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COLLECTION Identifier: MS Lowell 19-19.4

Amy Lowell correspondence

Overview

Correspondence of the American poet, Amy Lowell.

Dates

  • Creation: 1883-1927
  • Creation: Majority of material found within 1910-1925

Conditions Governing Access

There are no restrictions on physical access to this material.

Conditions Governing Use

The trustees of the Amy Lowell estate are: Choate, Hall and Stewart, 30 State Street, Boston, Massachusetts. Their permission, as well as that of the Houghton Library, is required for the publication of any of this material.

Images linked to this finding aid are intended for public access and educational use. This material is owned and/or held by the Houghton Library, and is provided solely for the purpose of teaching or individual research. Any other use, including commercial reuse, mounting on other systems, or other forms of redistribution requires the permission of the curator.

Extent

18 linear feet (53 boxes)

Correspondence is with American and English poets as well as other literary figures. The collection includes letters to Amy Lowell from approximately 1400 different correspondents, copies of her outgoing letters (chiefly after 1913), some correspondence between others, and letters of condolence received by Lowell's companion, Ada Russell, and members of Lowell's family upon her death. Finally, there is a small amount of printed ephemera from organizations in which Lowell was involved.

Biographical / Historical

Amy Lowell (1874-1925) was born in Brookline, Massachusetts. Her brother, Abbot Lawrence Lowell, was president of Harvard University. At age 36, Lowell had her first poem published in the Atlantic Monthly. In 1912, her first book of poems, A dome of many colored glasses was published. She became associated with the Imagists poets when Ezra Pound, whom she had met on a trip to England, included one of her poems in his anthology, Des imagistes. Lowell wrote critical articles for periodicals in addition to her books of poetry and lectured frequently. She died in Brookline.

Arrangement

Arranged into five series:

  1. bMS Lowell 19: Letters to Amy Lowell.
  2. bMS Lowell 19.1: Letters from Amy Lowell.
  3. bMS Lowell 19.2: Other letters.
  4. bMS Lowell 19.3: Letters of condolence.
  5. bMS Lowell 19.4: Miscellaneous printed and other matter.

Physical Location

b

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Bequest of Amy Lowell; received 1925.

2018M-86. Purchased from Wonder Book & Video, 2018 February.

Related Materials

This index includes only correspondence received from the Amy Lowell bequest. The manuscript catalogue should be consulted for additional letters and manuscripts.

Processing Information

This correspondence was bequeathed to Harvard University by Amy Lowell, and was received by the Poetry Room of the Widener Library shortly after Miss Lowell's death in 1925. At that time a checklist was made of the letters written to Amy Lowell, citing author, number of titles, and inclusive dates of the letters.

The following letters mentioned in the checklist have not been located:

  1. Gussac, William 1 letter 1910
  2. Hill, Constance 1 letter 1912
  3. Jackson, Lucy 1 letter 1925
  4. MacRae, John 1 letter 1925
  5. Myers, C. S. 1 letter 1925
  6. Perry, (Mrs.) T.S. 1 letter [n.d.]
  7. Russell, George 1 letter 1925
Title
Lowell, Amy, 1874-1925. Amy Lowell correspondence, 1883-1927: Guide.
Author
Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
Language of description
und
EAD ID
hou00100

Repository Details

Part of the Houghton Library Repository

Houghton Library is Harvard College's principal repository for rare books and manuscripts, archives, and more. Houghton Library's collections represent the scope of human experience from ancient Egypt to twenty-first century Cambridge. With strengths primarily in North American and European history, literature, and culture, collections range in media from printed books and handwritten manuscripts to maps, drawings and paintings, prints, posters, photographs, film and audio recordings, and digital media, as well as costumes, theater props, and a wide range of other objects. Houghton Library has historically focused on collecting the written record of European and Eurocentric North American culture, yet it holds a large and diverse number of primary sources valuable for research on the languages, culture and history of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.

Houghton Library’s Reading Room is free and open to all who wish to use the library’s collections.

Contact:
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