ContentsScope and Contents of the Collection Organization of the Collection
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Dorothy L. Sayers Letters and Poems, 1913-1952Finding AidFinding aid prepared by Melvin Carlson, Jr. .2009
Administrative InformationThe 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). 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: Processed by Melvin Carlson, Jr., 2008 Please use the following format when citing materials from this collection: Dorothy L. Sayers Papers, Mortimer Rare Book Room, Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts. 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. Return to the Table of Contents Biographical NoteDorothy 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. Return to the Table of Contents Scope and Contents of the CollectionThe 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. Return to the Table of Contents Return to the Table of Contents Organization of the CollectionThis collection is organized into two series: Return to the Table of Contents SERIES I. LETTERS
SERIES II. POEMS
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