Natalie Clifford Barney - Romaine Brooks correspondence, 1920-1969

Collection

Identifier: 1987-005

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The collection consists of the correspondence between Natalie Clifford Barney and Romaine Brooks (Goddard), beginning in 1920 and continuing until 1969. There are a total of 633 letters, most of which are at least two pages in length and accompanied by the original mailing envelopes. There are 271 letters from Brooks to Barney, and 362 from Barney to Brooks. Brooks and Barney spent the war years together in Florence, Italy, thus accounting for the gap in the correspondence at that time. The correspondence discusses individuals such as Gertrude Stein, Edna St. Vincent Millay, James Joyce, Carl Van Vechten, Bernard Berenson, W. Somerset Maugham, Ezra Pound, Alice. B. Toklas, T. S. Eliot and many others.

Dates

Creation: 1920 - 1969

Creator

Barney, Natalie Clifford, 1876-1972 (Correspondent, Person)
Brooks, Romaine, 1874-1970 (Correspondent, Person)

Access

This material is open for research use by any registered reader.

Use and Copyright

This material is owned by the University of Tulsa, McFarlin Library, Department of Special Collections. Unpublished manuscripts are under copyright. Therefore, permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from both the repository and the copyright holder.

According to Meryle Secrest in her book "Between Me and Life: A Biography of Romaine Brooks" (1974): Permissions for Barney's work can be obtained from Mrs. Laura Dreyfus Barney and Francois Chapon, literary executor for the work of Natalie Clifford Barney.

Biographical / Historical

Natalie Clifford Barney (31 October 1876 – 2 February 1972) was an American poet who lived, wrote, and hosted a literary salon in Paris. Her salon rivaled that of Gertrude Stein and her Academie des Femmes was conceived as a female counterpart to the all-male French Academy. She brought together many of the leading figures in French literature as well as the American and British Modernists of the Lost Generation.

Biographical / Historical

Romaine Brooks (May 1, 1874 – December 7, 1970), was born Beatrice Romaine Goddard. She was an American painter specializing in portraits. The correspondence discusses individuals such as Gertrude Stein, Edna St. Vincent Millay, James Joyce, Carl Van Vechten, Bernard Berenson, W. Somerset Maugham, Ezra Pound, Alice. B. Toklas, T. S. Eliot and many others.

Extent

4 Linear Feet (8 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Arrangement

Organized into five series: I. Romaine Brooks (Goddard) Correspondence; II. Romaine Brooks (Goddard) Miscellaneous; III. Natalie Clifford Barney Correspondence; IV. Natalie Clifford Barney Miscellaneous; V. Other. Within each series the letters are arranged chronologically.