The Papers of Edward Morgan Forster

E.M. Forster's correspondence with family, friends and colleagues including both original correspondence and photocopies of letters made from originals held in other collections. The subject matter is varied, ranging from childhood letters and travel notes to conversations about his work and public issues. Some of the principle correspondents include members of Forster's family, especially his mother A.C. Forster, and those of his adopted family, the Buckinghams. There were also a large number of items exchanged between Forster and his good friend Joe Ackerley, colleagues and mentors at King's College, members of the Bloomsbury circle and acquaintances made on his travels.

Many of the photocopies in this sequence were assembled by P.N. Furbank as part of his project to publish Forster's letters. As a result, many files contain letters written to P.N. Furbank after E.M. Forster's death concerning original Forster letters not in the possession of King's College.

Files of correspondence have been arranged alphabetically by the last name of the correspondent or by corporate name. Within individual files, original items have been listed before photocopied items or transcripts.

For published letters see 'Selected Letters of E.M. Forster. Volume One 1879-1920' (London, 1983) and 'Volume Two 1921-70' (London, 1985) edited by Mary Lago and P.N. Furbank.

For further letters of Isherwood, Plomer, Spender, etc., see the Buckingham letters (EMF/27/81-2), for Forster frequently enclosed letters received from these mutual friends within the letters he sent to Bob Buckingham.

One should assume that the items listed in individual files are originals owned by King's College unless otherwise noted. In the number of cases where the correspondence listed consists of photocopies or transcripts, the owner and/or location of originals has been provided where known.