Georgina Somerville correspondence with Lady Margaret Sackville
Content Description
On the evening of April 12, 1937, Dr. Georgina Somerville began writing a letter to her friend, British poet Lady Margaret Sackville, in response to a recent postcard from Lady Sackville. That incomplete letter, a letter which Somerville wrote the following day, and the postcard from Sackville, comprise this small collection.
Somerville’s complete letter, dated April 13, 1937, begins with an explanation of the partial letter from the night before. Somerville explained that she had been interrupted to make a late night house call to attend to a sick woman. The remainder of letter has two foci, her impressions and critique of Lewis Spence's Plumes of Time and her travels since she had visited Sackville's home.
Somerville's critique of Plumes of Time is quite direct, but also complimentary, noting, "I feel that he is influenced by you greatly--that some aphorisms that belong to you and you only, he has cribbed quite unconsciously--his Scots poems are fine--they are an outline of a sensitive mind which absorbs its authorship. They reflect a warmth and intensity that comes from within." Somerville hoped that her critique would not be found "priggish," saying, "If I have been hard about the poems, I hope you will forgive me."
After her recent visit with Sackville, Somerville had traveled before returning to her own home in Winchester. Her letter chronicles her journey, including poor weather, several break-downs of her vehicle, but ultimately arriving at Stratford. While in Stratford she saw a production of Henry V at the Stratford Theatre and visited Shakespeare's birth place and other places associated with the bard. She continued on to Kenilworth Castle and Warrick Castle, where the curator allowed her to handle various weapons and the china. Somerville closed with a thank you for Sackville's friendship, writing, "But I found you so understanding, even in something that no one else has understood--that desire for aloofness-- the winds between--the freedom of [wild?] scenes and lonely places--in friendship."
These items were originally in a pocket inside a copy of Lewis Spence's book of poetry, Plumes of Time (SPEC PR 6037 .P381 A18 1926), which is probably the copy mentioned in Georgina Somerville's letters.
Dates
- Creation: 1937 March 25-1937 April 13
Creator
- Somerville, Georgina (Person)
Language of Materials
Materials entirely in English.
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Use of materials from this collection beyond the exceptions provided for in the Fair Use and Educational Use clauses of the U.S. Copyright Law may violate federal law. Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. Please contact Special Collections, University of Delaware Library, http://library.udel.edu/spec/askspec/
Georgina Somerville
Dr. Georgina Somerville was the editor of Harp Aeolian: Commentaries on the Works of Lady Margaret Sackville, the only critical study devoted to Sackville.
Dr. Georgina Somerville, listed in British Phone Books, 1880-1984, as residing at 17 South Street, Winchester, in 1937, began a letter to Lady Margaret Sackville before being interrupted by a late night house call to attend to a sick woman at the request of a frantic husband. Her letter also mentioned a recent stay with Sackville, suggesting their close friendship.
British Phone Books, 1880-1984. http://search.ancestrylibrary.com (accessed December 20, 2013)Information for Dr. Georgina Somerville derived from the letters.
Lady Margaret Sackville (1881-1963)
Although British poet Lady Margaret Sackville (1881-1963) was a popular poet and author in the first half of the twentieth century, none of her work exists in modern editions and she has been omitted from anthologies of British and women poets. Sackville's friend Georgina Somerville edited the only critical study devoted to Sackville, Harp Aeolian: Commentaries on the Works of Lady Margaret Sackville.
Born into a privileged family, there is no record of Sackville’s education. However, she reportedly was writing poetry by the age six and by the age of eighteen, with encouragement from poet Wilfred Scawen Blunt, she published her first chapbook of poetry, Floral Symphony (1900).
In addition to poetry, Sackville wrote fairy tales, such as the two volumes on which she collaborated with Scottish poet Ronald Campbell Macfie, Fairy Tales for Old and Young (1909) and More Fairy Tales for Old and Young (1912). She contributed to periodical and anthologies, as well as edited several anthologies of poetry and a volume on Jane Austen.
Lady Margaret Sackville lived most of her adult life in Scotland and was honored by Scotland with a bust created by Pittendrigh Macgillivray, Sculptor Royal of Scotland.
"Margaret Sackville." Contemporary Authors Online. Biography in Context. http://ic.galegroup.com/ic (accessed May 20, 2014)
Extent
3 item (10 pages)
Abstract
One autograph letter signed and one incomplete autograph letter, both written by Georgina Somerville to Lady Margaret Sackville, as well as one autograph postcard written and signed by Lady Sackville to Georgina Somerville.
Shelving Summary
Box 66, F0958: Shelved in SPEC MSS 0099 manuscript boxes.
Processing Information
Processed and encoded by Anita Wellner, May 2014. Further encoded by George Apodaca, November 2015.
Subject
- Sackville, Margaret, 1881-1963 (Person)
- Spence, Lewis, 1874-1955 (Person)
- Title
- Finding aid for Georgina Somerville correspondence with Lady Margaret Sackville
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- University of Delaware Library, Special Collections
- Date
- 2015 November 18
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the University of Delaware Library Special Collections Repository