Emily Hale Letters from T.S. Eliot
Summary Information
- Creator:
- Hale, Emily, 1891-1969
- Creator:
- Eliot, T.S. (Thomas Stearns), 1888-1965
- Title and dates:
- Emily Hale Letters from T.S. Eliot
- 1895-1956
- bulk 1931-1940
- Abstract:
- Consists mostly of letters from British-American poet T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale (1891-1969), a teacher, actress, and close friend of Eliot's. Also included are copies of typescripts by ElioT.S.me photographs and ephemera, and a brief narrative of the relationship between the two penned by Hale.
- Call number:
- C0686
- Location:
- Princeton
University. Library. Department of Special Collections
Manuscripts Division
Princeton, New Jersey 08544 USA - Language(s) of materials:
- English
- Storage note:
- This collection is stored onsite at Firestone Library.
Biography/History
Emily Hale was born on October 27, 1891. She was an actress and stage director, and taught drama and voice instruction at Simmons College, Milwaukee-Downer College in Wisconsin, Scripps College, and Abbott Academy. She met T.S. Eliot while he was at pursuing a graduate degree at Harvard, and maintained a lifelong and close friendship with the poet, corresponding with him and routinely visiting him over several decades.She died in 1969.
Biography/History
T.S. Eliot, the noted modern poet, dramatist, and literary critic, was born in St. Louis, Missouri. He earned a master's degree from Harvard University, which is when he met Emily Hale in 1913. The two formed a close bond, and when Eliot moved to the United Kingdom in 1914 to begin his PhD studies (eventually becoming a British subject in 1927) they remained in contact, establishing a robust correspondence that would continue intermittenly for years. In addition to his writing, Eliot worked as a schoolteacher and a bank accounts manager before joining the publishing firm of Faber and Gwyer (later Faber and Faber) in 1925, where he worked for the remainder of his career. Best known for such poems as The Waste Land, The Hollow Men, and Four Quartets, Eliot was the recipient of the 1948 Nobel Prize in Literature.
Description
The collection consists primarily of letters by poet, dramatist, and literary critic T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale (1891-1969), a teacher, actress, and lifelong friend of Eliot’s. Also included are a small portion of correspondence between Hale and others, as well as some photographs, ephemera, clippings, copies of typescript material by Eliot, and a brief narrative of the relationship between the two penned by Hale.
Emily Hale and T.S. Eliot first met in Cambridge, Massachusetts, while Eliot was working towards a graduate degree in philosophy. They struck up a friendship, and Eliot expressed a romantic interest in Hale soon after. Though Hale did not initially share that interest, they remained friends and stayed in close contact after Eliot moved abroad, corresponding frequently for decades. The bulk of the letters were written during the 1930s and provide a detailed account of their intimate friendship, as well as Eliot’s work and personal life.
Eliot often enclosed other materials in his letters to Hale, such as photographs and letters he had received from friends and contemporaries (including Virginia Woolf and Ezra Pound). In a letter from December 29, 1930, Eliot addressed this practice, writing “I shall from time to time slip in a note or letter to me from my acquaintances, as these do I think to help make one’s life seem more real to another person.” A number of the letters also include handwritten annotations and corrections.
Emily Hale’s friendship with former Princeton professor and literary critic Willard Thorp and his wife Margaret is also evident from letters between the three included with the correspondence. It was partially at the urging of Professor Thorp that Hale wrote a short explaination her relationship with Eliot to be included with the collection when it came to Princeton. It was also because of Emily Hale's relationship with the Thorps and their connection to Princeton that she chose to donate the letters to the University. T.S. Eliot was not initially pleased with this decision, and his opinions regarding this are discussed in letters to Hale between 1956 and 1957.
Arrangement
Collection is arranged chronologically by type.
Access and Use
Access
The collection is sealed until January 2, 2020, by agreement with the donor, Emily Hale.
Reproduction rights are still being determined at this time.
Researchers may be asked to use digital surrogates of material if more than one patron requests to use a box at the same time.
Restrictions on Use and Copyright Information
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. No further photoduplication of copies of material in the collection can be made when Princeton University Library does not own the original. Inquiries regarding publishing material from the collection should be directed to RBSC Public Services staff at rbsc@princeton.edu. The library has no information on the status of literary rights in the collection and researchers are responsible for determining any questions of copyright.
Acquisition and Appraisal
Provenance and Acquisition
Gift of Emily Hale in 1956. AM 15768.
Appraisal
No materials were removed from the collection during 2019 processing beyond routine appraisal practices.
Processing and Other Information
Works Cited
Letter, 1930 December 29. Emily Hale Letters from T. S. Eliot; Manuscripts Division, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library.
Descriptive Rules Used
Finding aid content adheres to that prescribed by Describing Archives: A Content Standard.
Encoding
This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit 2019-11-15T13:08-0500
Language(s) of this Finding Aid
Preferred Citation
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); T.S. Eliot Letters to Emily Hale, Box and Folder Number; Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Princeton University Library.
Contents List
-
Correspondence, 1895-1957
Description:
The bulk of the correspondence is from T.S. Eliot, and many letters are interfiled with enclosures that were sent with them. Also included is correspondence between Emily Hale and others, particularly her friends Margaret and Willard Thorp. The Thorps were also associates of Eliot, and they were aware of the close relationship between he and Hale.
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Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1930 October-1956
Arrangement:
Arranged chronologically.
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Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1930 October-December
View PDFBox 1 Folder 1 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1931 January-February
View PDFBox 1 Folder 2 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1931 March
View PDFBox 1 Folder 3 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1931 April
Description:
Includes enclosures from Virginia Woolf, Stephen Spender, William Rothenstein, and John Middleton Murry.
View PDFBox 1 Folder 4 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1931 May
Description:
Includes enclosure from Allen Tate.
View PDFBox 1 Folder 5 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1931 June
Description:
Includes enclosure from John Middleton Murry.
View PDFBox 1 Folder 6 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1931 July
View PDFBox 1 Folder 7 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1931 August
View PDFBox 2 Folder 1 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1931 September
View PDFBox 2 Folder 2 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1931 October
Description:
Includes enclosures from Virginia Woolf and John Middleton Murry.
View PDFBox 2 Folder 3 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1931 November
View PDFBox 2 Folder 4 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1931 December
Description:
Includes enclosures from Virginia Woolf and Ezra Pound.
View PDFBox 2 Folder 5 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1932 January
Description:
Some letters from January 1932 incorrectly dated 1931.
View PDFBox 2 Folder 6 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1932 February
Description:
Includes enclosure from Virginia Woolf.
View PDFBox 2 Folder 7 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1932 March
View PDFBox 2 Folder 8 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1932 April
View PDFBox 3 Folder 1 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1932 May
View PDFBox 3 Folder 2 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1932 June
View PDFBox 3 Folder 3 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1932 July
View PDFBox 3 Folder 4 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1932 August-September
View PDFBox 3 Folder 5 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1932 October
View PDFBox 3 Folder 6 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1932 November
View PDFBox 4 Folder 1 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1932 December
View PDFBox 4 Folder 2 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1933 January-February
View PDFBox 4 Folder 3 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1933 March
View PDFBox 4 Folder 4 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1933 April-May
View PDFBox 4 Folder 5 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1933 June
Description:
Includes enclosures from Ezra Pound and Allen Tate.
View PDFBox 4 Folder 6 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1933 July-August
View PDFBox 4 Folder 7 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1933 September-October
View PDFBox 5 Folder 1 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1933 November-December
Description:
There is one letter, circa 1933 with no month indicated, at the end.
View PDFBox 5 Folder 2 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1934 January-February
View PDFBox 5 Folder 3 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1934 March-April
View PDFBox 5 Folder 4 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1934 May-July
View PDFBox 5 Folder 5 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1934 August-December
Description:
There are two letters, circa 1934 with no month indicated, at the end.
View PDFBox 5 Folder 6 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1935 January-March
View PDFBox 6 Folder 1 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, dates not examined
View PDFBox 6 Folder 2 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1935 July-September
View PDFBox 6 Folder 3 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1935 October-December
View PDFBox 6 Folder 4 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, circa 1935
Description:
Contains letters circa 1935 with no months indicated.
View PDFBox 6 Folder 5 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1936 January-March
View PDFBox 6 Folder 6 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1936 April-June
View PDFBox 6 Folder 7 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1936 July-August
View PDFBox 7 Folder 1 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1936 September-October
View PDFBox 7 Folder 2 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1936 November-December
View PDFBox 7 Folder 3 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1937 January-February
View PDFBox 7 Folder 4 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1937 March-April
View PDFBox 7 Folder 5 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1937 May-July
View PDFBox 7 Folder 6 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1937 August-September
View PDFBox 7 Folder 7 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1937 October
View PDFBox 8 Folder 1 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1937 November
View PDFBox 8 Folder 2 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1937 December
View PDFBox 8 Folder 3 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1938 January-February
View PDFBox 8 Folder 4 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1938 March
View PDFBox 8 Folder 5 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1938 April-May
View PDFBox 8 Folder 6 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1938 June-August
View PDFBox 9 Folder 1 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1938 September-October
View PDFBox 9 Folder 2 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1938 November-December
View PDFBox 9 Folder 3 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1939 January-February
View PDFBox 9 Folder 4 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1939 March
View PDFBox 9 Folder 5 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1939 April
Description:
Includes enclosure from Dorothy L. Sayers.
View PDFBox 9 Folder 6 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1939 May-July
View PDFBox 10 Folder 1 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1939 August-September
View PDFBox 10 Folder 2 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1939 October
View PDFBox 10 Folder 3 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1939 November-December
Description:
Includes enclosure from Virginia Woolf. There is one letter, circa 1939 with no month indicated, at the end.
View PDFBox 10 Folder 4 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1940 January-February
View PDFBox 10 Folder 5 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1940 March-April
View PDFBox 10 Folder 6 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1940 May- August
View PDFBox 11 Folder 1 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1940 September-December
View PDFBox 11 Folder 2 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1941 January-May
View PDFBox 11 Folder 3 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1941 June-August
View PDFBox 11 Folder 4 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1941 September-December
View PDFBox 11 Folder 5 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1942 January-May
View PDFBox 11 Folder 6 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1942 June-December
View PDFBox 12 Folder 1 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1943 January-May
View PDFBox 12 Folder 2 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1943 June-December
View PDFBox 12 Folder 3 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1944 January-June
View PDFBox 12 Folder 4 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1944 July-December
View PDFBox 12 Folder 5 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1945
Description:
Letter received April 26 and noted to be from 1945 included in folder.
View PDFBox 12 Folder 6 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1946 January-September
View PDFBox 12 Folder 7 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1946 October-December
View PDFBox 12 Folder 8 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1947
View PDFBox 13 Folder 1 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1948
Description:
There is one envelope with enclosures, circa 1948 with no month indicated, at the end.
View PDFBox 13 Folder 2 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1949-1950
View PDFBox 13 Folder 3 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1951-1952
View PDFBox 13 Folder 4 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1953-1955
Description:
There is one letter, circa 1955 with no month indicated, at the end.
View PDFBox 13 Folder 5 -
Letters from T.S. Eliot to Emily Hale, 1956-1957
Description:
There is one letter, circa 1956 with no month indicated, at the end.
View PDFBox 13 Folder 6 -
Other Letters, 1895-1957
Arrangement:
Arranged by correspondent.
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Willard and Margaret Thorp Correspondence, 1933-1957
Description:
Contains letters between Emily Hale, Princeton professor Willard Thorp, and his wife Margaret, who were also friends of Eliot's.
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Margaret Thorp Letters to Emily Hale, 1933 January-August
View PDFBox 13 Folder 7 -
Margaret Thorp Letters to Emily Hale, 1936 June-1938 June
View PDFBox 14 Folder 1 -
Letters from Emily Hale to Willard and Margaret Thorp, 1956-1957
View PDFBox 14 Folder 6 -
Sophie Krauss Letters to Emily Hale, 1933 June-1936 August
View PDFBox 14 Folder 2 -
Ashley Dukes Letters to Emily Hale, 1937 November-1938 January
View PDFBox 14 Folder 3 -
Isabel Whiting Letters to Emily Hale, 1939 March-1943 January
View PDFBox 14 Folder 4 -
Letters from Others to Emily Hale, bulk 1931-1943, 1895-1943
Description:
Includes single letters from Janet H. Clark, Millie (Mrs. George Abbot) Morison, Edith Perkins (Hale’s aunt), Ada E. Sheffield (T.S. Eliot’s sister), John Carroll Perkins (Hale’s uncle), William A. Neilson, Mary Lee Ware, Evelyn A. McCourtee, and others. The 1895 letter is from Edward Hale to Edith Perkins.
View PDFBox 14 Folder 5 -
Letter from Emily Hale to President Hard, Scripps College, Claremont, California, 1945 September 20
View PDFBox 14 Folder 7 -
Narrative Written by Emily Hale, 1957-1965
Description:
Includes several drafts of an account of the relationship between T.S. Eliot and Emily Hale, written by Emily Hale. Also included are letters from Hale to former University Librarian William S. Dix concerning corrections made to the drafts.
View PDFBox 14 Folder 8 -
Typescripts, undated
Description:
Contains copies of typescripts of works by T.S. Eliot.
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Charles Whibley: A Memoir, undated
View PDFBox 14 Folder 9 -
The Modern Dilemma, undated
View PDFBox 14 Folder 10 -
Clippings and Photographs, 1930-1942
Description:
Includes photographs of T.S. Eliot, as well as related clippings and ephemera.
View PDFBox 14 Folder 11 -
Books Across the Sea, Aldwych House, London Bulletin, 1943 September
Description:
Bulletin to members of the Books Across the Sea literary movement.
View PDFBox 14 Folder 12