TABLE OF CONTENTS
Descriptive Summary of the Collection
Biography of Katherine Mansfield
Scope and Content of the Collection
Series 1: Manuscript Works, 1903-1922
Series 2: Printed Works, Photographs and Memorabilia, 1906-1922
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Inventory of the Katherine Mansfield Papers, 1903-1942
Finding aid encoded by Alison Hinderliter at Rare Book School (University of Virginia), March 2002 ©2000. |
Descriptive Summary of the Collection |
|
| Creator | Mansfield, Katherine, 1888-1923 |
| Title | Katherine Mansfield Papers, |
| Dates | 1903-1942 |
| Extent | 3.5 cubic ft. (7 boxes) + appendix (2 boxes) |
| Abstract | Correspondence, works and miscellaneous material relating to Katherine Mansfield, British short story writer and critic. |
| Language | Materials are in English. |
| Repository | Newberry Library, Roger and Julie Baskes Department of Special Collections |
| Collection Call Number | Midwest MS Mansfield |
| Collection Stack Location | Vault 40 8 |
Administrative Information
Cite As
Katherine Mansfield Papers, Midwest Manuscript Collection, The Newberry Library, Chicago.
Provenance
Gift of Jane Warner Dick, 1959.
Processed by
S. Caroleen Browne, 1975; Virginia H. Smith, 2000
Access Restrictions
The Katherine Mansfield Papers are open for research; they are available five folders at a time in the Special Collections Reading Room (Priority II).
Ownership and Literary Rights
The Katherine Mansfield Papers are the physical property of the Newberry Library. Literary rights, including copyright, may belong to the authors or their legal heirs or assigns.
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Biography of Katherine Mansfield
British short story writer and critic.
Katherine Mansfield was born Kathleen Mansfield Beauchamp in Wellington, New Zealand in 1888. She went to London to be educated at Queen's College from 1903 to 1906, and then returned to New Zealand to study the cello for two years. In 1908 she returned to England, having chosen to be a writer rather than a musician, and there she lived the rest of her life except for sojourns to Germany, Switzerland and France where she would go seeking recovery from persistent poor health.
Mansfield's personal life was unsteady and dramatic. In 1909 she left an unconsummated marriage to a singer named George Bowden after a day, and later in that year delivered a stillborn child. In 1911 she met English critic John Middleton Murry with whom she lived, on and off, until they finally married in 1918. Their relationship was both productive and frustrating; Murry was a difficult man and yet he did much to further Mansfield's literary development and success. He was the editor of Rhythm and Blue Review, periodicals that published some of Mansfield's early stories, and later he was editor of the Athenaeum to which she contributed both stories and book reviews. The Murrys had a wide circle of creative friends such as Frieda and D.H. Lawrence and Leonard and Virginia Woolf, but Mansfield also had a number of life-long devoted unmarried women friends including the artist Dorothy Brett and college friend Ida Baker (called L.M. by Mansfield). In 1916, she met and was entertained by the eccentric literary and artistic patron Lady Ottoline Morrell, with whom subsequently she had a lively correspondence.
Mansfield's earliest collection of stories is entitled In a German Pension (1911), but probably her best-known collections are Bliss and Other Stories (1920) and The Garden-Party and Other Stories (1922). The year after the publication of the latter, she died from tuberculosis at the age of 34.
Katherine Mansfield is recognized as an experimental and original writer. Her stories, varied as they are from short, sharp sketches to long, impressionistic evocations of time, place and character, have won her a lasting literary reputation.
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Scope and Content of the Collection
The collection consists mainly of manuscript copies of some of Mansfield's most important work, and outgoing correspondence, -- the bulk to artist Dorothy Brett and Lady Ottoline Morrell. There are a few incoming miscellaneous letters, printed works, photographs and memorabilia. An appendix to the collection contains its original folders and envelopes, together with a card file index.
Narrative descriptions of the subject matter, types of material, and arrangement of each series are available through the Organization section of the finding aid.
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Organization
The papers are organized in the following series:
- Series 1: Manuscript Works, 1903-1922. Box(es) 1-2
- Series 2: Printed Works, Photographs and Memorabilia, 1906-1922. Box(es) 3
- Series 3: Correspondence, 1909-1942. Box(es) 4-7
- Series 4: Appendix
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Selected Search Terms
Names
- Brett, Dorothy, 1883-1977
- De la Mare, Walter, 1873-1956
- Mansfield, Katherine. 1888-1923 -- Portraits
- Morrell, Ottoline Violet Anne Cavendish-Bentinck, Lady, 1873-1938
- Murry, John Middleton, 1889-1957
- Pinker, James B.
- Beauchamp family
- Mansfield, Katherine, 1888-1923
Subjects
- Correspondence -- England --1909-1922
- England -- Intellectual life -- 20th century
- English literature -- 20th century
- Female friendship -- England -- History -- 20th century--Sources
- Women authors, New Zealand
- Women poets, English
- Bloomsbury group.
- Manuscripts, English
- Photographs
- Short stories, English
- Women authors, English
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Container List
Series 1: Manuscript Works, 1903-1922 |
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| The works include manuscripts, both handwritten and typescript, of posthumously published The Aloe and some of Mansfield's vignettes and stories including Bliss, The Doll's House, The Fly, The Garden Party, Je ne Parle pas Français, The Ladies Maid, Mr. and Mrs. Dove, Poison, Sun and Moon, and See-Saw. Also, a number of poems and seven notebooks containing more poems and stories, journal entries, fragments of letters, sketches and a few drawings. | |||||||||||
| Arranged alphabetically by title or type of material. | |||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 1 | 1 | The Aloe | |||||||||
| 1 | 2 | Being a list of virtues and vices appertaining to Miss Bartrick- Baker | |||||||||
| 1 | 3 | Bliss | |||||||||
| 1 | 4 | The Boy with the Jackdaw | |||||||||
| 1 | 5 | Brave Love | |||||||||
| 1 | 6 | The Canary | |||||||||
| 1 | 7 | Carnation | |||||||||
| 1 | 8 | Charing X (rough sketch) | |||||||||
| 1 | 9 | A Cup of Tea | |||||||||
| 1 | 10 | Daphne (incomplete) | |||||||||
| 1 | 11 | The Doll's House | |||||||||
| 1 | 12 | The Doll's House (typescript) | |||||||||
| 1 | 13 | The Dove's Nest (typescript) | |||||||||
| 1 | 14 | A Family Dance (unfinished) | |||||||||
| 1 | 15 | Father and the Girls (unfinished) | |||||||||
| 1 | 16 | The Fly | |||||||||
| 1 | 17 | The Fly (typescript) | |||||||||
| 1 | 18 | The Garden Party | |||||||||
| 1 | 19 | The Green Tree, A Fairy Tale | |||||||||
| 1 | 20 | His Sister's Keeper | |||||||||
| 1 | 21 | Honesty (unfinished) | |||||||||
| 1 | 22 | Honeymoon | |||||||||
| 1 | 23 | L'Incendie (sketch) | |||||||||
| 1 | 24 | In Summer | |||||||||
| 1 | 25 | In the Church (poem) | |||||||||
| 1 | 26 | Je ne Parle pas Français | |||||||||
| 1 | 27 | [Je ne Parle pas Français] | |||||||||
| 1 | 28 | Keeping Up | |||||||||
| 1 | 29 | Keeping Up (typescript) | |||||||||
| 1 | 30 | The Ladies Maid | |||||||||
| 1 | 31 | Late Spring (unfinished) | |||||||||
| 1 | 31a | Life of Ma Parker, 1921 | |||||||||
| 1 | 32 | The Lilac Tree (poem) | |||||||||
| 1 | 33 | A Little Girl's Prayer (poem) | |||||||||
| 1 | 34 | Love in Autumn | |||||||||
| 1 | 35 | Love in Autumn (typescript) | |||||||||
| 1 | 36 | Love Lies Bleeding | |||||||||
| 1 | 37 | A Man and His Dog (fragment) | |||||||||
| 1 | 38 | Mr. and Mrs. Dove | |||||||||
| 1 | 39 | Mr. and Mrs. Williams (unfinished) | |||||||||
| 1 | 40 | The New Baby | |||||||||
| 1 | 41 | Non-compounders | |||||||||
| 1 | 42 | Non-compounders (neg. photostat) | |||||||||
| 1 | 43 | Notebook #1 | |||||||||
| 2 | 1 | Notebook #2 | |||||||||
| 1 | 2 | Notebook #3 | |||||||||
| 2 | 3 | Notebook #4 | |||||||||
| 2 | 4 | Notebook #5 | |||||||||
| 2 | 5 | Notebook #6 | |||||||||
| 2 | 6 | Notebook #7 | |||||||||
| 2 | 7 | On the Sea Shore | |||||||||
| 2 | 8 | Poison | |||||||||
| 2 | 9 | Poison (typescript) | |||||||||
| 2 | 10 | Prose (unfinished) | |||||||||
| 2 | 11 | Revelation (poem) | |||||||||
| 2 | 12 | Room 135 (unfinished) | |||||||||
| 2 | 13 | A Sad Truth (poem) | |||||||||
| 2 | 14 | The Sea Child (poem, typescript) | |||||||||
| 2 | 15 | See-Saw | |||||||||
| 2 | 16 | See-Saw the Little Primitives | |||||||||
| 2 | 17 | She and the Boy... (typescript) | |||||||||
| 2 | 18 | A Song of Summer (poem) | |||||||||
| 2 | 19 | Sorrowing Love (poem) | |||||||||
| 2 | 20 | Spring Pictures | |||||||||
| 2 | 21 | The Stranger | |||||||||
| 2 | 22 | The Stranger (rough copy) | |||||||||
| 2 | 23 | Sun and Moon | |||||||||
| 2 | 24 | Taking the Veil (typescript) | |||||||||
| 2 | 25 | That Woman (sketch) | |||||||||
| 2 | 26 | This is My World, This Room of Mine (poem) | |||||||||
| 2 | 27 | This is My World, This Room of Mine poem (typescript) | |||||||||
| 2 | 28 | The Thoughtful Child (typescript) | |||||||||
| 2 | 29 | The Thoughtful Child | |||||||||
| 2 | 30 | The Thoughtful Child (typescript) | |||||||||
| 2 | 31 | The Thoughtful Child (typescript) | |||||||||
| 2 | 32 | The Tiredness of Rosabel (typescript) | |||||||||
| 2 | 33 | To L.H.B. (poem) | |||||||||
| 2 | 34 | To the Last Moment (chap. 1) | |||||||||
| 2 | 35 | The Trio (poem) | |||||||||
| 2 | 36 | Two Ideas With One Moral | |||||||||
| 2 | 37 | Untitled Sketch (It is evening...) (typescript) | |||||||||
| 2 | 38 | Untitled Short Story (I've a run of three twice...) | |||||||||
| 2 | 39 | Untitled Short Story (la fete riche...) | |||||||||
| 2 | 40 | Untitled Short Story (la fete riche...) (neg. photostat) | |||||||||
| 2 | 41 | Verses of Little Q | |||||||||
| 2 | 42 | Vignette - By the Sea (typescript) | |||||||||
| 2 | 43 | Vignette - By the Sea (typescript) | |||||||||
| 2 | 44 | Vignette - (I look out through the window...) | |||||||||
| 2 | 45 | Vignettes: In the Botanical Gardens (typescript) | |||||||||
| 2 | 46 | Vignette - Leves Amores (typescript) | |||||||||
| 2 | 47 | Vignette - Leves Amores (typescript) | |||||||||
| 2 | 48 | Vignette - Summer in Winter (typescript) | |||||||||
| 2 | 49 | Vignette - Summer in Winter (typescript) | |||||||||
| 2 | 50 | Vignette - Through the Autumn afternoon... | |||||||||
| 2 | 51 | Vignette - Westminster Cathedral (typescript) | |||||||||
| 2 | 52 | Vignette - Westminster Cathedral (typescript) | |||||||||
| 2 | 53 | The Winter Fire (poem) | |||||||||
| 2 | 54 | You Love Me - Still? | |||||||||
| 2 | 55 | The Young Girl | |||||||||
| 2 | 56 | Youth and Age | |||||||||
Series 2: Printed Works, Photographs and Memorabilia, 1906-1922 |
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| Extracts of Mansfield's work from periodicals, limited printings, sheet music, photographs, sketches and other memorabilia. Certain works, as noted below, have been removed from the papers and cataloged individually. | |||||||||||
| Organized with works preceding photographs and miscellaneous material. Works arranged alphabetically. Photographs arranged chronologically. | |||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 3 | 1 | Autumns: Extract from Signature (See Case 4A 1747) | |||||||||
| 3 | 2 | Epilogue: Extract from Blue Review (See Case oAP 4 .B62) | |||||||||
| 3 | 3 | Je ne Parle pas Français, 1919 (See Case oPR 6025 .A57 J4) | |||||||||
| 3 | 4 | Love's Entreaty: Sheet Music (See Case oM 1620 .B43 T86 no. 1) | |||||||||
| 3 | 5 | Pension Sketches: Extract from New Age | |||||||||
| 3 | 6 | The Pine Tree: Extract from Queen's College Magazine (See Case oAP 4 .Q44) | |||||||||
| 3 | 7 | The Sea Child: Extract from Rhythm (See Case oAP 4 .R49) | |||||||||
| 3 | 8 | To Stanley Wyspianski, 1938 (See Case oPR 6025 .A57 T6) | |||||||||
| 3 | 9 | Photograph, "Portrait of an Egoist" | |||||||||
| 3 | 10 | Photograph backing | |||||||||
| 3 | 11 | Photograph, 1906 | |||||||||
| 3 | 12 | Photograph, 1907 | |||||||||
| 3 | 13 | Photograph, n.d. | |||||||||
| 3 | 14 | Photograph, to Sullivan | |||||||||
| 3 | 15 | Pencil Sketches | |||||||||
| 3 | 16 | Pen and Ink Sketch of Children | |||||||||
| 3 | 17 | Sketch of Tree | |||||||||
| 3 | 18 | Bookplate | |||||||||
| 3 | 19 | Inventory of Handkerchiefs | |||||||||
| 3 | 20 | Loose Magazine Cover | |||||||||
| 3 | 21 | Blotter in Embroidered Cover | |||||||||
| 3 | 22 | Desk Blotters | |||||||||
| 3 | 23 | "Sealed Orders," Sheet Music | |||||||||
Series 3: Correspondence, 1909-1942 |
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| The bulk of correspondence consists of letters from Katherine Mansfield to her friends Dorothy Brett and Lady Ottoline Morrell. There are several letters from Mansfield to her sisters Jeanne and Charlotte (known as "Marie"), her mother and father Mr. and Mrs. Harold Beauchamp, her agent James Brand Pinker and his son Eric Pinker. Also a few other miscellaneous letters, including five letters to Mansfield from Walter J. de la Mare, and three letters from John Middleton Murry to John Drinkwater. | |||||||||||
| Organized with Mansfield-Brett letters and Mansfield-Morrell correspondence (each chronologically arranged) preceding other letters by Mansfield (chronologically arranged) and letters to Mansfield (alphabetically arranged). | |||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 4 | 1 | Brett, Dorothy E. to an unknown collector, Feb. 15, 1942 | |||||||||
| 4 | 2-81 | Mansfield, Katherine to Dorothy E. Brett, n.d.-1920 | |||||||||
| 5 | 1-71 | Mansfield, Katherine to Dorothy E. Brett, Jan., 1921-Apr., 1922 | |||||||||
| 6 | 1-37 | Mansfield, Katherine to Dorothy E. Brett, May, 1922-Dec., 1922 | |||||||||
| 6 | 38-69 | Mansfield, Katherine to Lady Ottoline Morrell, n.d.-Aug., 1922 | |||||||||
| 7 | 1 | Mansfield, Katherine to "darling," n.d. | |||||||||
| 7 | 2 | Mansfield, Katherine to "My Dearest Marius," Apr. 16, 1905 | |||||||||
| 7 | 3-4 | Mansfield, Katherine to Mrs. Harold Beauchamp, 1909 | |||||||||
| 7 | 5-7 | Mansfield, Katherine to Jeanne, Jan., 1912 | |||||||||
| 7 | 8-10 | Mansfield, Katherine to John Drinkwater, n.d.-1912 | |||||||||
| 7 | 11 | Mansfield, Katherine to Jeanne, Oct., 1913 | |||||||||
| 7 | 12 | Mansfield, Katherine to Marie, Dec., 1913 | |||||||||
| 7 | 13-14 | Mansfield, Katherine to a typist, Jan., 1915 | |||||||||
| 7 | 15 | Mansfield, Katherine to F. G., Mar., 1916 | |||||||||
| 7 | 16-17 | Mansfield, Katherine to Mrs. Harold Beauchamp, Jan., 1916, 1918 | |||||||||
| 7 | 18-20 | Mansfield, Katherine to Marie, May, 1918-Aug, 1920 | |||||||||
| 7 | 21-36 | Mansfield, Katherine to James Pinker, n.d.-Dec., 1921 | |||||||||
| 7 | 37 | Mansfield, Katherine to Marie, Jan. 2, 1922 | |||||||||
| 7 | 38 | Mansfield, Katherine to [Jeanne Beauchamp?], Jan. 2, 1922 | |||||||||
| 7 | 39-45 | Mansfield, Katherine to James Pinker, Jan. 11, 1922-Feb. 9, 1922 | |||||||||
| 7 | 46-47 | Mansfield, Katherine to Marie, Feb. 10, 19, 1922 | |||||||||
| 7 | 48 | Mansfield, Katherine to James Pinker, Feb. 22, 1922 | |||||||||
| 7 | 49 | Mansfield, Katherine to Marie and Jeanne, Mar. 1, 1922 | |||||||||
| 7 | 50-51 | Mansfield, Katherine to James Pinker, Mar. 3, 5, 1922 | |||||||||
| 7 | 52 | Mansfield, Katherine to Marie, Mar. 11, 1922 | |||||||||
| 7 | 53-55 | Mansfield, Katherine to James Pinker, Mar. 17, 18, 25, 1922 | |||||||||
| 7 | 56 | Mansfield, Katherine to Marie, Mar. 26, 1922 | |||||||||
| 7 | 57-58 | Mansfield, Katherine to Eric Pinker, Mar. 29-30, 1922 | |||||||||
| 7 | 59 | Mansfield, Katherine to Marie, Apr., 1922 | |||||||||
| 7 | 60-65 | Mansfield, Katherine to Eric Pinker, Apr.-June, 1922 | |||||||||
| 7 | 65a | Mansfield, Katherine to Harold Beauchamp, Nov. 2, 1922 | |||||||||
| 7 | 66-70 | de la Mare, Walter J. to Katherine Mansfield, n.d.-1922 | |||||||||
| 7 | 71-73 | Murry, John Middleton to John Drinkwater, 1912-1913 | |||||||||
| 7 | 74 | [Gibson], Wilfred to John [Middleton Murry], Apr., 1913 | |||||||||
| 7 | 75 | Pickhall, Chaddie to Miss Barker, n.d. | |||||||||
| 7 | 76-77 | Renshaw, Jeanne Beauchamp to Miss Hamill, 1937-1938 | |||||||||
Series 4: Appendix |
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| Consists of the envelopes and folders which held the Katherine Mansfield material when it was given to the library (1 box) and a card file index to Boxes 3-7 (1 box). | |||||||||||