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Desmond Harmsworth Family Papers
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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
Desmond Harmsworth (1903-1990), born Cecil Desmond Bernard Harmsworth, was a publisher, poet and artist, and the son of politician Cecil Harmsworth and Emilie Alberta Maffett, and the nephew of the press barons Lord Northcliffe, Alfred Harmsworth, and Lord Rothermere, Harold Harmsworth. Desmond Harmsworth succeeded to the title of 2nd Baron Harmsworth, of Egham, Surrey, upon the death of his father in 1948. Educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford, Harmsworth married Dorothy Alexander Heinlein in 1926. Their only child, Margaret, was born in 1928, and is a painter and sculptor. Harmsworth started in the family newspaper business, attended art school at the famed Académie Julian in Paris, and published literary editions under the self-named private press of Desmond Harmsworth Limited. He may be best known for the 1932 limited edition of James Joyce's Pomes Penyeach, illustrated by Joyce's daughter Lucia, which Harmsworth co-published with the Obelisk Press of Paris following Sylvia Beach's first edition of Joyce's poems in 1927. Desmond and Dorothy Harmsworth knew Sylvia Beach (1887-1962) who, in turn, knew Stuart Gilbert (1883-1969), the British author, editor and translator who moved to Paris in 1925 following his retirement as a judge on the Court of Assizes in Burma. Beach became acquainted with Stuart Gilbert through his interest in a French translation of Joyce's Ulysses, and she introduced him to Joyce. Both Gilbert and his French-born wife, Moune (born Marie Agnès Mathilde Douin), also shared a lifelong friendship with Desmond and Dorothy Harmsworth, which is reflected in the correspondence among the four of them in this collection.
Consists of selected papers (1917-1988) of Desmond Harmsworth and other members of the Harmsworth family, Desmond and Dorothy Harmsworth correspondence (1938-1987) with Stuart and Moune Gilbert, Sylvia Beach, and others, and legal material (1928-1937) regarding Harmsworth's publishing business and the Nonesuch Press and Francis Meynell.
Purchased from Bloomsbury Sale in December 2008 (AM2009-71).
A finding aid is available.
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This collection was processed by Sylvia Yu in May 2009. Finding aid written by Sylvia Yu in May 2009.
Collection title updated by Faith Charlton in 2021.
No appraisal information is available.
People
Organization
Subject
- Publisher
- Manuscripts Division
- Finding Aid Author
- Sylvia Yu
- Finding Aid Date
- 2009
- Access Restrictions
-
The collection is open for research.
- Use Restrictions
-
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Collection Inventory
The material in this series primarily consists of manuscript drafts by Desmond Harmsworth. The majority consists of his original poems and translations of French poems, and there are also essays, travel writings, related notes, and miscellaneous pieces. Writings of other members of the Harmsworth family are represented by Cecil (father), Alfred Lord Northcliffe (uncle), Dorothy (wife), and Margaret (daughter). There also is a small amount of written material by other people, including Doris and Edward L. Bernays and an American poet named John Moffitt.
This series has been arranged by author.
Physical Description4 boxes
Consists of notebooks, poems, fiction, essays, diaries, and notes of Desmond Harmsworth.
Not arranged according to any arrangement scheme.
Physical Description2 boxes
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
TMss of many of the poems that were published under the title of Desmond's Poems by The Cuala Press, 1930
Physical Description1 folder
This was also published in Desmond's Poems
Physical Description1 folder
3 poems that were not published in Desmond's Poems but were included on an autograph list of poems by Harmsworth.
Physical Description1 folder
As published on page 12 of an unidentified publication, unknown date.
Physical Description1 folder
Published in Adam International Review, Nos. 334-336 (1969), pp. 43-48
Physical Description1 folder
Drafts of translation, notes, correspondence.
Physical Description1 folder
Drafts of translation, notes, correspondence.
Physical Description1 folder
AMss of translations to English of "De Profundis Clamavi" and "Parfum Exotique" from Fleurs du Mal by Charles Baudelaire.
Physical Description1 folder
AMss, some titled, one untitled; all presumed to be by Desmond Harmsworth; "Cantique des Colonnes" by Paul Valéry.
Physical Description1 folder
TMss, some titled, some untitled; all presumed to be by Desmond Harmsworth.
Physical Description1 folder
1 AMs dated 1976 and 1 AMs undated; rest are TMss; all presumed to be by Desmond Harmsworth.
Physical Description1 folder
Submissions dated in 1925 to Atlantic Monthly, Saturday Review of Literature, Vanity Fair, and an unidentified publication.
Physical Description1 folder
TMss, "Gaston Les Bas" and "The Honeymoon."
Physical Description1 folder
AMss.
Physical Description1 folder
"Sex"; "The Essence of the English"; "On Not Calling a Spade a Spade" (TMs, photocopy); "A Portrait of James Joyce by an Artist as a Young Man" (AMs, 1 page, photocopy).
Physical Description1 folder
TMs, 31 p. and an empty envelope titled "Bud's Diary of Egypt and Palestine 1925."
Physical Description1 folder
3 TMSs: "To BoraBora"; "Cristobal"; "Trinidad" (all presumed to be by Desmond Harmsworth).
Physical Description1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
AMss, partial excerpts, etc.
Physical Description1 folder
TMs photocopy excerpts from the book by Cecil Harmsworth that was published in 1933 with autograph notes, presumed to be by Desmond Harmsworth, on the years 1926-1934.
Physical Description1 folder
Consists of a poem, memorials, and an introduction to Little Fishing Book written by Cecil Harmsworth.
Not arranged according to any arrangement scheme.
Physical Description1 box
AMs, TMsS with autograph corrections, TMs of the poem that was published under the title of "Vere Harmsworth" in Holiday Verses and Others by Cecil and Desmond Harmsworth (Cuala Press, 1922). Included is a TL (transcript) of an undated letter from "Vere."
Physical Description1 folder
AMs, 1 page.
Physical Description1 folder
TMs (photocopy), 93 pages.
Physical Description1 folder
Consists of "Leaves from a Peasant's Diary."
Not arranged according to any arrangement scheme.
Physical Description1 box
TLS dated June 30, 1932 from "Harold" to "Uncle Cecil" and TMss of Parts I and VII of "Leaves from a Peasant's Diary" (unpublished) by Alfred Harmsworth (Lord Northcliffe).
Physical Description1 folder
TMss drafts with autograph corrections (4 copies).
Physical Description1 folder
Consists of writings, notes, and notebooks of Dorothy Harmsworth.
Arranged by genre of material.
Physical Description1 box
AMs draft titled "I Still Believe in Doctors," 14 pages; AMs diary entry from a family trip to Tahiti dated March 23, 1939, 3 pages and AMs draft of a letter with the same date, 1 page; 3 poems by Dorothy Harmsworth.
Physical Description1 folder
1 notebook contains AMss of poems (1924-1976) and 1 notebook of notes on practical household matters, etc.
Physical Description1 folder
Consists of "Notes - Sarah Lawrence" and a notebook of poems by Margaret Harmsworth.
Arranged by genre of material.
Physical Description1 box
1 folder
1 folder
Consists of some writings of J.H.K. Adkin, Doris and Edward L Bernays, and John Moffitt, as well as others.
Arranged alphabetically by author.
Physical Description1 box
AMs of a poem.
Physical Description1 folder
TMs (bound) titled What the British Think of Us.
Physical Description1 folder
TMs (bound) titled It Ain't What You Don't Know; includes a ALS by Huggins to Dorothy Harmsworth dated April 13, 1970.
Physical Description1 folder
Galley proofs for This Narrow World [1958]; TMs of assorted poems.
Physical Description1 folder
TMs titled "A New Call to Science" by Sir Richard Clifford Tute.
Physical Description1 folder
AMs by an unidentified person titled "Corunna Campaign" with autograph comments by two instructors.
Physical Description1 folder
Includes AMs of a poem titled "A Lullaby" dedicated to "Cecil Harmsworth Esq. with kind regards from Phyllis Fensome."
Physical Description1 folder
The Correspondence series consists of letters to and from members of the Harmsworth family, and include Desmond Harmsworth's literary correspondence, as well as letters between Desmond and Dorothy Harmsworth and Stuart and Moune Gilbert.
The correspondence is primarily arranged by sender, although there are individual files from notable individuals as well as subject files, such as one for Desmond Harmsworth's literary correspondence and one for Sylvia Beach.
Physical Description2 boxes
Consists primarily of the correspondence of Cecil Harmsworth with Desmond Harmsworth.
Arranged alphabetically by correspondent.
Physical Description1 box
ALsS to "Bud"; a TNS by "Dad" is presumed to be addressed to Desmond.
Physical Description1 folder
Includes a ALS by Edward North Buxton (1840-1924) about the Commons Preservation Society and an AL draft reply.
Physical Description1 folder
Consists of correspondence with family members, letters from Tahiti, literary correspondence, and Elizabeth C. Yeats, as well as others.
Arranged alphabetically by correspondent.
Physical Description1 box
4 ALsS from Oxford to his father, signed "Bud" and "Bird" (Desmond apparently used both nicknames).
Physical Description1 folder
2 ALsS from Oxford, including an AMs of the poem "Lyric for a Masque."
Physical Description1 folder
2 TLsS (including AMs draft) to his parents, signed "Bud."
Physical Description1 folder
ALS to "Daff," Desmond's sister.
Physical Description1 folder
AN from Desmond to his future wife while at Oxford.
Physical Description1 folder
ALS from Kahane (1887-1939), a British-born writer and publisher who founded the Obelisk Press in Paris in 1929.
Physical Description1 folder
Correspondence regarding "Le Cimetière Marin," including 2 TLsS from Enid Starkie (1897-1970) at Oxford; ALS to [T.S.] "Eliot" dated 17 November 1956 asking him to read his translation of "Le Cimetière Marin."
Physical Description1 folder
3 ALsS and 1 TLS from Mathews that mention Harmsworth's "Le Cimetière Marin" translation and Harmsworth's portrait drawings of Sylvia Beach and Stuart Gilbert. Also included are 2 AL pencil drafts from Harmsworth to Mathews.
Physical Description1 folder
Includes a TLS to Desmond Harmsworth by T.S. Eliot's secretary at Faber and Faber declining Moffitt's poems.
Physical Description1 folder
1 folder
ALS on "Cuala Industries" letterhead.
Physical Description1 folder
ALS from "Francis," TLS from a Tahiti hotel, and a AL draft to Moune Gilbert in which "Sheppy" is mentioned (see box 2 folder 16 for a AMs titled "Sheppy.")
Physical Description1 folder
Consists of correspondence with Moune Gilbert and Robert Lowell, as well as others.
Arranged alphabetically by correspondent.
Physical Description1 box
1 folder
TLS
Physical Description1 folder
1 folder
Consists of some correspondence of Eric and Margaret Harmsworth.
Arranged alphabetically by correspondent.
Physical Description1 box
ALS from Desmond's brother, Eric, to his father and 2 ALsS to his mother.
Physical Description1 folder
Includes correspondence with Moune Gilbert and 1 ACS to her parents.
Physical Description1 folder
Consists of letters from Stuart Gilbert to Desmond Harmsworth and Dorothy Harmsworth.
Arranged alphabetically by correspondent.
Physical Description1 box
1 folder
1 folder
Consists of letters from Moune Gilbert to Dorothy Harmsworth.
Arranged alphabetically by correspondent.
Physical Description1 box
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
Consists of correspondence from and about Sylvia Beach.
Not arranged according to any arrangement scheme.
Physical Description1 box
2 ALsS to Desmond Harmsworth; 5 ALsS (includes 1 TL), 1 ACS and 1 ANS to Dorothy Harmsworth; ALS from Marthiel Mathews [Mrs. Jackson Mathews] to the Harmsworths regarding Beach's death. Also includes Beach's gift bag to James Joyce's hospitalized daughter, Lucia.
Physical Description1 folder
Consists of unidentified correspondence.
Not arranged according to any arrangement scheme.
Physical Description1 box
Includes ALS to "Eric" [Harmsworth?] from "Stephen."
Physical Description1 folder
This series consists of legal and business documents, printed materials, and related correspondence regarding Desmond Harmsworth Limited, as represented by Cecil and Desmond Harmsworth, and the Nonesuch Press, as represented by Francis Meynell (1891-1975), a British poet and printer at the Nonesuch Press, a private press founded in 1922 in London, and his wife, Vera. It includes letters signed by Francis Meynell, loan receipts and acknowledgements of the loan signed by Vera Meynell, draft agreements between Francis Meynell and Desmond Harmsworth, and ephemera and pamphlets issued by the Nonesuch Press and Desmond Harmsworth Limited.
The majority of the documents and related correspondence are arranged in folders by year, and the oversize documents are stored, primarily by year, in one oversize flat box.
Physical Description2 boxes
Consists of legal and business documents and related correspondence of The Nonesuch Press and Desmond Harmsworth Limited.
Arranged chronologically.
Physical Description1 box
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
Consists of Desmond Harmsworth Publisher Book Lists, Nonesuch Press printed materials, and materials related to Nonesuch Press and Francis Meynell.
Arranged by subject.
Physical Description1 box
Includes sales list booklets titled "A First List," "Spring Books Nineteen Thirty-Two" (2 copies), and "Autumn Books 1932"
Physical Description1 folder
Includes invitations to events, advertisements for forthcoming books, and "Nonesuch News" (1934-1935)
Physical Description1 folder
Includes a clipping titled "The Nonesuch Press: Interview with Mr. Francis Meynell," reprinted from The Observer (1933) and the Autumn 1933 issue of The Monotype Recorder journal containing an article by Meynell titled "A Printer Considers the Book"
Physical Description1 folder
Consists of oversize legal and business documents as well as Nonesuch Press balance sheets.
Not arranged according to any arrangement scheme.
Physical Description1 box
Presumed to be Cecil's Harmsworth handwriting on the outside
Physical Description1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
This series contains miscellaneous material such as artwork, photographs, clippings and printed items that are mostly related to Desmond Harmsworth and the Harmsworth family.
The series is arranged primarily by material type.
Physical Description1 box
Consists of pencil drawings, a printed color illustration by Arthur Rackham, and materials related to Desmond Harmsworth as artist.
Not arranged according to any arrangement scheme.
Physical Description1 box
Presumed to be by Desmond Harmsworth
Physical Description1 folder
Includes exhibition brochures in which Desmond Harmworth is listed (1938, 1941 and 1958)
Physical Description1 folder
Printed color illustration by the English book illustrator Arthur Rackham (1867-1939)
Physical Description1 folder
Consists of photographs of Sylvia Beach, photographs of a house interior, and miscellaneous photographs.
Not arranged according to any arrangement scheme.
Physical Description1 box
1 folder
6 black and white photos (Harmsworth's Lime Lodge in Surrey?) with pencilled notes on the back of each photo
Physical Description1 folder
1 folder
Consists of miscellaneous items related to the Sylvan Debating Club, "Westminister Abbey Order of Service... in Commemoration of His Majesty King George VI," printed brochures, clippings about Sylvia Beach, and other miscellaneous printed items.
Arranged by genre of material.
Physical Description1 box
Honorary Secretary is listed as "Alfred Harmsworth, esq."
Physical Description1 folder
1 folder
"Mural Decorations at the Foreign Office" and "Catalogue of the Portland Vase"
Physical Description1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder