Born July 27, 1916, Elizabeth Hardwick grew up with ten brothers and sisters in Lexington, Kentucky. She attended local schools, and received a master's degree in English from the University of Kentucky in 1939. Shortly thereafter, Hardwick moved to New York, and began classes at Columbia University, where she would matriculate for the next two years.
The contrast between life in Kentucky and in New York inspired Hardwick to write her first novel,
After the book was published, Philip Rahv, an editor of the
Two years later, Hardwick met and married the poet Robert Lowell. They spent the next decade traveling in Europe and moving around the United States where Lowell taught poetry at the University of Iowa, the University of Indiana, and the University of Cincinnati. In 1954, they settled in Boston, where they would remain for the next six years. While in Boston, Hardwick published a second novel,
The Lowells returned to Manhattan in 1960, and Hardwick began editing a compilation of letters by William James, which was published the next year. In 1963, a printer's strike shut down the book review offices of
Hardwick continued to publish critical essays throughout the 1960s and 1970s, and was the first woman to win the George Jean Nathan Award for outstanding drama criticism in 1967. Many of her essays were compiled and published in book form in
Hardwick's third novel,
Hardwick continued to be an influential literary and social commentator. Anne Tyler wrote of her, “Whatever her subject, Hardwick has a gift for coming up with descriptions so thoughtfully selected, so exactly right, that they strike the reader as inevitable.” Hardwick died in Manhattan on December 2, 2007, at the age of ninety-one.
Seven boxes of creative works, correspondence, printed material, articles and photographs, 1934-1991 (bulk 1960-90) represent Elizabeth Hardwick's life and career. The material is arranged in two series, and follows Hardwick's original arrangement where possible. The Works series (four boxes, 1956-1991, bulk 1975-1985) represents Hardwick's work as a novelist and literary critic. The Personal series (three boxes, 1934-1989, bulk 1970-89) documents Hardwick's life, activities, friendships, and her relationship with her husband, Robert Lowell.
In conjunction with books and journals donated by Hardwick now housed in the HRC book collections, the materials in the first series offer an almost complete archive of her published works. The typescripts of many unpublished articles, as well as lectures and presentations, can also be found in the collection. Of particular interest are the manuscript drafts of her 1979 novel,
The material in the second series is made up largely of correspondence, but also includes photographs, interviews, awards and honors given to Hardwick, as well as materials she accumulated following the death of her husband, Robert Lowell. The correspondence to Hardwick is arranged alphabetically in two groupings. The first of these includes general correspondence, and is notable for its inclusion of many significant authors, who were friends of Hardwick's, discussing their works or giving their opinions on recent literature and events. Of particular interest is the collection of letters from Robert Lowell, dating 1949 to 1977, as well as letters from Hardwick's close friend, Mary McCarthy. The series also includes a large number of condolence letters written to Hardwick on the death of Lowell, as well as a small amount of correspondence from Hardwick, and letters from Lowell to his daughter, Harriet.
The collection gives a good overview of Hardwick's writing career. Less well documented, however, are the events of her personal life. The collection lacks information on her activities prior to 1949, and does not include manuscripts of her earliest publications. The collection documents more fully Hardwick's career and life in the 1970s and 1980s.
The collection should be of particular interest to scholars of Robert Lowell, and references to him are found throughout the second series. Many of Hardwick's correspondents refer to him in their letters, and his frequent letters to Hardwick illuminate his life and writing career. The group of condolence letters Hardwick received upon his death contain personal reminiscences from a number of distinguished authors, such as Stephen Spender, Lillian Hellman, and Adrienne Rich. Further, two folders of notes and correspondence relating to the publication of two books about Lowell, by Ian Hamilton and C. David Heymann, contain biographical information contributed by Elizabeth Hardwick, as well as her disagreements with passages in the works.
The first series divides Hardwick's works into two subseries--the
first is arranged alphabetically by title regardless of genre, and consists of
novels, essays, short stories, and critical reviews. The second follows
Hardwick's original grouping under the title
The material in this series includes handwritten notes, typed and carbon copy manuscripts, published articles, proof copies, and reviews of articles and books published by Hardwick. The creation and publication of two of Hardwick's books,
This series spans five decades, but the vast majority of materials appear to date from the 1970s and 1980s. This is especially true of manuscripts, since the earlier works are exclusively published articles.
The material in this series has been divided into three subseries, the largest of which is the first, Correspondence, 1949-1989, bulk 1970-1984. This subseries has been further divided into four groupings, which follow Hardwick's arrangement--general letters to Hardwick, letters from Hardwick, letters from Robert Lowell to other family members, and condolence letters written to Hardwick upon the death of Lowell. Each grouping is in alphabetical order, and Hardwick's original listing of the correspondents can be found in the folders. Hardwick's incoming correspondence ranges from intimate letters from close friends, such as Mary McCarthy, Elizabeth Bishop, Robert Craft, Angela Carter, Nadine Gordimer, Stephen and Natasha Spender, and Gore Vidal, to single letters from acquaintances and colleagues. The group of letters written to Hardwick upon the death of Robert Lowell is notable because many correspondents offer personal reminiscences of Lowell.
The correspondence is largely literary in nature, and interesting because many friends of Hardwick, who are writers themselves, offer opinions on Hardwick's writing as well as their own and that of other writers. Other correspondents discuss important social issues. Mary McCarthy's letters are particularly insightful. Of particular interest to scholars of Robert Lowell are the many letters discussing his activities and mental state.
Within the correspondence of this subseries are found four folders of letters from Robert Lowell to Hardwick written between 1949 and 1977. Especially well documented are Lowell's final years, when he wrote regularly to Hardwick and their daughter, Harriet. It should be noted that Hardwick's chronological arrangement of these letters has been maintained, and that undated correspondence can be found at the back of each folder.
The Activities subseries spans the years 1934-1989, but most of the material falls between 1979 and 1989. It includes honors and awards Hardwick received as well as articles about her. Of particular interest is the folder of photographs, which contains pictures of Hardwick, as well as three that had belonged to Robert Lowell, with notations on the backs.
The final subseries, titled Robert Lowell, 1976-1987, contains materials that Hardwick collected about Lowell after his death. Included are memorials to the poet, written by Frank Bidart and Blair Clark. The two folders of material devoted to the posthumous biographies of Lowell offer Hardwick's insight into Lowell's life, as well as her disagreements with the biographers' work.
Gift, 1991
Open for research. Photocopies of letters belonging to Princeton University may not be copied.
Jennifer B. Patterson, 1993