The collection consists of writings, correspondence, and printed material relating to the English poet Charlotte Mew, as assembled by the collector Frederick B. Adams. Mew's writings include a short story and a group of poems in autograph manuscript, typescript, and carbon typescript, some signed; the correspondence consists of letters from Mew to Herbert Grierson, Siegfried Sassoon, Sir Sydney Cockerell and his wife Kate (Florence Kingsford), among others, along with letters between some of those people and Adams regarding Mew and her work. Many of the items have accompanying notes by Adams regarding their provenance, such as with a Mew-inspired drawing by Ralph Hodgson that was, according to Adams, made for Poetry Bookshop proprietor Harold Monro. The single photograph in the collection is an undated snapshot of Robert Bridges sitting with three unidentified friends, one of whom was thought to be Mew. Also present in the collection are two copies of Mew's book The Farmer's Bride (London: Poetry Bookshop, 1921), one signed by Mew for Paul Lemperley and the other inscribed by J. M. Barrie to "Margaret." Also included is a carbon typescript of Mary C. Davidow's dissertation "Charlotte Mew: Biography and Criticism" (Brown University, 1960) acquired by Adams in 1989, as well as some of Davidow's research correspondence.
Description:
Box 1 holds writings, correspondence, and printed books. Box 2 holds Mary Davidow's dissertation and a set of empty custom-designed and commercial folders that Frederick Adams used to store his collection, which were retained for his annotations and provenance notes., Charlotte Mary Mew (1869-1928), English poet., Ex libris Frank J. Hogan. Ex libris Paul Lemperly. Purchased from David J. Holmes (Sotheby's sale, 2001 November 6, lots 41-48) on the Edwin J. Beinecke Book Fund, 2002., and Frederick Baldwin Adams (1910-2001), American bibliophile and director of the Pierpont Morgan Library from 1948 to 1969.
Subject (Name):
Mew, Charlotte Mary, 1869-1928
Subject (Topic):
Manuscripts--Collectors and collecting--United States and Poets, English--20th century
