A Guide to the Laura (Riding) Jackson Collection
A Collection in the
Clifton Waller Barrett Library of American Literature
Accession number 8350-b
University of Virginia Library
Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections LibraryUniversity of Virginia
Charlottesville, Virginia 22904-4110
USA
Phone: (434) 243-1776
Fax: (434) 924-4968
Reference Request Form: https://small.lib.virginia.edu/reference-request/
URL: http://small.library.virginia.edu/
© 1997 By the Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia. All rights reserved.
Funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Processed by: Special Collections Department Staff
Administrative Information
Access Restrictions
Collection is open to research.
Use Restrictions
See the University of Virginia Library’s use policy.
Preferred Citation
Laura (Riding) Jackson Collection, Accession 8350-b, Special Collections Department, University of Virginia Library
Acquisition Information
Purchase 1996 April 16
Funding Note
Funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities
Significant Persons Associated With the Collection
- Harry Kemp
- James Reeves
- Laura (Riding) Jackson
- Laura Riding
- Robert Graves
- Schuyler B. Jackson
Item Listing
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"The Story of a Letter Written by Ex-Poet Laura Riding to Harry Kemp "1989 Nov 10TMsS, 3 p.
[Discusses a vitriolic letter from Riding to Kemp, September 15, 1970, and explains his relationship to Riding, "My poems came under her scrutiny when James Reeves sent a batch to her in Deya. I gratefully accepted most of her many detailed suggestions for improvement; upon which they were considered good enough for Epilogue -a Critical Summary edited and largely written by herself, with Graves as associate editor, sole financial backer and, among others, contributor by invitation." Kemp concluded that Riding must have assumed that he had sided with Robert Graves in their dispute and "felt justified in treating me as an enemy." He goes on to mention the quarrels Riding had with many of the writers she was associated with and was persuaded that "the vision of her as a `sick' woman was perhaps too charitable a view." He summarizes his opinion of Riding, "Riding's trouble has always been her inability to see herself as a poet among poets. She has also had difficulty in recognizing that the young men and women she `lessoned' in the late thirties have long since grown up. I regard her now less as a once helpful parent-figure than as an inveterate trouble-maker."
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Laura (Riding) Jackson [Mrs. Schuyler B. Jackson ], Wabasso, Florida , to Harry Kemp , London, England1970 Sep 15TLS, 2 p.
[ Laura Riding writes a strongly worded letter to Kemp in the third person upon the receipt his book of poetry [ Poems As Of Now ] and a letter from him requesting "information as to the availability of something of her writing, post-poetic, to which allusion is made in that preface [to a selection of her poems published recently]"; Riding writes to correct ideas and statements made by Kemp that she believes to be in error, especially an acknowledgment mentioning Robert Graves , and insists that this be their final communication]