Scope and Contents of the Collection
Selected index to correspondence
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| Creator: | De la Mare, Walter, 1873-1956. |
| Title: | Walter de la Mare Collection |
| Inclusive Dates: | 1909-1961 |
| Quantity: | 0.25 linear ft. |
| Abstract: | Papers of the English poet, novelist. Collection includes correspondence, including 152 outgoing items written between 1909 and 1956. Several of the letters involve social arrangements, however there are also many references to De la Mare's early career as a writer and his association with various literary figures of the time. Outgoing letters to Margot Asquith, Nancy Astor, Denys Blakelock, Richard Church, Havelock Ellis, Montgomery Evans, Eleanor Farjeon, Ruth Mayhew Head, Mary Elizabeth Hughes, Henry F. Jones, Coulson Kernahan, Paul Lemperly, Ian MacAlister, Henry Nevinson, Conal O'Riordan, Frederic Prokosch, M.R. Ridley, Clement King Shorter, Theodore Spicer-Simson, Jinadasa Viyaya-Tunga, Theresa Whistler, and others. |
| Language: | English |
| Repository: | Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Library 222 Waverly Avenue Syracuse, NY 13244-2010 http://scrc.syr.edu |
Walter John de la Mare (1873-1956) was an English poet and novelist. Born at Charlton, Kent in England on April 25, 1873, he was educated at St. Paul's Cathedral Choir School. In 1890, at the age of sixteen, de la Mare left school, where he first began writing, and went to London to work in the office of the Anglo-American Oil Company. He continued in that employment for nineteen years, while writing in his spare time.
De la Mare's poems and short stories were first published in various British periodicals under the pseudonym "Walter Ramal." His first book of verse, Songs of Childhood, was published in 1902 and was followed by the prose romance Henry Brocken in 1904. After 1908, de la Mare received an annual grant from the privy purse and was able to give up office work and devote himself entirely to his writings.
De la Mare was made a companion of honour in 1948, and received the Order of Merit on 1953. He died at Twickenham, Middlesex, on June 22, 1956. Much of de la Mare's best poetry is contained within The Listeners (1912) and Peacock Pie (1913), while the novels The Return (1910) and Memoirs of a Midget (1921) are among the best of his prose work. Collected Poems appeared in 1920, 1935 and 1944; Collected Rhymes and Verse in 1944.
De la Mare's later poetry include The Burning Glass (1945), The Traveller (1946), Inward Companion (1950) and O Lovely England (1953).
The Walter de la Mare Collection consist of correspondence, writings and miscellaneous material.
Correspondence includes 156 letters, 152 of which were written by Walter de la Mare. An alphabetical index of correspondence is provided at the end of the shelf list. The remaining four letters were written by a secretary of the poet, by his biographer, Theresa Whistler, and by his daughter Florence Thompson. Correspondence begins in 1909 and continued through 1961; brackets have been used to indicate uncertain names and dates. De la Mare addressed his letters to minor poets, personal friends and admirers of his work. Many of the de la Mare letters in the collection are invitations to tea or polite refusals to lecture or introduce neophytes' verse. His letter of July 7, 1919 to an anonymous "Dear Madam" records his feelings about the interpretation of poetry, and more specifically, the interpretation of his poem, "The Ghost." Of special interest are the poet's comments on dreams, in a letter dated February 12, 1929, and a letter of May 11, 1932, concerned with the many lectures which de la Mare gave. Evidence of de la Mare's associations with literary figures of his time is scattered throughout the correspondence. In a letter written to "Dodd" on November 3, 1950, de la Mare reviews in detail his early years as a writer.
The Writings section includes four items of verse. One of these poems is a holograph, while the other three are typescripts with holograph revisions by de la Mare. Miscellaneous material is a sketch of Walter de la Mare.
Correspondence is arranged chronologically. An alphabetical index of correspondence is provided at the end of the shelf list.
There are no access restrictions on this material.
Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.
Approximately 120 additional letters written by Walter de la Mare to American poet A.E. Johnson, are located in the A.E. Johnson collection in the Syracuse University Archives. The letters cover 1931-1935 and provide observations on contemporary writers and the nature of poetry. De la Mare's detailed criticism of Johnson's verse offers insight as well into his poetical techniques.
See also the Gordon Kinzer Letters for one additional de la Mare letter.
Preferred citation for this material is as follows:
Walter de la Mare Collection,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Library
Purchase, 1958, 1966, 1967, 1969.
Created by: --
Date: circa 1975
Revision history: 27 Oct 2008 - converted to EAD (MRC)
| Correspondence | |||||||||||
| Box 1 | Undated | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | 1909-1961 (24 folders) | ||||||||||
| Writings (verse) | |||||||||||
| Box 1 | "The Cage" undated - typescript (revised) | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | "Farewell" 1953 - holograph | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | "The Path" undated - typescript (revised) | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | "Suppose..." undated - typescript (revised) | ||||||||||
| Miscellaneous | |||||||||||
| Box 1 | Sketch of de la Mare 1929 | ||||||||||
