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James Elroy Flecker 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
James Elroy Flecker was an English poet, novelist, and playwright. He studied at Trinity College, Oxford, and Caius College, Cambridge. From 1910 he was in the consular service in the Eastern Mediterranean. His most widely known poem is To a Poet a Thousand Years Hence . He died of tuberculosis in Davos, Switzerland. His death at the age of thirty was described at the time as "unquestionably the greatest premature loss that English literature has suffered since the death of Keats."
The collection consists of selected correpondence and manuscripts of James Elroy Flecker, the English poet, novelist, and playwright. Included are manuscripts of an autograph poem titled "Golden" and Flecker's final examination papers from the spring of 1910 at Caius College, Cambridge, where he was learning "Oriental" languages. The examination papers--in English as well as Arabic, Persian and Turkish--are in Flecker's hand and bear his signature at the top righthand corner of each page. The papers were translations from English into either Arabic, Persian, or Turkish, and from these languages to English. The examination papers were given by Flecker's Professor Browne to Sir Sydney Cockerell on May 3, 1920, for safekeeping.
Correspondence includes a note card to the publisher Elkin Matthews regarding the publishing of Flecker's book The Bridge of Fire . There are four letters and three postcards from Flecker to the British poet Harold Monro written from Beirut and Switzerland while he was ill, discussing his illness, poetry, and publishing his poems; and there is one letter addressed to "Masters." Also included is a silver gelatin print of Flecker, which was "Printed by Mesdames Morter, London."
The collection was formed as a result of a Departmental practice of combining into one collection material of various accessions relating to a particular person, family, or subject.
Examination papers were purchased on January 13, 1952 .
Letter to Masters and "Golden" poem were purchased in 1953 .
Autograph manuscript translation from Persian was purchased on January 7, 1954 .
Letters to Monro were purchased on May 1, 1958 .
This collection was processed by Dina Britain on May 19, 2009 . Finding aid written by Elizabeth Mulvey on June 15, 2009 .
No appraisal information is available.
People
Subject
- Publisher
- Manuscripts Division
- Finding Aid Author
- Elizabeth Mulvey
- Finding Aid Date
- 2009
- Access Restrictions
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The collection is open for research.
- Use Restrictions
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Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. No further photoduplication of copies of material in the collection can be made when Princeton University Library does not own the original. Inquiries regarding publishing material from the collection should be directed to RBSC Public Services staff through the Ask Us! form. The library has no information on the status of literary rights in the collection and researchers are responsible for determining any questions of copyright.
Collection Inventory
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