Papers of Charles Elkin Mathews

The bulk of the collection consists of around 500 letters. Most were written to Mathews and concern some aspect of his work. Some were collected by Mathews and relate to literary and antiquarian matters 1811-c.1870. There are 48 letters from John Lane. Other major correspondents include Ernest Radford, Jack Butler Yeats and Richard Le Gallienne. There are also letters from William Butler Yeats, John Trivett Nettleship, Robert Bridges, Charles Henry Daniel, Roden Noel, William Watson and John Davidson, along with three letters from Ezra Pound and one from James Joyce. There is a variety of personal material, including draft reminiscences of Mathews' life and career. The rest of the collection relates to works published and consists of proofs, cuttings, publicity material, photographs of authors, prints of illustrative material including several by Jack Butler Yeats, and associated printed material. The collection of Elkin Mathews' papers is supported by around 400 books which were published under the Elkin Mathews imprint.

Charles Elkin Mathews was born in Gravesend in 1851. As a young man, he served his apprenticeship in the book trade working for Charles John Stewart in London, managing Peach's library in Bath, and then returning to London to work for the firm of Messrs Sotheran in Piccadilly. In 1884 he opened an antiquarian and general bookshop at 16 Cathedral Close, Exeter, where he also began his publishing career, joining with other local booksellers in his first venture. In 1887 he arranged with John Lane to move to premises in Vigo Street, Piccadilly, and the firm began business in October of that year. From 1892 to 1894 he was in partnership with Lane both for selling and publishing books, particularly belles lettres, and their reputation reached its height with the publication of The Yellow Book in 1894. Shortly afterwards the partnership was dissolved. Lane began an independent publishing venture under the name of The Bodley Head, which had been the name of the Vigo Street shop. Mathews continued to sell and publish books, being the first publisher of such authors as W.B. Yeats, James Joyce, Ezra Pound and Robert Bridges. In 1912 he moved from Vigo Street to Cork Street.

After moving to London in 1887 Mathews lived next door to Yeats in Bedford Park, Chiswick, and subsequently in Chorley Wood, Hertfordshire, where he died on 10 November 1921. He left a widow, Edith Elkin Mathews (ne Calvert), whom he married in 1896, and a daughter.

Manuscript material is divided into four classes. Correspondence and related papers are arranged chronologically. Notes are divided into autobiographical, biographical and bibliographical material. Seven items are drawings, and the rest is classed as sundry papers. The rest of the collection consists of printed material, namely publishers' announcements; catalogues; cuttings, excerpts and reprints; photographs and prints; proofs, and publications.

Open to all researchers. No reader's ticket is required but an appointment is necessary. Check www.reading.ac.uk/special-collections/using/sc-using.asp for contact details and opening hours.

Purchased from Miss Nest Elkin Mathews in 1965.

Description prepared by Bridget Andrews, with reference to James G. Nelson Elkin Mathews: publisher to Yeats, Joyce, Pound (University of Wisconsin Press, 1989).

The collection is fully listed, with summaries of each item of correspondence.