Janus: Jane Harrison Collection

Newnham/PP Harrison contains:
1	Jane Harrison: correspondence
2	Jane Harrison: manuscripts, printed matter
3	Jane Harrison: photographs
4	Hope Mirrlees Papers
5	Jessie Stewart Papers
6	Additional Papers

More information

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Jane Harrison Collection

Title	Jane Harrison: correspondence
Reference	PP Harrison/1
Covering Dates	[1870] - 1928
Extent and Medium	9 boxes
Repository	Newnham College Archives, Cambridge

Content and context

This series contains all the letters in the collection written by Jane Harrison and is divided into 5 sections that cover the 4 principal recipients: Gilbert Murray, 1/1; Lady Mary Murray, 1/2; Hope Mirrlees, 1/3; Jessie Stewart, 1/4; and then all others, 1/5, which also contains letters to Harrison.

Newnham/PP Harrison/1 contains:

Jane Harrison: letters to Gilbert Murray. These are the heart of this collection, over 700 letters that reveal the passion of Harrison's love of learning, of scholarship, and of friendship. They met first in Cambridge then in Switzerland in 1900, where Gilbert Murray was on holiday with Arthur and Margaret Verrall. A correspondence began that lasted for the rest of her life, at its most intense almost on a daily basis when Harrison consulted him over problems with her work; or was desperate that he should come to Cambridge to read his translations of Euripides. The outbreak of the First World War inevitably changed the focus of their academic lives and thereafter the frequency of their letters fell off, though their warm friendship endured. A handful of letters from Murray to Harrison survived and is included. At the beginning of the correspondence, she addresses him as Mr Murray; but this soon becomes too formal. To call him Gilbert does not seem appropriate, so she begins her letters without any greeting at all, straight into the subject matter. After a while she introduces nicknames, and from then on uses them exclusively, both for him and for herself.What is striking is the tone of the letters from the very start: there is no sense of deference, little formality, but rather warmth, wit, and passion. Most of Harrison's letters were undated; dates were assigned by Jessie Stewart and Hope Mirrlees after Harrison's death. Transcripts were made by JS and typed copies of these follow the letters. However, they were not always transcribed in full, and there are many errors; they should only be used in conjunction with the originals. The Murray letters are arranged chronologically in files that contain between 15 and 25 letters each. Occasionally, letters either to JEH or to GM by others are included in the Murray letters; these have been left in situ, but have all been recorded in the description to the file. Also, Harrison occasionally included notes/drafts with her letters; these too have been left in situ. .
Newnham College Archives, Cambridge.
5 boxes (including copies).

1900–1928

Jane Harrison: letters to Mary Murray. There are 125 letters to Lady Mary Murray, half of which were written between 1901 and 1904, the early years of Harrison's intense friendship with Gilbert Murray. In contrast with those to him, these early letters are overly obsequious, with Harrison trying hard to include Mary Murray in her friendship. She spent a weekend at their home in 1901, and fainted, to her extreme embarrassment, just before leaving for a trip to Greece. From then on she was a frequent guest and became well acquainted with their ever-growing family. Some of the letters to Mary Murray were interfiled (probably by Jessie Stewart for inclusion in her book) with those to Gilbert Murray; most were in two other locations. They have now been made into this one series and divided into files of between 15 and 25 letters. Many of the letters were not transcribed. See individual files for more details 1/2/1-8.
Newnham College Archives, Cambridge.
1 box.

1901–1922

Jane Harrison: letters to Hope Mirrlees. Hope Mirrlees became a student of Jane Harrison at Newnham in 1910 at the age of 23, with Harrison approaching 60. The student/teacher relationship quickly blossomed into an intimate friendship that lasted the rest of Harrison's life. The letters and postcards show glimpses into their very private world, from the early years at Newnham to their plans to live together in Paris after Harrison's retirement. There are 145 postcards, letters, and notes, many undated; where possible dates have been assigned according to the postmark. They frequently used pet names for each other in their letters: 'EW' -- Elder Walrus (JEH), 'YW' -- Younger Walrus (HM), and also included Jane Harrison's stuffed bear 'OO' -- Oldest One. See individual files for more detail, 1/3/1-7, and Series 4 for the rest of the Mirrlees papers.
Newnham College Archives, Cambridge.
1 box.

1910–1926

Jane Harrison: letters to Jessie Stewart. There are 152 letters dating from Jessie Crum's student days at Newnham to shortly before Harrison's death. After her marriage to Hugh Stewart in 1902, though they remained friends throughout JEH's life, they were no longer as close as in the early days. Stewart continued to make illustrations for Harrison's publications and slides for her lectures. She also acted as her secretary when Harrison was travelling and when she lived in Paris, dealing with her mail, books, etc. JEH did not use nicknames or pet names for her as she did for Mirrlees and Murray, but wrote with affection and warmth and took great interest in her family. See individual files, 1/4/1-8, for more detail, and Series 5 for the rest of the Stewart papers. .
Newnham College Archives, Cambridge.
1 box.

1900–1927

Jane Harrison: letters to/from others. Now in alphabetical order of recipient, these 4 files of letters were scattered throughout several boxes of the Harrison Collection (1/5/1-4); they were collected mostly by Hope Mirrlees and Jessie Stewart. Correspondents include AB Cook, Frances Cornford, D Sutherland MacColl, and Prince Mirsky. 1/5/5 contains the few extant letters written to her.
Newnham College Archives, Cambridge.
1 box.

[1870] - 1927