00251 Guide to the Sir Edwin Arnold correspondence Inventory prepared by Maggie Kean Woodson Research Center

Rice University, Houston, Texas

20060724 Finding aid encoded by Veronica Arellano. 20060707 Finding aid written inEnglish. Descriptive Summary Woodson Research Center,

Fondren Library, Rice University, Houston, Texas

Arnold, Edwin, Sir, 1832-1904 Sir Edwin Arnold correspondence 1887-1899 Materials are in English. MS 127 1 linear inch (1 folder, 14 letters) This collection consists of letters written to and from the British author and journalist, Sir Edwin Arnold between 1887 and 1899. The letters primarily discuss invitations and lecture schedules. Biographical Note

Sir Edwin Arnold was born on 10 June 1832, in Gravesend, near London. During the last five decades of the nineteenth century, Arnold gained great popularity as an influential London journalist and best-selling poet of the Orient.

Arnold attended King's School in Rochester, King's College in London, and, University College, Oxford. In 1852 he won the Newdigate Prize in poetry for The Feast of Belshazzar; the following year, when he was twenty-one, his first book of verse, Poems, Narrative and Lyrical, was published. In 1854 Arnold married Katharine Elizabeth Biddulph. After leaving Oxford, he taught for two years as a master at King Edward's School, in Birmingham. In 1856, he accepted the position of principal of the government Deccan College at Poona, in the state of Bombay, India. At the same time, he became a fellow of Bombay University, and for the extent of his six-year stay in India, he studied Sanskrit, Persian, Arabic, and Turkish.

As a consequence of his wife's illness (Katharine Arnold died in 1864) and the death of their young child, Arnold left India in 1861 to pursue a new career in England. He applied for a position with the London Daily Telegraph and was accepted. Thereafter, until his semiretirement in 1888, he served as news-, editorial-, and leader-writer, subeditor, and editor of the Telegraph.

In 1879 Arnold published the long narrative poem, The Light of Asia; or, the Great Renunciation, a romantic rendering of the experiences and ideas of Siddârtha Gautama, later to become the Buddha. The Light of Asia achieved astounding commercial success in England and America and, in translation, throughout the world.

Arnold died on March 24, 1904.

Excerpted from: Kogan, B.R. (1985). Edwin Arnold. Dictionary of Literary Biography: Victorian Poets After 1850, 35, 9-13.

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of letters written to and from Sir Edwin Arnold. The letters to Arnold come from Hall Caine, Lord Brassey, Archbishop of Canterbury Benson, Lady Jeune, Dean Reynolds Hole, Augustin Daly, and Reverend Joseph Parker. The letters written by Arnold are addressed to E. Walford, Sir John Lubbock, the Baroness, Burdette, Coutts, and others. The letters refer to invitations and personal matters.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged into the following series:

Series I: Correspondence, 1887-1894 Series II: Correspondence, 1895-1899 Access Restrictions

This material is open for research.

Use Restrictions

Permission to publish from the Sir Edwin Arnold correspondence must be obtained from the Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library, Rice University.

Preferred Citation

Sir Edwin Arnold correspondence, 1887-1899, MS 127, Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library, Rice University

Acquisition Information

This collection was purchased on May 9, 1958.

Accruals

No future additions are expected for this material.

Index Terms Subjects (Persons) Arnold, Edwin, Sir, 1832-1904--Correspondence Caine, Hall, Sir, 1853-1931--Correspondence Benson, Edward White, 1829-1896--Correspondence Daly, Augustin, 1838-1899--Correspondence Parker, Joseph, 1830-1902--Correspondence Lubbock, John, Sir, 1834-1913--Correspondence Correspondents Arnold, Edwin, Sir, 1832-1904 Caine, Hall, Sir, 1853-1931 Benson, Edward White, 1829-1896 Daly, Augustin, 1838-1899 Parker, Joseph, 1830-1902 Lubbock, John, Sir, 1834-1913 Formats Correspondence Detailed Description of the Collection Series I: Correspondence, 1887-1894

8 letters, all in good condition. This series contains letters addressed to Sir Edwin Arnold from Rafurddin Ahman, Augustin Daly, Dean Reynolds Hole, Reverend Joseph Parker, Lord Brassey, and Lady Jeune. There are also two notes written by Sir Edwin Arnold: one is a reply to Miss Palmer regarding her request for his autograph, and the other is a reply to F.A. Turner, Esq., declining his request to photograph Sir Arnold's library.

1 Correspondence, 1887-1894 Series II: Correspondence, 1895-1899

6 letters, all in good condition. This series contains letters addressed to Sir Edwin Arnold from Hall Caine and Archbishop of Canterbury Benson, as well as letters from Sir Arnold to Sir John Lubbock, E. Walford, and "My dear Maud."

1 Correspondence, 1895-1899