Contents and Arrangement

Correspondence, 1908

2 folders

Collection Overview

Collection Description & Creator Information

Description:

Consists of three decades of correspondence between married Irish writers Sylvia and Robert Lynd, including many letters written from Ireland during the tumultuous early 20th century. The Lynds met in 1904 at the Gaelic League in London and began dating when Sylvia was 16. Spanning from 1905 to 1937, the collection consists of around 260 letters exchanged between the two writers, written in English and Gaelic, which chart their relationship from courtship to the later stages of their marriage. In total, there are around 80 letters from Robert to Sylvia and around 185 letters from Sylvia to Robert, one of which includes a poem she wrote. Much of the correspondence is weighted towards the earlier years of their relationship, with the largest number of letters present for 1908. The Lynds' letters discuss personal, private, political, and literary matters, including current reading and writing activities, literary gatherings, journalistic projects, financial anxieties, politics, family and personal concerns, and social gossip. Letters are often sent from addresses in Hampstead, Belfast, and Dublin, but others are sent from different locations in England and Ireland, as well as from Italy, France, and Spain. The Lynds' home at 5 Keats Grove was a popular social hub for literary and Irish communities in London from the 1920s through the 1940s. They entertained James Joyce, Louis MacNeice, A. P. Herbert, Rose Macaulay, Victor Gollancz, J. B. Priestley, Hugh Walpole, Naomi Mitchison, Olive Heseltine, J. B. Morton, Virginia Woolf, P. G. Wodehouse, and Arnold Bennett, some of whom their correspondence mentions.

Collection History

Archival Appraisal Information:

No materials were separated during 2017 processing.

Access & Use

Access Restrictions:

Open for research.

Conditions for Reproduction and Use:

Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. No further photoduplication of copies of material in the collection can be made when Princeton University Library does not own the original. Inquiries regarding publishing material from the collection should be directed to RBSC Public Services staff through the Ask Us! form. The library has no information on the status of literary rights in the collection and researchers are responsible for determining any questions of copyright.

Credit this material:

Correspondence; Sylvia and Robert Lynd Correspondence, C1554, Manuscripts Division, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library

Location:
Firestone Library
One Washington Road
Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
(609) 258-3184
Storage Note:
Firestone Library (mss): Box B-000892