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Grover Smith collection of Aldous Huxley correspondence

 Collection
Identifier: MS 462
Finding aid note: Stored off-site at the Library Service Center. Please request this material via woodson@rice.edu or call 713-348-2586.

Scope and Contents

The Grover Smith papers are largely comprised of photocopies of letters between Aldous Huxley and numerous correspondents -- literary, scientific, firends, and family -- mainly from Great Britain and the U.S., dating from 1908-1985, bulk years 1930s-1950s. Some original correspondence between Julian Huxley and Smith exists, which relates to Smith's publication of the Huxley letters as Letters of Aldous Huxley, Harper & Row, 1970.

Dates

  • 1908-1965

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Stored off-site at the Library Service Center. Please request this material via woodson@rice.edu or call 713-348-2586.

Access Restrictions

This material is open for research.

Use Restrictions

Permission to publish material from the Grover Smith collection of Aldous Huxley correspondence must be obtained from the Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library, and/or from the institutions which holds the item's copyright.

If a notation of origin is not included on the photocopy of the letter, consult "Letters of Aldous Huxley" (Harper & Row, 1970) for original repository information. Contact Woodson staff for assistance.

Biographical / Historical

Grover Cleveland Smith, born Sept. 6, 1923 in Atlanta Georgia, was educated at Columbia University, receiving his B.A. in 1944, M.A. in 1945, and Ph. D. in 1950. Smith taught classes in English at CCNY, Rutgers, and Yale Universities. He was Professor of English at Duke University from 1952 until his retirement in the mid-1980s. His publications include a critical study of T.S. Eliot, entitled "T.S. Eliot's Poetry and Plays."

Aldous Leonard Huxley was born in Godalming, Surrey, England, on July 26, 1894 into a prominent British family, which included his father, Leonard Huxley (biographer, editor, poet), grandfather T.H. Huxley (biologist), and brother Julian Huxley (biologist). He studied at Eton College (1908-13) and received a B.A. in English from Oxford College in 1916. Huxley worked for the War Office in London in 1917 and taught at Eton College and Repton. His first collection of poetry appeared in 1916, and he wrote biographical and architectural articles, screenplays, and reviews of fiction, drama, music, and art.

Huxley married Maria Nys in 1919 and lived in Italy during the 1920s. In 1932, Huxley published his best known work, "Brave New World." In the late 1930s the couple moved to the United States and eventually settled in Southern California in 1947. They had one son. Maria died in 1956, and Huxley married Laura Archera. Huxley died on Nov. 22, 1963.

Extent

4.75 Linear Feet (10 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Overview

The Grover Smith papers are largely comprised of photocopies of letters between literary critic and author Aldous Huxley and numerous correspondents -- literary, scientific, friends, and family -- mainly from Great Britain and the U.S., dating from 1908-1985, bulk years 1930s-1950s. Some original correspondence between Julian Huxley and Smith exists, which relates to Smith's publication of the Huxley letters as Letters of Aldous Huxley, Harper & Row, 1970.

Acquisition Information

Gift of Grover Smith, September 1997, as a compliment to the library's Julian Huxley papers.

Related Materials

See the following related materials at the Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library, Rice University:

Missing Title

  1. Julian S. Huxley papers, MS 50
  2. Juliette Huxley papers, MS 474
  3. Max Nicholson / Julian Huxley papers, MS 54
  4. Kenneth Clark . Julian Huxley letters, MS 55
  5. Solly Zuckerman / Julian Huxley correspondence, MS 56
  6. Julian S. Huxley letter to G.W.N. Eggers, MS 57
  7. Julian S. Huxley letter to Fred M. Dyke, MS 58
  8. Julian S. Huxley information (vertical) file.

Subjects

Record Groups

Related Names

Creator

Finding Aid & Administrative Information

Title
Guide to the Grover Smith collection of Aldous Huxley correspondence, 1908-1965
Status
Completed
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
English

Repository Details

Repository Details

Part of the Woodson Research Center, Rice University, Houston, Texas Repository

https://library.rice.edu/woodson
Contact:
Fondren Library MS-44, Rice University
6100 Main St.
Houston Texas 77005 USA

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Harmful Content Statement
© 2023 Woodson Research Center
Fondren Library, Rice University
Physical Address: 6100 Main, Houston, Texas 77005-1827
Mailing Address: MS-44, P.O. Box 1892, Houston, Texas 77251-1892