Archive of the Royal Society of Literature

The non-current papers of the Society, ranging in date from the 1820s to the 1990s. It includes registers, subscription lists, account books, and a very large accumulation of correspondence. There are letters from Southey, Crabbe and Coleridge in the earliest years, Hardy, Yeats and Sassoon in the early 20th century and Beckett, Larkin and Hughes more recently. Of particular value for the candid opinions of contemporary writers held by the Societys Fellows and officers which appear in both general correspondence and in the formal recommendations and testimonials of the election process. Grant from the Philip Larkin Fund