Overview
Family and business correspondence of poet T. S. Eliot and his family, as well as photographs, other correspondence, and a few miscellaneous materials.
Dates
- 1896-1958
Language of Materials
Collection materials are in English.
Conditions Governing Access
Restricted: unpublished T.S. Eliot material is restricted; consult curatorial staff.
Extent
3 linear feet (8 boxes)Includes extensive autograph manuscript and typescript correspondence between T. S. Eliot and his mother (Charlotte Eliot), his father (Henry Ware Eliot, Sr.), and his brother (Henry Ware Eliot, Jr.). Also includes letters between other family members such as: Eliot's first wife Vivienne Eliot to Theresa Garrett Eliot and Henry Ware Eliot, Jr.; and Eliot's second wife Valerie to Theresa Garrett Eliot. Other letters feature: a letter from Ezra Pound to T. S. Eliot's father (Henry Ware Elliot, Sr.) expounding on Eliot's importance to the literary world; letters from Bertrand Russell to Charlotte Eliot concerning T.S. Eliot's ability; and many others. Also contains: extensive correspondence between Henry Ware Eliot, Jr. and his mother, Charlotte Eliot, especially concerning family business and legal transactions, as well as personal matters; and a set of letters concerning legal matters concerning the unauthorized use of The Wasteland in the Boni Anthology. Additionally the collection contains other materials such as: photographs of T. S. Eliot, Vivienne Eliot, and many others; a few printed items; and manuscript notes by Henry Ware Eliot, Jr.
Biographical / Historical
Thomas Stearns Eliot (1888–1965) was an American-born, British-naturalized, literary critic, publisher, essayist, playwright, and one of the twentieth century's major poets.
T. S. Eliot's brother, Henry Ware Eliot, Jr. and sister-in-law, Theresa Garrett Eliot, collected letters and other materials concerning T. S. Eliot and his family.
A few of the primary family names associated with this collection are listed below, with relationship to T. S. Eliot:
- Henry Ware Eliot, 1843-1919; father [Sr.].
- Charlotte Champe Stearns Eliot, 1843-1929; mother.
- Henry Ware Eliot, 1879-1947; brother [Jr.].
- Theresa Ann Garrett Eliot, 1884-1981; wife of Henry Ware Eliot, Jr.; sister-in-law of T. S. Eliot.
- Vivienne Haigh-Wood Eliot, 1888-1947; first wife.
- Esmé Valerie Fletcher Eliot, 1926-2012; second wife=known as Valerie Eliot.
Arrangement
Arranged into the following series:
- I. T. S. Eliot correspondence
- II. Other correspondence, by name
- III. Business correspondence
- IV. Photographs and negatives
- V. Other materials
Physical Location
b
Immediate Source of Acquisition
59M-126. Gift of Theresa Garrett Eliot [Mrs. Henry Ware Eliot, Jr.]; received: 1959 December.
99M-22. Gift of Theresa Garrett Eliot [Mrs. Henry Ware Eliot, Jr.]; received: 1959 December.
The material cataloged below was collected by Henry and Theresa Eliot and placed in the vault of the Houghton Library. It was removed from the vault and fully cataloged in July of 2015.
Processing Information
Processed by: Bonnie B. Salt
Original cataloging list for 59M-126 has been removed to curatorial file.
- Title
- Eliot, T. S. (Thomas Stearns), 1888-1965. T. S. Eliot family papers, 1896-1958: Guide.
- Author
- Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
- Description rules
- dacs
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- hou02611
Repository Details
Part of the Houghton Library Repository
Houghton Library is Harvard College's principal repository for rare books and manuscripts, archives, and more. Houghton Library's collections represent the scope of human experience from ancient Egypt to twenty-first century Cambridge. With strengths primarily in North American and European history, literature, and culture, collections range in media from printed books and handwritten manuscripts to maps, drawings and paintings, prints, posters, photographs, film and audio recordings, and digital media, as well as costumes, theater props, and a wide range of other objects. Houghton Library has historically focused on collecting the written record of European and Eurocentric North American culture, yet it holds a large and diverse number of primary sources valuable for research on the languages, culture and history of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.
Houghton Library’s Reading Room is free and open to all who wish to use the library’s collections.
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