Purchase, 1964 (R2088)
Open for research
Shelley Rowland, 2009
Joanna Leah Richardson (1925-2008) was a prolific biographer, translator, literary critic, and journalist, known for her studies of nineteenth and early twentieth-century French and English authors.
Born on August 8, 1925, in London, England, Joanna Richardson was the daughter of Frederick and Charlotte Richardson. She spent her childhood at Hampstead Garden Suburb and was educated at the Downs School, Seaford, in Sussex. She then studied at St. Anne's College, Oxford, where she read modern languages. After graduation, she worked briefly as a research assistant to the illustrations editor of
Richardson began her career as a biographer in 1952, with the publication of
In 1958, Richardson published
In addition to her biographies of authors, Richardson published biographies of historical figures such as Princess Mathilde Bonaparte, George IV, Leopold I of Belgium, and Louis XIV. She translated the poems of Verlaine and Baudelaire into English, as well as Théophile Gautier's
Richardson was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1959, and she served on the council from 1961 to 1987. She was appointed a Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 1987. Oxford University awarded her a DLitt several years before her death. Richardson died on March 7, 2008, at age 82. At the time of her death, she was writing a biography of Gustave Flaubert.
Plowright, Piers.
The Joanna Richardson Papers consist of manuscript and typescript drafts, page proofs, incoming letters, scrapbooks, research notes, and clippings documenting her early work as a biographer, translator, literary critic, and journalist from 1945 to 1969. The material is arranged in two series: I. Works and Translations, 1953-1969, and II. Career and Personal Papers, 1844-1965 (bulk 1945-1965). This collection was previously accessible through a card catalog but has been re-cataloged as part of a retrospective conversion project.
Series I., Works and Translations, contains manuscripts, typescripts, and page proofs from Richardson's early biographies of European literary and historical figures, including
Also present in Series I are a number of Richardson's articles, radio broadcast scripts, and lectures on British and French literary and cultural history. Richardson's work as a translator is represented by her translations of
Incoming letters, scrapbooks, research notes, and clippings comprise the bulk of Series II., Career and Personal Papers. Most incoming letters in the collection are from colleagues, publishers, and BBC radio staff and pertain to Richardson's published works, radio programs, and research. Incoming letters are also located in Richardson's scrapbooks. No outgoing correspondence is present in the collection.
Four scrapbooks document Richardson's career from 1950 to 1965, containing manuscript and typescript drafts of reviews and articles, newspaper clippings of items by and about Richardson, notes, incoming letters, and contracts. Research notes, transcriptions, and clippings document Richardson's research on a wide range of subjects and time periods.