STEPHEN SPENDER COLLECTION

 
 

 

Personae:

Stephen Harold Spender, 1909- . Major 20th c. British poet. Visiting professor at Trinity for a year. Married, for a time, to the novelist, Inez Pearn.

David Elliott. Donor of the collection. B.A., Trinity. Son of Mary Elliott, with whom Stephen Spender corresponded. Elliott acquired the letters in 1957 when he was clearing out his mother’s house in Connecticut, but circumstances prevented his returning them to her and he eventually donated them to Trinity.

Mary Elliott. Boarding school best friend of the novelist, Inez Pearn, who was married, for a time, to Stephen Spender.

Charles Madge. British poet. Married, briefly, to the poet Kathleen Raine. When the marriage dissolved, lived with Inez Pearn who was at the time married to Stephen Spender.

Kathleen Raine Madge, with daughter, in 1939-40, shared a house (The Vicarage, in Patterdale, England) with Mary Elliott and son David.

Spender wrote to Mary Elliott at the time of his estrangement from his wife, Inez Pearn, in an effort to communicate with Inez.

The collection: consists of 37 letters to Mary Elliott from Stephen Spender, between July 1939 and February 1952. Also, letters to Mary Elliott from Inez Pearn Spender (5), Charles Madge (4), and Kathleen Raine Madge (16) largely related to Spender’s estrangement and eventual divorce from Inez Pearn Spender. (And other letters--see inventory.) Also, 6 typescript poems of Spender, one poem in proof, and 31 typescript poems of Charles Madge.

Supplement to the collection: letters to and from David Elliott regarding his recollections of life in "The Vicarage."

Inventory:

Folder 1:

  • Connolly, Cyril & Spender, Stephen to "Madam" [Elliott, Mary]. 31 October 1939, TLS
  • Curry, William Burnlee to Spender, Stephen. 24 June 1940, TLS
  • Madge, Charles & Spender, Inez to Elliot, Mary. 25 July 1939, TLS
  • [Madge], Charles to Elliott, Mary. 17 September [1939], TLS & env.
  • Madge, Charles to Elliott, Mary:
    - 26 October [1939], TLS & env
    - 27 January [1940?], ALS & env front

Folder 2:

  • Madge, Charles to Elliott, Mary. 1 August [1940], ALS
  • Madge, Charles & Spender, Inez to Elliott, Mary:
    - 16 September [1940], ALS & env
    - [10 October 1940], ACSMadge, Charles- "War-Time Saving and Spending"- article reprint, 1940
  • Madge, Charles to [Spender], Inez Pearn. n.d. (smeared postmark), ACS

Folder 3:

  • Madge, Charles- 31 poems (42 leaves) enclosed within letter to Elliott, Mary. 27 January [1940?], Typescript

Folder 4:

  • Madge, Kathleen to Elliott, Mary:
    - 3 August 1939, ALS & env
    - August 1939, ALS & env
    - 15 September 1939, ALS & env
    - 29 September 1939, TLS & env
    - 3 October 1939, AL & env
    - 9 November 1939, ACI
    - [27 November 1939], TLS & env
    - [29 November 1939], ALS & env
    - 30 December 1939, ALS & env
    - 30 March 1940, ALS & env

Folder 5:

  • Madge Kathleen to Elliott, Mary:
    - 9 April 1940, ALS & env
    - 20 May 1940, ALS & env
    - Wednesday [August? 1940?], ALI
    - 9 October 1940, ALS & env
    - 23 October 1940, ALI & env
    - Friday (postmark removed), ALI & env
    Roberts, Janet to Elliot, Mary:
    - 3 April 1940, ACS
    - 16 July 1940 ALS

Folder 6:

  • Spender, Stephen Poem: [The Double Shame], TDS, enclosed in letter to Mary Elliott. 15 February 1940
  • Spender, Stephen "The Double Shame" (proof sheet), env. 14 April 1940 to Mary Elliott
  • Spender, Stephen Poems: "At the Window", "To J.H.S." (2 pp.), "To Margaret", "Ten Minutes", and Untitled: "From a tree choked by ivy,". Typescript in env. 14 April 1940 to Mary Elliott

Folder 7:

  • Spender, Inez to Spender, Stephen. n.d. [Enclosed in letter from C. Madge & I. Spender to Mary Elliott, dated 25 July 1939.] TLS
  • Spender, Inez to Elliott, Mary:
    - [8 September 1939] TLS & env
    - [3 December 1939] TLS & env
    - [31 December 1939]
    - 20 February 1940, TLS & env
  • Spender Inez & Madge, Charles to Elliott, Mary. 26 August 1940, ALS & env
  • Spender, Inez to Elliott, Mary. [27 September 1940] ALS & env
  • Spender, Inez to Spender, Stephen. n.d. [Enclosed with 23 November 1939 letter from S. Spender to M. Elliott] TL

Folder 8:

  • Spender, Stephen to Elliott, Mary:
    - 26 November [1941] ALS & env
    - [2 June 1942?] ALS & env (env. previously used)
    - 10 February [1952], ALS & env
    - Sunday, ALS
    - n.d. ALS
    - n.d. ALS

Folder 9:

  • Spender, Stephen to Elliott, Mary:
    - 12 June [1940], ALS & env
    - 18 June 1940, TLS & env
    - 27 June [1940], ALS & env
    - 3 July [1940?], ALS & env
    - 13 August [1940], ALS & env
    - 19? 20? September [1940], ALS & env
    - 30 October [1940], ALS & env

Folder 10:

  • Spender, Stephen to Elliott, Mary:
    - [31 August 1939], TLS & env
    - 3 October [1939], TLS & env
    - [11 October? 1939], ALS & env
    - 17 October [1939], ALI & env
    - 16 November [1939], ALS & env
    - [23 November 1939], TLS & env
    - 28 November [1939], ALI & env
    (plus 3 forms)

Folder 11:

  • Spender, Stephen to Elliott, Mary.
    - [9 December 1940], TLS & env
    - 3 February [1941], ALS & env
    - 24 June [1941], ALS & env
    - 16 August [1941?], TLS & env
    - [15 April 1941] , ALS & env (enc.: ticket stub A.B.C.)
    - [15 April 1941?], ACS
    - 7 October [1941], ALS & env

Folder 12:

  • Spender, Stephen to Elliott, Mary. [18 December 1939], ALS & env
  • Spender, Stephen to Spender, Inez. 20 December [1939], ALS & env
  • Spender Stephen to Elliott, Mary:
    - 25 January [1940], ALS & env
    - [15 February 1940], ALS & env
    - 8 May 1940, TLS & env
    - 11 May 1940, Telegram & env

Folder 13:

  • Spender, Stephen to Elliott, Mary:
    - 20 July [1939], ALS & env
    - 24 July [1939], ALS & env
    - Sunday [postmark: 31 July 1939], ALS & env
    - 1 August 1939, ALS & env
    - [postmark: 22 August 1939], ALS & env

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Prepared for electronic publication by Michael J. Breen '99, July 1999.