Housman Letters (MS ADD 126)

Letters from Housman to his stepmother and his father.

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.

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University College London Special Collections also holds papers of Robert E Symons on the literary estates of Laurence and Alfred Edward Housman, 1944-1959 (Ref: MS ADD 200); 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); papers, 1959, on the A E Housman Centenary Exhibition at University College London (Ref: MS ADD 294); 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); Laurence Housman's introduction, 1939-1942, to the diaries of A E Housman, 1888-1891 (Ref: Add MS 45861). 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).