Call Number:

C1301

Repository:

Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division

Extent:

• 1 box
• 0.2 linear feet

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); A. J. A. Symons Collection, Box and Folder Number; Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

Date:

1910-1929 (bulk) and 1910-1993 (inclusive)

Creator:

Princeton University. Library. Special Collections and Symons, A.J.A. (Alphonse James Albert), 1900-1941

Form:

Correspondence -- 20th century, Documents -- 20th century., and Manuscripts -- 20th century.

Abstract:

Consists of selected manuscripts, correspondence, and documents of the twentieth-century British biographer and bibliophile A. J. A. Symons.

A. J. A (Alphonse James Albert) Symons (1900-1941) was an English writer and biographer. In 1922, he founded the "First Edition Club" to display exhibitions of manuscripts. He completed his first biographical work, Emin, Governor of Equatoria, in 1928. Previously to that, he produced a bibliography of the first works of Irish poet William Butler Yeats, as well as an anthological work on 1890s authors, of which he was an authority. His most notable work, The Quest for Corvo, was published in 1934. After his death in 1941 he left several unfinished works, such as a biography of Oscar Wilde.

The collection consists of a small number of selected manuscripts, correspondence and documents of the British biographer and bibliophile A. J. A. Symons, chiefly related to Symons's work on the "Nineties," which was a bibliography (with biographies) of the writers and book illustrators of the eighteen-nineties. There are manuscript notes as well as two copies of a 14-page typescript of the 'Bibliographical Introduction', with holograph corrections and annotations by the author, and a typescript titled "On Youth." Correspondence of Symons includes two letters to Frederick Evans regarding his portraits of Aubrey Beardsley, and three letters to the poet John Gray.

Other related material includes two letters from M. Fisher to Symons' brother, the British poet, novelist, historian, and critic Julian Symons, and one letter to Julian Symons from the author Charles Derry. These letters mention A. J. A. Symons and his work. In addition, there are legal documents for the purchase of a boarding house for Julian Symons and his wife, Minnie Louisa Symons.