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Letters to Walter de la Mare from Helen Thomas

 Single Item
MS. 16127
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29 manuscript letters from Helen Thomas to Walter de la Mare and two to Mrs [Elfrida] de la Mare, 1907-1945. One letter [c.1917] written 'c/o Mrs Farjeon', Billingshurst, refers to the death of Edward Thomas and de la Mare's article in 'the Westminster'. In the letter dated c.1925, Helen asks de la Mare to write the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography entry for Edward Thomas.

Dates

  • Creation: 1907-1945

Extent

1 box

Language of Materials

  • English

Preferred Citation

Oxford, Bodleian Libraries [followed by shelfmark and folio or page reference, e.g. MS. 16127].

Please see our help page for further guidance on citing archives and manuscripts.

Shelfmark:

MS. 16127

Collection ID (for staff)

CMD ID 16127

Abstract

31 manuscript letters from Helen Thomas (widow of the poet Edward Thomas) to Walter de la Mare, 1907-1945.

Biographical / Historical

Walter de la Mare (1873-1956), author and poet, spent the first eighteen years of his working life writing as a hobby alongside his job in the statistics department of an oil company. After the publications of poetry and his first prose book Henry Brocken in 1904, and receiving a growing income as a literature reviewer, de la Mare was able to become a full-time writer in 1908. His prolific output over the course of his lifetime included over a thousand poems and rhymes, and around one hundred short stories, for both children and adults.

Helen Thomas née Noble (1877-1967), autobiographer, married the poet Edward Thomas (1878-1917) in 1899 when she became pregnant with their first child. The couple had two more children before Thomas's untimely death on active service during the First World War, at Arras in 1917. Helen wrote several autobiographical accounts of their life together, including As it Was (1926) and World without End (1931).

Further details can be found in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Purchased by the Bodleian Library.

Related Materials

British Library, Manuscript Collections:

  1. Add MS. 84023-84028 - papers of Walter de la Mare, 1881-1956 (including letters written by Edward Thomas).

University of Texas at Austin: Harry Ransom Humanities Research Centre Library:

  1. MS. 1100 - letters and literary manuscripts of Walter de la Mare (8 boxes), 1907-1964.

Huntingdon Library, San Marino:

  1. mssHM 65249-65611 - correspondence of Walter de la Mare (8 boxes), 1923-1956.

Somerville College, Oxford:

  1. By request: letters and poems.

Bodleian Library, Oxford:

  1. Eng. lett. c. 271 ff.127-254 - letters (120) to Sir George Rostrevor Hamilton from Walter de la Mare, 1921-1955.
  2. Eng. lett. c. 376 - letters to Walter de la Mare from Edward Thomas, 1906-1917.
  3. Eng. lett. d. 462 - letters (135) to John Freeman and his wife from Walter de la Mare, 1906-1952.
Title
Catalogue of letters to Walter de la Mare from Helen Thomas
Status
Published
Author
Finding aid prepared by Tilly Guthrie
Date
2019
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the Bodleian Libraries Repository

Contact:
Weston Library
Broad Street
Oxford OX1 3BG United Kingdom