Call Number:

Ms. Coll. 1079

Repository:

University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts

Extent:

0.4 linear feet (1 box)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Henry Hector Bolitho papers, 1914-1956 (bulk: 1940-1956), Ms. Coll. 1079, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania

Date:

1914-1956 (inclusive) and 1940-1956 (bulk)

Creator:

Bolitho, Hector

Form:

Research notes, Clippings (information artifacts), Writings (documents), Scrapbooks, and Correspondence

Abstract:

This collection mostly contains research materials and correspondence between Bolitho, Aga Khan III, M.A. Jinnah and others, including Mountbatten and W.S. Maugham, on the subject of the newly formed country of Pakistan.

Henry Hector Bolitho was born in 1897, in Auckland, New Zealand. At the age of fifteen, he began work as a reporter for the New Zealand Herald; and in 1915, he started at the Auckland Star as a shipping reporter, before moving to Australia in 1921 where he served as editor of the Shakespearean Quarterly and literary editor and drama critic of the Sydney Evening News.

In 1923, Bolitho moved to London, but traveled throughout Europe, Africa, North America, and Australia, working on newspapers and writing books. Bolitho wrote widely on historical subjects, most notably on the royal family, including Albert the Good and the Victorian Reign (1932), The Reign of Queen Victoria (1948), and Albert, Prince Consort (1964). His book, Jinnah, Creator of Pakistan (1954) was the only internationally acknowledged work on Mohammad Ali Jinnah for thirty years.

Bolitho served in both World War I and II. During the last two years of World War I, Bolitho was a corporal in the New Zealand army, and from 1939 to 1945, he served as a squadron leader with the RAF and was the editor of the RAF journal. In addition to his writing career, Bolitho raised money for polio research as chairman of the Committee for Writing and Reading Aids for the Paralyzed. In 1962, Bolitho's autobiography, My Restless Years, was published. Henry Bolitho died in England on September 12, 1974.

Source: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.

This collection mostly contains research materials and correspondence between Bolitho, Aga Khan III, M.A. Jinnah and others, including Mountbatten and W.S. Maugham, on the subject of the newly formed country of Pakistan. The collection is broken into three series. The first (1943, 1956) is books and scrapbooks on these subjects. The second (1952-54) is correspondence between Bolitho and others on specific subjects such as the Aga Khan's autobiography and a chapter in Bolitho's book "Jinnah." Lastly, the third series (1940-1953) is composed of materials (correspondence, notes, and other research materials) relating to Jinnah, likely in relation to Bolitho's publication.

The materials contained within present a glance at the work done by Bolitho while preparing for one of his most important publications, as well as the relationship he maintained with his subject and other leaders of Pakistan at that time.