Dorothy L. Sayers Letters and Poems, 1913-1952
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Mortimer Rare Book Room Smith College Northampton, MA
Finding aid encoded in NoteTab Pro. Encoded by Margaret Jessup. 2009-03-09
Encoded Archival Description
Encoded Archival Description (EAD) Version 2002
collection
Dorothy L. Sayers Letters and Poems
Creation of Dorothy L. Sayers Letters and Poems
Time of Creation of Dorothy L. Sayers Letters and Poems
Sayers, Dorothy L. (Dorothy Leigh), 1893-1957
Biographical History for: Dorothy L. Sayers Letters and Poems
Biographical Note Dorothy L. Sayers (1893-1957) was a British novelist, translator and apologist for the Christian faith. She was born in Oxford, England where her father, the Rev. Henry Sayers, was chaplain of Christ Church and headmaster of the Choir School. Sayers's mother was Helen Mary Leigh. Her father was subsequently posted to the village of Bluntisham, Cambridgeshire where he served as rector. Sayers entered Somerville College, Oxford in 1912 and completed there with first-class honors in 1916. She graduated from Oxford in 1920 with the M.A. After numerous relationships with men, she found herself pregnant by Bill White in 1923. She hid this fact from her parents and John Anthony was born January 3, 1924. He was promptly turned over to her aunt and cousin Amy and Ivy Amy Shipton with the understanding that her parents where never to find out John Anthony's origin. On April 8, 1926 she married Captain Oswald Atherton "Mac" Fleming, a divorced Scottish journalist. They made their home at 24 Great James Street, St. Pancras, where both continued their writing careers. Sayers became a member of the Oxford group of writers that included C. S. Lewis, Charles Williams and J. R. R. Tolkein (the "Inklings"). Sayers worked as a copywriter in S. H. Benson's advertising agency (1922-1931), as she began to pursue a writing career. Her first book Op. 1, a book of poetry, was published in 1916. During her years at Benson's she developed the character of Lord Peter Wimsey and in the subsequent years she published 15 novels and short stories based on his character. She also wrote other crime stories during this time. The work that Sayers felt was her best work was her translation of Dante's Divine Comedy. She completed translating the first two volumes (1949-1952) of the Dante work and had begun the translation work on volume three when she died in 1957. Barbara Reynolds completed the translation of the third volume.
The Dorothy L. Sayers Letters and Miscellaneous Manuscripts, 1913-1952 were purchased (with one exception) between 1979 and 1987 with funds of the McConnell-Bohning Bequest from various manuscript dealers. The letter of Ms. Sayers to Mary Elizabeth Clark (Smith College Class of 1926) was found in Ms. Clark's inscribed copy of Sayers's The Mysterious English (London: Macmillan, 1941).
Scope and Contents of the Collection The Dorothy L. Sayers Letters and Poems are arranged chronologically in two series: I. Letters There are ten personal letters of Dorothy L. Sayers to Catherine H. Godfrey ("Tony"). In addition, there are letters to business associates and one to an American fan of Sayers's works. II. Poems There are two manuscripts of poetry and a pre-print of a published poem.
The papers are open to research according to the regulations of the Mortimer Rare Book Room.
The Dorothy L. Sayers Letters and Poems are the physical property of the Mortimer Rare Book Room, Smith College. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors of the works or their legal representatives.
The Marion E. Wade Center at Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois has a major collection of Dorothy L. Sayers's books and manuscripts, together with her contemporaries Owen Barfield, C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien and Charles Williams. Other libraries with collections of Dorothy L. Sayers's letters and manuscripts include: The British LibraryHoughton Library, Harvard UniversityUniversity of Michigan Library. Special Collections LibraryUniversity of Reading LibraryUniversity of Wisconsin-Madison. Libraries. Dept. of Rare Books and Special Collections
A bibliography of work by Dorothy L. Sayers can be found on the Dorothy L. Sayers Society website (http://www.sayers.org.uk/). The following listing of the published letters of Sayers is provided. In the contents listing of this collection when a given letter is published-in whole or in part-citation is given to these volumes. The Letters of Dorothy L. Sayers, chosen and edited by Barbara Reynolds. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1996-2002. 5 v. For a complete publishing description of The Letters of Dorothy L. Sayers, see the Dorothy L. Sayers society website noted above.
Processed by Melvin Carlson, Jr., 2008
Women authors, English-20th century-Correspondence
lcsh
lcnaf
Godfrey, Catherine H.
series
SERIES I. LETTERS
Letter, Friday in Easter Week [1913 Apr., Blumtisham Rectory] to Tony [Catherine H. Godfrey].
Letter, 1913 Jul. 11, Bluntisham Rectory to Tony.
Letter, 1913 Jul. 29, Bluntisham Rectory, to Tony.
Postcard, [1913?], Bluntisham, to C. H. Godfrey.
Letter, [1914] Jul. 28, Bluntisham Rectory, to Tony.
Letter, [1915] Jan. 5, Bluntisham Rectory, to Tony.
Letter, 1915 Jan. 6, Bluntisham Rectory, to Tony.
Letter, [1915] Jul. 19, Bluntisham, to Tony.
Letter, [1915?] Sep. 22, Bluntisham Rectory, to Tony.
Letter, [1915] Nov. 23, Bluntisham Rectory, to Tony.
Letter, 1934 Apr. 30, 24 Newland Street, Witham, Essex, to "Dear Aunt Ann," (Nancy Pearn)
Letter, 1934 Sep. 6, 24 Newland Street, Witham, Essex, to Mr. Larkin.
Letter, 1935 Nov. 13, 24 Newland Street, Witham, Essex, to Mr. Hopkins.
Letter, 1937 May 9, 24 Newland Street, Witham, Essex, to Nancy Pearn ("Dear Bun").
Postcard, 1937 Sep. 30 London (postmark), to Nancy Pearn.
Letter, 1939 Sep. 27, 24 Newland Street, Witham, Essex, to M. E. Clark.
SERIES II. POEMS
Poems to real people, by D. L. S. [1914?]
[Poems], C. H. G. from D. L. S., Oxford 1915.
Poem "Pussydise Lost".