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Finding Aid for the Frank Harris Collection 1896-1928
MS.2010.005, and others
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Title: Frank Harris Collection,
Date (inclusive): 1896-1928
Collection number: MS.2010.005, and others
Creator: Harris, Frank,
1855-1931
Extent:
.75 linear feet
(2 boxes and other items)
Repository:
University of California, Los Angeles.
William Andrews Clark Memorial Library
Los Angeles, California 90095-1490
Abstract: This finding aid describes the Clark
Library's collection of material created by and related to Frank Harris,
and includes correspondence, manuscripts, news clippings, typescripts
and proofs.
Physical location: Clark Library
Language of Material: Collection materials in English
Collection is open for research.
Copyright has not been assigned to the William Andrews Clark Memorial
Library, UCLA. All requests for permission to publish or quote from
manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Clark Librarian.
Permission for publication is given on behalf of the William Andrews
Clark Memorial Library, UCLA as the owner of the physical items and is
not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder,
which must also be obtained.
[Identification of item], Frank Harris Collection, MS.2010.005, and
others, William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, University of
California, Los Angeles.
This finding aid gathers together material from multiple accessions.
The exact provenance of some materials is unclear. Other material
described here originated in accessions and Clark Library purchases
MS.1982.004 and MS.2010.005.
Processed by Rebecca Fenning, March, 2010.
Much of this material is also described in the finding aids for the
Oscar
Wilde and His Literary Circle Collection: Correspondence
and
Oscar
Wilde and His Literary Circle Collection: Manuscripts and Miscellaneous
Materials.
Frank Harris was born James Thomas Harris in Galway, Ireland,
February 14, 1856. He emigrated alone to the United States in 1869 and
after years of study and adventure both in America and on the European
continent, he returned to London in 1882. Harris become the editor of
the London Evening News in 1883. In 1886, he left the Evening News for a
post editing the Fortnightly Review, which he would continue to do until
1894. From 1894 to 1898, he edited the Saturday Review. In his posts at
these publications, he became friends (and enemies) with many of the
notable figures of fin-de-siècle London, including Oscar Wilde.
A difficult personality, Harris struggled with financial stability
often after this period, and moved a great deal, living in the south of
France and in London in the years before World War I. In 1915, he
returned to New York, where he wrote a number of anti-British articles
as well as his volumes of Contemporary Portraits. He was the editor of
Pearson's Magazine from 1915-1922 and got into many clashes with
American censors and others who found him and his work offensive. During
this period, he also began dictating his sprawling and sexually explicit
memoirs, My Life and Loves, which was published in various forms
(expurgated and not) after 1922.
In 1923, he settled permanently in Nice with his longtime mistress
and companion, Nellie O'Hara, who he married in 1927. He died in Nice in
1931.
This finding aid describes the Clark Library's collection of material
created by and related to Frank Harris, and includes correspondence,
manuscripts, news clippings, typescripts and proofs.
Materials in this collection are not all physically housed together,
because of the different acquisition dates and because of various
organization schemes developed over time by the Clark. Box numbers
listed below indicate the collection with which each item is physically
placed.
The collection is organized into the following series:
- Series 1. Correspondence, 1895-1928, undated
- Series 2. Manuscripts and Proofs, 1915-1925
The Clark holds a great deal of material related to Frank Harris and
his professional and social circles, particularly during the 1890's. The
list below is not exhaustive, but contains links to online finding aids
for the papers of Oscar Wilde and his circle, as well as to the papers
of Harris's friend and colleague in the 1880s and 1890s, John
Verschoyle.
- John Stuart Verschoyle papers, MS.2007.001. (Finding aid online)
- Oscar Wilde and his Literary Circle Collection : Correspondence, MS. Wilde. (Finding aid online)
- Oscar Wilde and his Literary Circle Collection : Forgeries, MS. Wilde. (Finding aid online)
- Oscar Wilde and his Literary Circle Collection : Manuscripts and Miscellaneous Materials, MS. Wilde. (Finding aid online)
- Oscar Wilde and his Literary Circle Collection : Wildeiana, MS. Wildeiana. (Finding aid online)
The following terms have been used to index the description of this
collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Adey,
More, ca. 1859-1942
Douglas, Alfred Bruce, Lord, 1870-1945
Holland, Vyvyan Beresford, 1886-1967
Millard, Christopher, 1872-1927
Richards, Grant, 1872-1948
Rosenfeld, Samuel, Dr.
Ross,
Robert Baldwin, 1869-1918
Secker,
Martin, 1882-1978
Turner,
Reggie, 1869?-1938
Editors--20th century
Letters--United
States--20th century.
Proofs--20th
century.