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Collection Overview

Collector:
Symons, Arthur, 1865-1945.
Title:
Arthur Symons Papers
Repository:
Manuscripts Division
Permanent URL:
http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/tb09j569b
Dates:
1883-1945
Size:
32 boxes
Storage Note:
  • This is stored in multiple locations.
  • Firestone Library (scamss): Box 1-32
  • Firestone Library (scahsvm): Box 33-35
Language:
English

Abstract

Consists of manuscripts, typescripts, notebooks, tear sheets, clippings, photographs, watercolors, paintings, and much miscellaneous material of British poet, literary critic, and translator Arthur Symons.

Collection Description & Creator Information

Scope and Contents

The collection consists of manuscripts and typescripts of various types of works by Symons, including Amoris Victima, Cesare Borgia, Confessions, Figures of Several Centuries, Jezebel Mort and Other Poems, Lorenzaccio, Nero, Parisian Nights, Toy Cart, and Tristan and Iseult; over 30 notebooks; watercolors and paintings; correspondence; tear sheets of contributions by Symons to periodicals (many corrected in manuscript by Symons or prepared as actual copy for book publication); photographs of Symons, members of his family, and friends; clippings of reviews of Symons' books; and articles and clippings concerning art, literature, and people of interest to him, such as Cagliostro, Casanova, Giorgone, Thomas Hardy, Frank Harris, John Addington Symonds, Paul Verlaine, François Vidocq, and Villiers de l'Isle-Adam. Also included are unpublished plays and poems, translations of French and Italian poetry, ballet programs, and miscellaneous correspondence, including three letters from Stephane Mallarme, and eleven letters from John Sampson, the English student of gypsies. There are also 23 watercolors by Welsh artist Gwen John.

A few letters to Symons are also included in this collection; however, the bulk of his correspondence appears to have been dispersed before his death.

Collection Creator Biography:

Symons, Arthur, 1865-1945.

British poet, literary critic, and translator, Arthur Symons was born in Wales and educated privately. He was an admirer of the French poets known as the Symbolists, members of a late 19th-century movement in whose works abstractions such as ideas, qualities, emotions, and values are expressed by means of symbols. He expounded their ideas in critical works such as The Symbolist Movement in Literature (1899) and in biographies of symbolist poets, including Charles Baudelaire (1920). In his own poetry, which included the volumes Days and Nights (1899) and Silhouettes (1892), he emulated the symbolist style. Among his other works are The Romantic Movement in English Poetry (1909) and the autobiographical Confessions (1930).

Collection History

Acquisition:

Gift of A. E. Gallatin and J. Harlin O'Connell in January 1951 .

Appraisal

No appraisal information is available.

Processing Information

In 2023, restrictions on original material where researchers were required to use a surrogate were lifted as part of a restrictions review project.

Access & Use

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research use.

Conditions Governing Use

Single copies may be made for research purposes. To cite or publish quotations that fall within Fair Use, as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission is required. For instances beyond Fair Use, it is the responsibility of the researcher to determine whether any permissions related to copyright, privacy, publicity, or any other rights are necessary for their intended use of the Library's materials, and to obtain all required permissions from any existing rights holders, if they have not already done so. Princeton University Library's Special Collections does not charge any permission or use fees for the publication of images of materials from our collections, nor does it require researchers to obtain its permission for said use. The department does request that its collections be properly cited and images credited. More detailed information can be found on the Copyright, Credit and Citations Guidelines page on our website. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us through the Ask Us! form.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.

Credit this material:

Arthur Symons Papers; Manuscripts Division, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library

Permanent URL:
http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/tb09j569b
Location:
Firestone Library
One Washington Road
Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
(609) 258-3184
Storage Note:
  • This is stored in multiple locations.
  • Firestone Library (scamss): Box 1-32
  • Firestone Library (scahsvm): Box 33-35

Find More

Related Materials

Additional Arthur Symons materials are to be found in the following Princeton University Library Collections:

Sylvia Beach Correspondence

Letters of Symons and his wife Rhoda to Sylvia Beach. Mostly business-oriented.

Rodin Collection

11 letters to Symons from Rodin (1902-1911)

J. Harlin O'Connell Collection of the 1890s

Correspondence

Autograph manuscript of Tristan and Iseult, two signed drafts of part of Act I, and the signed, revised draft of Act III in autograph and typescript. A letter of Symons to John Quinn is included.

Originial autograph manuscript of "Marseilles." Laid in is a letter from Symons to Edward Martin. 5 pp.

Proof sheets, with many correction, of the Fool of the World and Other Poems.

Manuscript notebook containing six manuscript pages of notes, in Symons' hand, for an article entitled "The Symphony of Snakes," with several pages of notes for a bibliography of Arthur Symons.

"Dieppe: 1895", pages from The Savoy, for January 1896, heavily corrected in Symons' hand.

Two third-person autograph letters to an unspecified correspondent, concerning George Moore's Martin Luther.

There are also several, very ephemeral pieces which include such items as a return address, torn from a package, in Symons's hand.

Subject Terms:
Critics -- England.
French poetry -- Translations into English.
Italian poetry -- Translations into English.
Poets, English.
Romanies -- England.
Symbolism in art.
Symbolism in literature.
Genre Terms:
Articles.
Drawings.
Manuscripts (for publication)
Notebooks.
Poems.
Names:
Cagliostro, Alessandro, conte di, 1743-1795.
Casanova, Giacomo, 1725-1798.
Giorgone, 1477-1510
Goldoni, Carlo, 1707-1793.
Hardy, Thomas, 1840-1928.
Harris, Frank, 1856-1931
John, Gwen, 1876-1939
Symonds, John Addington, 1840-1893
Verlaine, Paul, 1844-1896.
Vidocq, Eugène François, 1775-1857.
Villiers de l'Isle-Adam, Auguste, comte de, 1838-1889