Call Number:

C1554

Repository:

Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division

Extent:

• 2 boxes
• 0.8 linear feet

Language:

English and Irish

Preferred Citation:

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Title of Collection, Box and Folder Number; Manuscripts Division, Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

Date:

1905-1937 (inclusive)

Creator:

Lynd, Robert (1879-1949) and Lynd, Sylvia.

Form:

Correspondence

Abstract:

Consists of intimate correspondence between married Irish writers Sylvia and Robert Lynd, comprising over 260 letters that span most of their relationship from 1905 to 1937.

Robert Lynd (1879-1949) was a London-based Irish journalist and essayist associated with Irish nationalism and the Sinn Féin movement. Robert began working at the Daily News in 1908 and served as its literary editor from 1912 until 1947, also contributing writing to the Nation and the New Statesman. He published thirty-three books between the years of 1906 to 1945, with three more published posthumously. He married Sylvia Lynd (1888-1952) in 1909, with whom he had two daughters, Sigle (1910-1976) and Máire (1912-1990).

Sylvia Lynd (1888-1952), born Sylvia Dryhurst, was a poet, essayist, short story writer, and novelist from Ireland and based in London. She published ten books during her lifetime and was a founding committee member of the Book Society. She married Robert Lynd (1879-1949) in 1909, with whom she had two daughters, Sigle (1910-1976) and Máire (1912-1990). In addition to her literary work, Lynd was also dedicated to the causes of Irish nationalism and the Sinn Féin movement.

Consists of three decades of correspondence between married Irish writers Sylvia and Robert Lynd, including many letters written from Ireland during the tumultuous early 20th century. The Lynds met in 1904 at the Gaelic League in London and began dating when Sylvia was 16. Spanning from 1905 to 1937, the collection consists of around 260 letters exchanged between the two writers, written in English and Gaelic, which chart their relationship from courtship to the later stages of their marriage. In total, there are around 80 letters from Robert to Sylvia and around 185 letters from Sylvia to Robert, one of which includes a poem she wrote. Much of the correspondence is weighted towards the earlier years of their relationship, with the largest number of letters present for 1908. The Lynds' letters discuss personal, private, political, and literary matters, including current reading and writing activities, literary gatherings, journalistic projects, financial anxieties, politics, family and personal concerns, and social gossip. Letters are often sent from addresses in Hampstead, Belfast, and Dublin, but others are sent from different locations in England and Ireland, as well as from Italy, France, and Spain. The Lynds' home at 5 Keats Grove was a popular social hub for literary and Irish communities in London from the 1920s through the 1940s. They entertained James Joyce, Louis MacNeice, A. P. Herbert, Rose Macaulay, Victor Gollancz, J. B. Priestley, Hugh Walpole, Naomi Mitchison, Olive Heseltine, J. B. Morton, Virginia Woolf, P. G. Wodehouse, and Arnold Bennett, some of whom their correspondence mentions.

Arranged chronologically, followed by a significant group of undated letters written circa 1905-1937.