[E.M. Almedingen, writer] A Substantial Collection of Manuscript and Typed Material from her Papers

1. Untitled Typescript. Author Unknown. An unpublished biography of E.M. Almedingen, 123pp., sm. folio, in black lever arch file, very good condition, a scattering of MS. corrections and additions.2. Seven mainly bulging Notebooks and Scrapbooks, (All my own), the Notebooks numbered I, II & III, 1943 and 1953, and the Scrapbooks numbered I, II, IV & V. (1949 and 1952 (2)). [Various dates appear in the course of the notebooks; an ugly use of sellotape for many items.] Material showing her awareness of the world and wide range of interests, includes photos (some of Russian subjects, other family), draft letters, printed ephemera, poems of hers from newspapers (clippings, some annotated by her, e.g. Turgenev's Funeral from the TLS, including reviews of her publications), notes in her hand (literary, political and various subjects), diary-type autobiographical entries, quotations, poems in her hand, typewritten poems signed by her, letters to the Press (newspaper clippings). No.I is introduced by the statement Phrases Poems [?] Proems all unpublished.3. [Tsarist Russia] Manuscript, holograph, 8 notebooks, 4to, apparently complete. Anna, Based on the journals and letters of the author's great-grandmother, this family chronicle tells of her life in eighteenth-and nineteenth-century Tsarist Russia, published 1972.4. Typescript, 111pp., sm. fol., Herb Trinity and other stories, short stories, apparently unpublished though the author published a poem entitled Herb Trinity in Time and Tide (1953).5. [Tsarist Russia] Manuscript, holograph, annotated by author, 517pp., 4to, The Empress Alexandra, 1872-1918. A Study, MS. dated 1960, published 1961.6. Manuscript, holograph, pp.3-153, 4to, A Candle at Dusk, juvenile audience, published 1969.7. Manuscript, holograph, 117pp., 4to, L. da Vinci, presumably The Young Leonardo da Vinci, juvenile audience, signed off at the end by Almedingen in 1962, published 1963.8. [The Romanovs included; usually spiral notebooks] Manuscripts, holograph, of various of Almedingen's output, including: The Romanovs (nine notebooks); St Francis of Assisi (five notebooks); Young Mark (two notebooks); A Candle at Dusk (one notebook and some loose pages); The Crimson Oak (one notebook); The Retreat from Moscow (one notebook). So no complete manuscript. All have Almedingen's notes about issues like brief title, pagination, whether finished, date, typing. etc. Frances M. Pilkington, close friend of Edith Martha Almedingen, prolific author of books with Russian and other subjects and children's books. An extensive correspondence (c. 30 letters surviving in this archive) with Laurence Lee of Gravesend, an admirer of E.M. Almedingen, passionate collector of her works, and ultimately the custodian of part of her archive (as described here). A body of photocopies of Lee's letters to Pilkington are also included here. The main subject of the letters is Almedingen and her works, and the production of substantial information about her, her life and her works. For example, Pilkington revealed that Almedingen had been raped twice. Pilkington and Lee also share an interest in other authors, including illustrators such as Whistler, Joan Hassall, Gooden,, Reynolds Stone, etc. (Both of them demonstrate a good knowledge of The Book Trade!). Almedingen knew Pasternak, visited Geoffrey Keynes, and her favourite composers were Beethoven, Mozart and Bach. She also sent Almedingen material to Lee, presumably the portion of the archive described here, including the Notebooks described above.9. A batch of typescripts, manuscripts and photocopies of lists of Almedingen's prolific output with photocopies of biographical studies of her and entries about her in biographical compendiums.10. A batch of material mainly by Almedingen, manuscript, typescript and photocopy including, in no particular order; statement about The English Church in Old St Petersburg (typescript); plate extracted from a book with photos of A Street in Petrograd with Almedingen holograph note The result of 'state control' & the 'ideal' of Lenin; photocopy of her book The Catholic Church in Russia Today (including photocopied annotations); an apparently unpublished (no statement of author but assumed Almedingen) carbon typescript, 66pp., 4to entitled Under an English Beech (about country living) with a faint sprinkling of additional words in Almedingen's hand; envelope containing c.25 newspaper clippings of articles and reviews by Almedingen; photocopies of usually scarce books by Almedingen (x 3); folder containing articles written by A. from magazines (and a few bits of manuscript), including MS. Poem in her hand; a batch of newspaper clippings concerning the murder of Rasputin by Prince Yousoupoff (stimulated by an action taken against a relevant film); photocopy of A.'s article A Russian Princess at the Papal Court (the Contents page has By Princess M. Edith Almedingen); a photo of A. 8 x 13cm; a photo of her grave[stone]; other bits and pieces inc. photocopy of her Will and ALSs to a 'Wetzler' and her naturalisation certificate. ~1500~AUTOGRAPH MANUSCRIPTS TSARIST RUSSIA ROMANOVS CHILDRENS LITERATURE RUSSIAN EMIGRE NOVELIST POET REVIEWER~ ~0~Office pro tem~ ~ ~ ~ ~