Symons (Robert E) Papers

Miscellaneous papers of Robert E Symons, 1944-1959, on the literary estates of Laurence and A E Housman, including a few letters to Laurence Housman; a transcript in Laurence Housman's hand of the verses 'The shades of night were falling fast'; and a typescript of A E Housman's 'A morning with the royal family (from 'The Bromsgrovian', 1882).

Robert E Symons was literary executor of A E Housman.

Alfred Edward Housman: born, 1859; educated at Bromsgrove School, 1870-1877; passed as a scholar to St John's College Oxford, 1877; first class honours in classical moderations, 1879; MA; worked at home for the civil service examination and helped his former headmaster with teaching; Higher Division Clerk in the Patent Office, London, 1882-1892; found time for classical study and published his first paper, on Horace, 1882; became a member of the Cambridge Philological Society, 1889; Professor of Latin, University College London, 1892-1911; his publications after 1892 were largely concerned with Latin, rather than Greek, and included works on the chief Latin poets from Lucilius to Juvenal, particularly Propertius, Ovid and Manilius; first published verse in 'A Shropshire Lad', 1896; Professor of Latin, Cambridge University, and Fellow of Trinity College Cambridge from 1911; Honorary Fellow of St John's College Oxford, 1911; in poor health from 1932; Leslie Stephen lecturer at Cambridge, 1932; delivered a lecture on 'The Name and Nature of Poetry', 1933; refused the Order of Merit; died, 1936. Numerous publications on Housman include Laurence Housman's 'A E H' (1937). Publications include: 'A Shropshire Lad' (1896); 'Last Poems' (1922); 'More Poems' (1936) and 'Collected Poems' (1939), published posthumously; editions of classical authors including Manilius Books I-V (1903-1930); various papers on classical subjects in the 'Journal of Philology', 'Classical Review', 'Proceedings' and 'Transactions' of the Cambridge Philological Society, 'American Journal of Philology' and elsewhere.

Laurence Housman: born, 1865; brother of A E Housman; educated at Bromsgrove School; moved to London and studied art in Kennington, at the Lambeth School of Art, and later at South Kensington; introduced to Harry Quilter and wrote and drew for his short-lived 'Universal Review'; introduced to Charles Kegan Paul, the publisher, who encouraged him to write; wrote for the 'Manchester Guardian' and as art critic handled controversies including the Chantrey Bequest inquiry and dispute over the statues by (Sir) Jacob Epstein on the British Medical Association building, 1895-1911; also published poetry; published anonymously 'An Englishwoman's Love-Letters', at that time regarded as daring but which sold well, 1900; while working for the 'Manchester Guardian', began a career as a playwright, but his success was limited and his subject matter involved him in controversies on censorship with the Lord Chamberlain's office and his first play 'Bethlehem' was banned for many years, although privately produced, 1902; his play 'Pains and Penalties' (1911), about Queen Caroline, was for many years banned by the Lord Chamberlain but was later released on minor revision; took up the cause of woman's suffrage and was the centre of a disturbance in the central lobby of the House of Commons, 1909; a member of the men's section of the extremist Women's Social and Political Union, but left when militancy became violent rather than symbolic, 1912; became a pacifist during World War One, 1914-1918; supported the ideals of a League of Nations and proclaimed his views in a series of lectures in the USA, 1916; his plays about Queen Victoria were performed with great success when public interest in the royal family was at its peak, 1935, 1937; from 1924 lived at Street, Somerset; became a Quaker, 1952; died, 1959. Publications include: 'The Writings of William Blake' (1893); 'Green Arras' (1896); 'Spikenard' (1898); 'Sheepfold' (1918); 'Angels and Ministers' (1921); 'The Little Plays of St Francis' (1922); 'Trimblerigg' (1924); 'The Life of HRH the Duke of Flamborough' (1928); 'Victoria Regina' (1934); his autobiography, 'The Unexpected Years' (1937); his biography of his brother, 'A E H' (1937).

Open

The papers are available subject to the usual conditions of access to Archives and Manuscripts material, after the completion of a Reader's Undertaking.

Purchased from Sotheby's via Mr John Carter in 1970. See also MS ADD 201, an early 19th Century recipe book purchased with these papers.

Collection level description.

Normal copyright restrictions apply.

University College London Special Collections also holds Housman family letters, including letters from A E Housman to his stepmother Lucy Housman, 1875-1901 (Ref: MS ADD 126); papers, 1959, on the A E Housman Centenary Exhibition at University College London (Ref: MS ADD 294); 11 letters, 1900-1930, from A E Housman to Mildred Platt, wife of Professor John Arthur Platt, Housman's colleague at University College London (Ref: MS ADD 165); correspondence (two items) between Housman and Otto Skutsch, in Latin, and a letter to the 'Sunday Times', 1934 (Ref: MS ADD 166); photocopy of a manuscript poem 'Nonae novembris', with related correspondence dating from 1960, and photocopies of a letter from Housman to Henry Jackson, 1922, with a manuscript poem 'Loveliest of trees ...' (Ref: MS ADD 167); photocopy of a Latin address prepared by Housman for University College London in connection with Sydney University jubilee, 1902, with a letter, 1973, from Professor Arthur Brown containing an extract describing the delivery of the address, and letters from Laurence Housman to Geoffrey Tillotson, 1937 (Ref: MS MISC 4H); proof copies of 'Three Poems' with related correspondence from A E Housman to R W Chambers and Geoffrey Tillotson, 1935, with a draft of Tillotson's 'The public of Housman's comic poems', and covering letters, 1947 (Ref: MS ADD 164); letters from A E Housman relating to his appointment and Professorship at University College London, 1892, 1898 (Ref: COLLEGE CORRESPONDENCE); printed books by and about Laurence Housman, and a few letters by him, for which see 'Catalogue of the Ian Kenyur-Hodgkins Collection of Laurence Housman' (Oxford, 1978); numerous publications on A E Housman and his work.

British Library, Manuscript Collections, holds diaries of A E Housman, 1888-1891 (Ref: Add MSS 45861, 54349); A E Housman's letters to F M Cornford, 1911-1934 (Ref: Add MS 58427); correspondence (10 items), 1930-1935, mainly with E H Blakeney, and literary MSS (Ref: Add MS 48980); correspondence with the Richards Press, 1927-1936 (Ref: Add MSS 44923-4). Cambridge University Library, Department of Manuscripts and University Archives, holds lecture notes (Ref: Add 6874-6902); 25 letters to Sir Sydney Roberts, 1926-1933. Cambridge University, Fitzwilliam Museum, holds manuscript poems and miscelleaneous correspondence, 1920-1922. Cambridge University, Trinity College Library, holds 48 letters to his sister, Katherine Symons, 1911-1936. Oxford University, Bodleian Library, Special Collections and Western Manuscripts, holds correspondence with Robert Bridges, 1918-1929 (Ref: Dep Bridges); letters to Gilbert Murray, 1900-1922 (Ref: MSS Gilbert Murray); correspondence with the Society for Protection of Science and Learning, 1934-1935 (Ref: SPSL). Oxford University, Somerville College Library, holds letters to Percy Withers and family, 1919-1935. Oxford University, St Johns College Library, holds a typescript biography by R P Graves. St Andrews University Library holds letters to Sir D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson, 1910-1935. National Library of Scotland, Manuscripts Division, holds 15 letters to the Richards and Ashburner families, 1898-1930. Bryn Mawr College Library holds correspondence, diaries and miscellaneous papers (1400 items), 1870-1936. Harvard University, Houghton Library, holds letters to Sir William Rothenstein and 30 letters to Witter Bynner, 1903-1935. University of Illinois Library, Urbana, holds 120 letters. University of Texas at Austin, Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center Library, holds manuscripts and letters. Indiana University, Lilly Library, holds manuscripts and letters. Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, holds poetical notebooks and papers, 1906-1939. Columbia University Libraries, Rare Book and Manuscript Library, holds correspondence and literary manuscripts (157 items), 1922-1958. See 'Location register of twentieth-century English literary manuscripts' (1988).

British Library, Manuscript Collections, holds Laurence Housman's introduction, 1939-1942, to the diaries of A E Housman, 1888-1891 (Ref: Add MS 45861); Laurence Housman's correspondence with Sir Sydney Cockerell, 1936-1937 (Ref: Add MS 52726); letters to Ellen Coleman, 1933-1941 (Ref: Add MS 59898); correspondence with Macmillans, 1893-1933 (Ref: Add MS 55010); correspondence with the Society of Authors, 1922-1955 (Ref: Add MSS 63268-73 passim). Oxford University, Bodleian Library, Special Collections and Western Manuscripts, holds letters to Gilbert Murray, 1910-1956 (Ref: MSS Gilbert Murray); 17 letters to Lady Piercy, 1920-1949 (Ref: MS Eng lett d 294); letters to Lord Ponsonby, 1933-1938 (Ref: MSS Eng hist a 20, c 561-85, d 363); letters to Evelyn Sharp, 1906-1943 (Ref: MSS Eng lett c 277, d 276-79); correspondence with Sidgwick & Jackson, 1906-1959 (Ref: MSS Sidgwick & Jackson). Reading University Library holds correspondence with Jonathan Cape (c500 items), 1921-1959; letters to Chatto & Windus, 1925-1939 (Ref: MS 2444). Cambridge University Library, Department of Manuscripts and University Archives, holds letters to Ida Northcote (Ref: Add 9506); 30 letters to the Royal Society of Literature, 1929-1953. Cambridge University, Fitzwilliam Museum, holds a manuscript of 'The school of Pan'. Cambridge University, King's College Archive Centre, holds letters to C R and Janet Ashbee, 1902-1941 (Ref: CRA). Cambridge University, Trinity College Library, holds letters to S F Gow (Ref: Add MS a 71). Southampton University Library holds letters to Bournemouth Poetry Society, 1922-1927 (Ref: A240). London Guildhall University, The Women's Library (formerly the Fawcett Library), holds 18 letters to Ruth Cavendish-Bentinck, 1918-1937 (Ref: AL vol viii). Manchester University, John Rylands Library, holds a manuscript of 'A Celtic Survival' (Ref: Neilson colln); letters to the 'Manchester Guardian', 1899-1930 (Ref: Guardian archives). Warwick University, Modern Records Centre, holds letters to Victor Gollancz (Ref: MSS 157/3). Bryn Mawr College Library holds correspondence, memoirs and miscellaneous papers, 1880s-1952. Lambeth Palace Library holds correspondence with H R L Sheppard (c175 items), 1922-1937. Worcestershire Record Office holds letters to Sir Edward Elgar (Ref: 5247). Street Public Library holds correspondence and literary manuscripts, including 156 letters to Roger and Sarah Clark, 1908-1959. Lancaster District Library holds a manuscript of 'Naked truth' (Ref: MS 5489). Bromsgrove Library holds letters to Ethel Mannin, 1936-1941; letters to Reginald Reynolds, 1927-1958. Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, holds correspondence, 1936-1958 (164 items). Columbia University Libraries, Rare Book and Manuscript Library, holds 94 letters to Cyril Clemens. University of Texas at Austin, Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center Library, holds correspondence with John Lane (c25 items), and other correspondence and literary manuscripts. McMaster University Library holds 24 letters to Frank Russell, 1898-1925 (Ref: Russell Archives). Huntington Library, San Marino, California, holds 20 letters, 1893-1902. University of Iowa Libraries, Special Collections, holds correspondence and manuscripts, 1890-1941 (216 items). See 'Location register of twentieth-century English literary manuscripts' (1988).