The collection is comprised of papers associated with the life of Leslie Poles Hartley (1895-1972), which have been divided into series based on four subjects; The works of L.P. Hartley, correspondence, personal papers and press cuttings and reviews. The material spans Hartley’s lifetime and beyond, containing works that were written in childhood and works that were published posthumously. The collection is extensive, including multiple accruals, and at times is fragmented, with significant overlap between pieces of the material, especially in the handwritten masters, in which novels and stories often are included in the same item.
The collection provides excellent insight into both the personal and professional life of an extensive novelist and essayist, giving insight into his relationships in the correspondence and personal papers, while the novels and short stories contained in the works and reviews section delineate his literary ability. Several aspects of L.P. Hartley’s literary works are represented, including a number of his novels, his short stories, both within collections and as stand alone, spanning genres of fiction, including horror, drama, thriller and romance. The collection also displays L.P. Hartley’s career as a literary critic, containing several of his reviews. As well as giving some idea of how he has been perceived in the literary world, via the inclusion of reviews and essays written, by others, about his works.
During the Covid 19 pandemic, the records were catalogued as part of an offsite task. The items then underwent a physical arrangement to match the arrangement of the series presented in this collection; the previous arrangement is represented in a box-list and therefore, the records have two references, the reference LPH is for the intellectual arrangement of the series and the ‘original reference’ represents the box-list placement.