette
 

Wendel, Betty. HM 56894 1985 June 2

Scope and Contents

1 transcript; 2 audio cassettes
 

Wendel, Betty. HM 56895 1985 August 14

Scope and Contents

1 transcript; 1 audio cassette
 

Wessberg, Sigfried [sic]. HM 56896 1988 February 3

Scope and Contents

1 transcript; 1 audio cassette
Box 4

Transcripts (previously restricted) (HM 56897-56907)

Scope and Contents

Consists of interviews with: Ellen Hovde; Laura Huxley; Matthew Huxley; Rosalind Rajagopal; Claire White; and Jake Zeitlin.
 

Audio-cassette interviews

Arrangement

The audio tapes (corresponding to the above transcripts) are arranged alphabetically by interviewee and then chronologically by date of interview.
Box 2

Audio cassettes (HM 56877-56887)

Box 3

Audio cassettes (HM 56888-56896)

Box 5

Audio cassettes (previously restricted) (HM 56897-56907)

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