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Nancy Mitford Collection

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Held at: Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division [Contact Us]

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.

Overview and metadata sections

Mitford

Nancy Freeman-Mitford was a British novelist and biographer. She is best known for her series of novels about upper-class life in England and France, including The Pursuit of Love (1945) and Don't Tell Alfred (1960). She also wrote four well-received, well-researched, popular biographies of Louis XIV, Madame de Pompadour, Voltaire, and Frederick the Great.

The collection consists of thirteen autograph letters and twenty-nine postcards sent by Nancy Mitford to Elizabeth Forbes. Most of the letters are postmarked from Versailles, France, and are addressed to "Miss Liz," or, The Bookshop at 10 Curzon Street, London, where Forbes worked. There are two letters (1966) addressed to G. Heywood Hill, owner of the bookstore. In her letters Mitford invariably asks for Forbes' help with sending out copies of her books, with magazine subscriptions (for Gaston Palewski), with stationery---or thanks her for doing all of the above. In her later correspondence, Mitford mentions the pain she is suffering due to her illness. Included are copies of articles about the bookstore of G. Heywood Hill and about Mitford.

The letters are arranged by date.

Gift of the Viscountess Eccles in honor of Richard M. Ludwig on December 9, 1996 (AM1997-59).

For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.

This collection was processed by Dina Britain on August 13, 2007. Finding aid written by Traci Ballou-Broadnax on August 14, 2007. Folder Inventory added by Hilde Creager (2015) in 2012.

No appraisal information is available.

Publisher
Manuscripts Division
Finding Aid Date
2007
Access Restrictions

The collection is open for research.

Use Restrictions

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Collection Inventory

Correspondence, 1966-1973. 6 folders.
Physical Description

6 folders

Printed Material Regarding the G. Heywood Hill 60th Anniversary catalogue, "Reperusals", and the Nancy Mitford collection of correspondence listed as an item, undated. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Print, Suggest