Witter Bynner Collection of Photographs, 1922-1923, in the D.H. Lawrence Collection

The collection consists of original black and white negatives taken, chiefly by Witter Bynner, when the D.H. Lawrence and his wife Frieda were in New Mexico and Mexico, 1922-1923. They feature the Lawrences, Witter Bynner and Willard Johnson at Teotihuacan and other locations in Mexico.

Harold Witter Bynner (1881-1968) was an American poet at whose house in Santa Fe the Lawrences spent their first night in New Mexico during their travels together. They became friends, Bynner joining the Lawrences for a short while in Mexico in 1922-23 with his friend Willard Johnson (1897-1968). It was at this time that the photographs in this collection were taken.

Witter Bynner graduated from Harvard in 1902 and then spent a number of years in publishing. He taught briefly (1918-1919) at the University of California, travelled extensively in the east, especially China, and then settled in Santa Fe. He published his account of his relationship with Lawrence in Journey with Genius, 1951.

Willard Johnson was an American journalist and editor. He was editor and co-founder of the magazine 'Laughing Horse' (1922-1939) to which Lawrence was a contributor. Johnson was a close friend of and, for a time, secretary to Witter Bynner.

The photographs are arranged by place and date.

Accessible to all registered readers. Please note that in most cases readers will be expected to consult copy prints.

Copyright in all Finding Aids belongs to the University of Nottingham.

On the World Wide Web:

Catalogue available through the website of Manuscripts and Special Collections, Manuscripts Online Catalogue.

The negatives were acquired by the University of Nottingham Library in 1983. Copy prints of some of the images have been in the Lawrence Collection since 1960.