Special Collections is proud to announce the completion of the Henry James Manuscript Collection. Discovered last year among a backlog of unprocessed manuscript accessions, this collection of fourteen letters from The Master will be a research treasure for James scholars for years to come. John and Jane Adams donated this small collection of manuscripts in 1984 as part of their comprehensive collection of first editions of and scholarship about James. The collection contains letters from James to five different correspondents: William Colles, Josiah Holland, Leonora Lang, Lady Caroline Blanche Elizabeth Lindsay, and Dame Ellen Terry.
The letters to Dame Terry and to Lady Lindsay are particularly intriguing. Terry, a beloved British actress, worked with James on his dramatic flop Guy Domville, and asked him in 1895 to write a play for her, which became Summersoft and later the story Covering End. She paid one hundred pounds for it at the time, but they later argued over her rights to the play and their relationship was strained because of this. One of the letters to Terry in this collection (the first page shown here) may allude to an early manuscript of Summersoft. James complained in a letter to H. G. Wells (9 December 1898) that Dame Terry kept the manuscript for "three mortal years"--perhaps the letter in this collection may pardon Dame Terry of this, as here James assures her, "Don't take the trouble to send back my Scenario." The notes contained in the collection will certainly give new insight into this interesting relationship.
The letters to Lady Lindsay are equally fascinating, and give glimpses into James's thoughts on a range of topics, including publishing, friendships, and travel. Lady Lindsay was a socialite, artist, musician, and writer, and published many volumes of poetry and short fiction during her friendship with James. Steven H. Jobe, James scholar and author of The Online Calendar of the Letters of Henry James and a Biographical Register of Henry James's Correspondents, reports that SDSU's James collection is particularly useful because "none of the SDSU letters to Lady Lindsay are even hinted at" in the papers of Leon Edel, James biographer and editor.
Also present in the colleciton are an early manuscript book review, and letters from both William James and Henry James, Sr.(the latter concerning his views on spiritualism). Please stop by Special Collections to take a look at this important new collection!
The letters to Dame Terry and to Lady Lindsay are particularly intriguing. Terry, a beloved British actress, worked with James on his dramatic flop Guy Domville, and asked him in 1895 to write a play for her, which became Summersoft and later the story Covering End. She paid one hundred pounds for it at the time, but they later argued over her rights to the play and their relationship was strained because of this. One of the letters to Terry in this collection (the first page shown here) may allude to an early manuscript of Summersoft. James complained in a letter to H. G. Wells (9 December 1898) that Dame Terry kept the manuscript for "three mortal years"--perhaps the letter in this collection may pardon Dame Terry of this, as here James assures her, "Don't take the trouble to send back my Scenario." The notes contained in the collection will certainly give new insight into this interesting relationship.
The letters to Lady Lindsay are equally fascinating, and give glimpses into James's thoughts on a range of topics, including publishing, friendships, and travel. Lady Lindsay was a socialite, artist, musician, and writer, and published many volumes of poetry and short fiction during her friendship with James. Steven H. Jobe, James scholar and author of The Online Calendar of the Letters of Henry James and a Biographical Register of Henry James's Correspondents, reports that SDSU's James collection is particularly useful because "none of the SDSU letters to Lady Lindsay are even hinted at" in the papers of Leon Edel, James biographer and editor.Also present in the colleciton are an early manuscript book review, and letters from both William James and Henry James, Sr.(the latter concerning his views on spiritualism). Please stop by Special Collections to take a look at this important new collection!
