Richard Fifoot: An Inventory of His Collection of the Sitwell Family in the Manuscript Collection at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center

Erik Richard Sidney (E. R. S.) Fifoot was born on June 14, 1925. In 1950, while pursuing a Diploma in Librarianship and Archives at University College in London, Fifoot began to compile a bibliography of works by Edith, Osbert, and Sacheverell Sitwell. Thirteen years later his college project resulted in his publicationA Bibliography of Edith, Osbert, and Sacheverell Sitwell (1963). Revised in 1971, Fifoot's book is recognized as the premier bibliography of works by the Sitwell siblings.

During Fifoot's career he worked as a librarian at the University of Leeds, the University of Nottingham, Edinburgh University, and the Bodleian Library, and published various reviews and essays, but none as comprehensive as his Sitwell bibliography. After a successful career as a librarian in Britain, Fifoot died on June 24, 1992.

Scope and Contents

Composed mainly of correspondence to Richard Fifoot concerning his book A Bibliography of Edith, Osbert, and Sacheverell Sitwell (1963), the Richard Fifoot Collection of the Sitwell Family was originally part of the Sitwell Family Collection. The Sitwell Family Collection was reorganized and cataloged into individual collections for each Sitwell family member—Edith, Georgia, Osbert, and Sacheverell—as well as a separate collection for Richard Fifoot. The Fifoot Collection is arranged in two series: I. Correspondence and II. Sitwell Family.

The Correspondence Series makes up the bulk of the collection and is broken into two subseries: A. Fifoot Correspondence and B. Third-Party Correspondence, both of which are arranged alphabetically. Subseries A. comprises publishers’ letters to Fifoot responding to his queries, as well as a few additional letters written by Fifoot. One note by Fifoot in folder 4 explains his failure to keep copies of outgoing letters and the significance of his “replied on” notations on the incoming correspondence. Also included in Subseries A. are letters from Osbert Sitwell to Fifoot. Subseries B. contains correspondence between individuals other than Fifoot or a member of the Sitwell family, often relating to a published work about the Sitwells.

Series II. includes letters by both Edith and Osbert Sitwell directed to individuals other than Fifoot. Also present are two texts authored by Osbert Sitwell: one was written in Sacheverell’s hand and is the preface to a catalog of an exhibition of Ethelbert White's paintings; the other is a typed carbon copy of his essay "Reviewing Reviewed."

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Folder List

Index of Correspondents

Items with the (from Fifoot) indicate the letter was written by Fifoot. The few pieces of third-party correspondence found in the collection are listed in this index.

A. A. Wyn, Inc.--1.1
A/S Bookman--1.1
Adam and Charles Black (Firm)--1.1
Alfred A. Knopf Inc.--1.1
Allan Wingate Publishers--1.17
Appleton-Century-Crofts, inc.--1.1
Architectural Press, The--1.1
Argosy--1.1
Army Quarterly, The--1.1
Arthur Sanderson & Sons--1.1
Arthur Tooth & Sons--1.1
Ascher--1.1
Atlantic Monthly Press--1.1
B. T. Batsford, Ltd.--1.1
Ballet Publications, Ltd.--1.1
Batson, B.--1.1
BBC Publications--1.1
Beaumont, Cyril W. (Cyril William), 1891-1976--1.1
Belgrave Library, The--1.1
Birmingham Repertory Theatre--1.1
Blackwell Publishing Ltd.--1.1
Bobbs-Merrill Company--1.1
Bodley Head (Firm)--1.1
British Fuchsia Society--1.1
Burlington Magazine, Ltd.--1.1
C. W. Daniel Company, Ltd.--1.2
Caedmon Publishers--1.2
Cambridge University Press--1.2
Cassell & Company--1.2
Catcomb, The--1.2
Central Office of Information--1.2
Charm--1.2
Chatto & Windus (Firm)--1.2
Collingridge Gardening Books--1.2
Collins (Firm)--1.2
Columbia Records, Inc.--1.2
Compagnie des messageries maritimes --1.2
Constable (Firm)--1.2
Cornhill Magazine--1.2
Country Life--1.2
Countryman, The--1.2
Coward-McCann Publishers--1.2
Curtain Press Ltd.--1.2
Curtis Brown, Ltd.--1.2
Daily express (London, England)--1.2
Daily graphic (London, England)--1.2
Daily mail (London, England)--1.2
Daily mirror (London, England)--1.2
Daily telegraph (London, England)--1.2
David Higham Associates, Ltd.--1.6
Decca Record Company--1.2
Devin-Adair Company--1.2
Dodd, Mead & Company --1.2
Dropmore Press--1.2
Duckworth (Firm)--1.2
Durrell, Oliver--1.4 (from Fifoot)
E. J. Arnold & Son Ltd.--1.3
E. P. Dutton (Firm)--1.3
Editions Poetry London--1.3
EMI Records Ltd.--1.3
English Association--1.3
Ernest Benn Ltd.--1.3
Ernest Brown & Phillips (Leicester Galleries)--1.8
Evening Standard--1.3
Everybody's Publications Ltd.--1.3
Eyre & Spottiswoode--1.3
Faber and Faber--1.4
Favil Press--1.4
Feathered Warrior, The--1.4
Fore Publications Limited--1.4
Foyer--1.4
Frick Art Reference Library--1.4
Frontinis, ____--1.19
Funk & Wagnalls--1.4
G. P. Putnam's Sons--1.5
Geoffrey Bles Ltd.--1.5
Geographical Magazine (London, England)--1.5
George Allen & Unwin--1.5
George G. Harrap & Co.--1.5
George Rainbird Ltd--1.5
Glyndebourne Festival Opera--1.5
Golden Head Press Ltd.--1.5
Good housekeeping (London)--1.5
Harcourt Brace Jovanovitch--1.6
Harper & Row, Publishers--1.6
Harper's bazaar--1.6
Heinemann (Firm)--1.17
Hogarth Press--1.6
Hollingworth, P.--1.6
Houghton Mifflin Company--1.6
Housewife (London, England)--1.6
Hutchinson & Company--1.6
Icon Books, Ltd.--1.7
Instituto de España--1.7
Intercultural Publications--1.7
J. & W. Chester (Firm)--1.7
J. B. Lippincott Company--1.7
J. M. Dent & Sons--1.7
J. W. Cappelens forlag--1.7
John Lehmann Ltd.--1.7
John o' London's Weekly--1.7
Jonathan Cape (Firm)--1.7
Kinder-Kultuurvereniging--1.7
Lamont Library--1.6
Library of Congress--1.16
Lilliput (London, England)--1.8
Listener, The--1.8
Little, Brown and Company--1.8
Lund Humphries--1.11
Macdonald & Evans Ltd.--1.9
Macmillan & Co.--1.9
Manchester Guardian, The--1.9
Max Parrish & Co.--1.9
McDowell, Obolensky Inc.--1.9
McGraw-Hill Publishing Company--1.9
Mégroz, R. L. (Rodolphe Louis), 1891- --1.18
Mill House Press--1.9
Montreal Daily Star, The--1.9
My Garden--1.9
Nation, The--1.10
National Magazine Company--1.10
National Portrait Gallery (Great Britain)--1.10
New Directions Publishing Corp.--1.10
New York herald tribune book review--1.10
New York University Press--1.10
Newman Neame Ltd.--1.10
News chronicle (London, England)--1.10
Observer (London, England)--1.10
L'Oeil--1.8
Oxford University Press--1.10
Pan Books Ltd.--1.11
Pearn, Pollinger & Higham, Ltd.--1.11
Penguin (Firm)--1.11
Peter Davies Ltd.--1.11
Peter Owen (Firm)--1.18
Philips Records Limited--1.11
Phoenix House, Ltd.--1.11
Picture post--1.11
Porter, Bern, 1911- --1.11
Queen, The--1.12
Radcliffe, Capt.--1.12
Radio times, The--1.12
Random House (Firm)--1.12
Reader’s Digest Association--1.12
Réalités--1.12
Richards, Grant, 1872-1948--1.18
Rinehart & Company, Inc.--1.12
Robert Hale Ltd.--1.12
Routledge (Firm)--1.12
Royal College of Art (Great Britain)--1.12
Royal Society of Literature (Great Britain)--1.12, 1.18
Sandbergs Bokhandel--1.13
Saturday Book, The--1.13
Scarborough Evening News--1.13
Schott & Co., Ltd.--1.13
Sheffield City Libraries--1.13
Sheffield Philharmonic Society--1.13
Sidgwick & Jackson--1.13
Sims, ____--1.4 (from Fifoot)
Sitwell, Edith, Dame, 1887-1964--1.19
Sitwell, Osbert, 1892-1969--1.14 (some from secretary), 1.20
Society of Authors (Great Britain)--1.13
St. Martin's Press--1.13
Steen Hasselbalch (Firm)--1.13
Strand (London, England)--1.13
Studio Limited, The--1.13
Sunday graphic (London, England)--1.13
Sunday times (London, England)--1.13
Swallow, Alan, 1915-1966--1.13
Sydenham & Co.--1.13
Tablet, The--1.15
Tatler and Bystander, The--1.15
Temple, Frédéric Jacques--1.15
Thames and Hudson--1.15
Time--1.15
Times Bookshop (London, England)--1.15
Town & country (New York, N.Y.)--1.15
Tribune (London, England)--1.15
University Books Inc.--1.16
Veritas (London, England)--1.16
Victor Gollancz Ltd.--1.16
Viking Press--1.16
Vista Books--1.16
Vogue (London, England)--1.16
W. W. Norton & Company--1.17
Wartski (Firm)--1.17
Weidenfeld and Nicolson (Firm)--1.17
White, Ethelbert, 1891-1972--1.20
Williams & Norgate--1.17
Wine and Food Society--1.17
Woman's journal (London, England)--1.17
World Digest--1.17
World Publishing Company--1.17
Wykes-Joyce, Max--1.4 (from Fifoot), 1.17, 1.18
Yorkshire post (Leeds, England)--1.17
Zwemmer’s (Firm)--1.1

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Richard Fifoot:

An Inventory of His Collection of the Sitwell Family in the Manuscript Collection at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center

Biographical Sketch

Scope and Contents

Restrictions

Access:

Index Terms

Related Material

Administrative Information

Acquisition:

Processed by:

Source:

Folder List

Series I. Correspondence, 1926-1962

Series II. Sitwell Family, 1919-1945

Index of Correspondents