Descriptive Summary
Scope and Contents of the Collection
Indexing Terms
Descriptive Summary
Title: Mrs. Humphry Ward Papers
Dates: 1857-1935
Collection number: H.Mss.0927
Creator:
Ward, Humphry, Mrs.
Extent:
16.9 Linear Feet
(39 document boxes, 1 half-size document box, 2 flat
boxes)
Repository:
Claremont Colleges. Library. Special Collections, The Claremont
Colleges Library, Claremont, CA 91711.
Abstract: This collection contains the
papers of Mrs. Humphry Ward (1851-1920), a British writer at the end of the
nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries. The collection consists of
letters between Mrs. Ward and her publishers, family and friends, photographs,
miscellaneous documents, and notebooks that hold drafts of her novels and articles.
The collection spans the years 1857-1935.
Physical Location: Please consult
repository.
Language of Material: Languages represented in the
collection: English, German, French, Italian.
Administrative Information
Access
This collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
All requests for permission to reproduce or to publish must be submitted in
writing to Special Collections.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Mrs. Humphry Ward Papers (H.Mss.0927). Special
Collections, The Claremont Colleges Library, Claremont, California.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Purchased by Special Collections in July 1965 (Sotheby and Company), September
1966 (Sotheby and Company), March 1970 (Moorman), March 1970 (Jenkins Company),
June 1985 (Serendipity Books) and May 2006 (Bernard Quaritch - Pusey House,
Oxford).
Accruals
No additions to the collection are anticipated.
Biography / Administrative History
Mrs. Humphry Ward (1851-1920), born Mary Arnold, was an English novelist at the
end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth century. A niece of Matthew
Arnold and the aunt of Aldous Huxley, she was also active in social work and an
opponent of women's suffrage. She published over thirty novels in her lifetime
as well as a variety of articles and some works of nonfiction, the most famous
of her novels being Robert Elsmere. Her work is notable for its strong
affirmation of Victorian morality and musings on religious thought.
Scope and Contents of the Collection
The Mrs. Humphry Ward Collection, presented by William Clary, Homer Crotty, and The
Honnold Library Society, is an accumulation of manuscript material consisting of
correspondence, notebooks and unbound notes of Mary A. Arnold Ward Mrs. Humphry
Ward, English writer best remembered for her novel Robert Elsmere 1888. Since Mrs.
Ward was active early in the movement for higher education for women which began in
Oxford, and Mr. Ward was a fellow and tutor of Brasenose College, this collection
ties in well with the Oxford Collection.
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
library’s online public access catalog.
Subject Terms
Family life
Publishers and publishing
Social work
Women's rights
Women writers
Genre and Form of Materials
British literature
Correspondence
