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O'Conor (Norreys Jephson) Papers
mssOC
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Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: Norreys Jephson O'Conor papers
Creator:
O'Conor, Norreys Jephson, 1885-1958
Identifier/Call Number: mssOC
Physical Description:
28.20 Linear Feet
(25 boxes, 2 cases, 2 folders)
Date (inclusive): 1890-1964
Date (bulk): 1940-1958
Abstract: Papers belonging to American poet and author Norreys Jephson O'Conor.
Language of Material: Materials are in English.
Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more
information.
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]. Norreys Jephson O'Conor papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Norreys Jephson O'Conor, March 1942, and Evangelia O'Conor, June 1945, September 1963, and November 1976.
Norreys Jephson O'Conor (1885-1958) poet and critic, was born in New York City in December 1885. He graduated from Harvard
in 1911 and worked for several years in the publishing field before returning to Harvard for an advanced degree in Old and
Middle Irish. O'Conor considered himself part of the Irish Literary Revival and moved to London in the 1930s. In 1939, he
returned to the United States and eventually settled in Pasadena, later moving to Santa Barbara. In 1952, O'Conor published
a volume of verse, Late offering. His earlier books included translations from the Gaelic and several volumes of social history,
tracing, in part, the history of an English family of the Renaissance, a distant relation of his. O'Conor died in Santa Barbara
in 1958.
The collection, which is made up of approximately 1,110 items, consists of manuscripts and correspondence related to the life
and writings of Norreys Jephson O'Conor. The letters are addressed to O'Conor from a number of literary figures, most of them
dating from O'Conor's stay in California between 1940 and 1958. There are a sizable number of carbon copies of O'Conor's letters,
thus forming in many cases a complete correspondence. The manuscripts are mostly by O'Conor, including notes, autograph and
typewritten copies of many of his poems and essays. Correspondents in the collection include: Conrad Potter Aiken, William
Rose Benet, Elizabeth Bowen, Van Wyck Brooks, Arthur Bryant, Pearl S. Buck, Charles Bruce Catton, T.S. Eliot, John Gould Fletch,
Maxwell Struthers Burt, Robert Frost, Oliver St. John Gogarty, Walter Lippmann, Christopher Morley, John Hall Wheelock, Howard
Moss, Rolfe Humphries, Robert Linscott, Compton Mackenzie, Kenneth Roberts, Garrett Mattingly, Samuel Eliot Morison, Howard
Nemerov, Allan Nevins, Robert Malise Bowyer Nichols, Victoria Mary Sackville-West, Emily Hilda Young. There are also some
watercolors done by O'Conor.
Processed by Huntington Library staff in August 1976. In 2022, Brooke M. Black created a finding aid.
Organized in the following series: 1. Manuscripts; 2. Correspondence; 3. Miscellaneous.
Individual call numbers included in the collection: mssOC 1-1136.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Authors, American -- 20th century
Poets, American -- 20th century
Letters (correspondence) -- United States -- 20th century
Manuscripts -- United States -- 20th century
Watercolors (paintings) -- United States -- 20th century
Aiken, Conrad, 1889-1973
Benét, William Rose, 1886-1950
Bowen, Elizabeth, 1899-1973
Brooks, Van Wyck, 1886-1963
Bryant, Arthur, 1899-1985
Buck, Pearl S. (Pearl Sydenstricker), 1892-1973
Burt, Maxwell Struthers, 1882-1954
Catton, Bruce, 1899-1978
Eliot, T. S. (Thomas Stearns), 1888-1965
Fletcher, John Gould, 1886-1950
Frost, Robert, 1874-1963
Gogarty, Oliver St. John, 1878-1957
Hillyer, Robert, 1895-1961
Humphries, Rolfe
Linscott, Robert N. (Robert Newton), 1886-1964
Lippmann, Walter, 1889-1974
Mackenzie, Compton, 1883-1972
Mattingly, Garrett, 1900-1962
Morison, Samuel Eliot, 1887-1976
Morley, Christopher, 1890-1957
Nemerov, Howard
Nevins, Allan, 1890-1971
Nichols, Robert, 1893-1944
Roberts, Kenneth Lewis, 1885-1957
Sackville-West, V. (Victoria), 1892-1962
Wheelock, John Hall, 1886-1978
Young, E. H. (Emily Hilda), 1880-1949