Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
Rocco Verrilli Collection of Frederick Rolfe Correspondence and Manuscripts, 1880-1975
GLC 97
GLC 97
View entire collection guide
Search this collection
Table of contents
Title: Rocco Verrilli Collection of Frederick Rolfe Correspondence and Manuscripts,
Date (inclusive): 1880-1975
Date (bulk): 1897-1912
Collection Identifier: GLC 97
Creator:
Rolfe, Frederick, 1860-1913
Physical Description:
1.0 box
(24 folders)
Contributing Institution:
James C. Hormel Gay & Lesbian Center, San Francisco Public Library
100 Larkin Street
San Francisco, CA, 94102
(415) 557-4400
info@sfpl.org
Abstract: Letters, a book, manuscript notes and drafts written by gay English author Frederick Rolfe, also known as Baron Corvo. The
letters address the publication and reception of his work, his financial difficulties, Catholics and Catholicism, photography,
and the Order of Sanctissima Sophia.
Languages represented: Collection materials are primarily in English with one item in Latin and two items in Italian.
The collection is available for use during San Francisco History Center hours.
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the City Archivist. Permission
for publication is given on behalf of the San Francisco Public Library as the owner of the physical items.
[Identification of item], Rocco Verrilli Collection of Frederick Rolfe Correspondence and Manuscripts (GLC 97), Gay and Lesbian
Center, San Francisco Public Library.
Donated by Barbara (Mrs. Rocco) Verrilli, December 16, 2014. Collection acquired by Rocco Verrilli during his lifetime of
work as an antiquarian book dealer and collector.
Frederick William Rolfe, also known as Baron Corvo, was a gay English writer, artist, and photographer. He was born in London
on July 22, 1860. He converted to Roman Catholicism in 1886 and felt himself called to the priesthood. Though he was never
ordained a priest, the desire persisted throughout his life.
Rolfe spent most of his life as a freelance writer and relied on benefactors for support. In a number of his stories and novels
he himself is the thinly-disguised protagonist. His better known works include:
Stories Toto Told Me (1898), later republished as
In His Own Image (1901);
Hadrian the Seventh (1904); and
The Desire and Pursuit of the Whole (written 1910–1913, published 1934). Other works include the
Chronicles of the House of Borgia (1901), and two books in collaboration with Harry Pirie-Gordon.
From 1895 to 1899 Rolfe lived in Holywell in North Wales, where he painted a number of processional banners for the church.
The banners are mentioned in one letter. Rolfe died in Venice, Italy on October 25, 1913. His life provided the basis for
The Quest for Corvo (1934) by A.J.A. Symons.
Dr. Rocco Verrilli (1923-2008) was a urologist by profession; he was also a collector of books and manuscripts. He purchased
material from both American and British booksellers and at auction in New York and London. Some of the Corvo books and papers
were purchased directly from Corvo biographer Donald Weeks; other books were purchased from bookseller Timothy D'Arch Smith.
The majority of Verrilli's Corvo book collection was sold at auction in June 2014 in London.
Letters, a book, manuscript notes and drafts written by gay English author Frederick Rolfe, also known as Baron Corvo. The
letters address the publication and reception of his work, his financial difficulties, Catholics and Catholicism, photography,
and the Order of Sanctissima Sophia. The collection includes a few letters from James Walsh to Rolfe biographer A. J. A. Symons.
Arranged chronologically.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Kains-Jackson, Charles Philip--Correspondence
Rolfe, Frederick, 1860-1913--Archives
Scott-Hall, W. E.--Correspondence
Symons, A. J. A., (Alphonse James Albert), 1900-1941--Correspondence
Verrilli, Rocco A., 1923-2008
Walsh, James J., (James Joseph), 1865-1942--Correspondence
Authors, English--19th century--Correspondence
Authors, English--20th century--Correspondence