Correspondence of and other material related to Jethro Bithell
Details
Type of record: Archive
Title: Correspondence of and other material related to Jethro Bithell
Classmark: MS 199
Creator(s): Bithell, Jethro (1878-1962)
Date(s): 1908-1962
Language: English; Danish; Dutch; French; German
Size and medium: 5 boxes, 4 pamphlet boxes and 1 envelope
Persistent link: https://explore.library.leeds.ac.uk/special-collections-explore/6750
Description
Includes postcards, offprints etc. as well as letters. A small collection of printed books is also shelved with the archive, notably by either Bithell himself or by Alfred Mombert.
The correspondence consists mainly of letters received in the course of his compilation of the following works: Contemporary German Poetry (1909); Contemporary Belgian Poetry (1911); Contemporary French Poetry (1912); Émile Verhaeren translated from Stefan Zweig (1914); Contemporary Belgian Literature (1915); Contemporary Flemish Poetry (1917); Modern German Literature (1939); and An Anthology of German Poetry, 1880-1940 (1941).
Among the main correspondents are Felix Braun, Richard Dehmel, Else Lasker-Schüler, Grégoire Leroy, Albert Mockel, and Émile Verhaeren.
Unless otherwise specified, the correspondence is addressed to Jethro Bithell and consists of manuscript letters. Where there is no date on the correspondence the date of the postmark is given, but indicated as such.
The correspondence is arranged in the following language divisions:
Danish
English
Flemish and Dutch [indicated by the letter V in the inventory]
French (France and Belgium) [indicated by the letter F]
German (Germany and Austria) [indicated by the letter D]
Within each division the order is alphabetically by writer, unless otherwise specified.
The inventory is arranged in a single alphabet under writer, and includes references from the subjects of correspondence.
EXAMPLES
Main Entry
SCOTT (Cyril) [D]
Sântosa, 53 Pashley Road, Eastbourne
20 March 1959 On and filed with Stefan George. Typescript.
2 December 1959 On and filed with Stefan George. Typescript. Signed 'C S'.
Undated photograph of Scott, with his autograph presentation inscription.
Filed with Stefan George.
This means that Scott sent to Bithell in 1959 two typed letters from an address in Eastbourne. The second letter was initialled, not signed. Since both letters relate to a German writer, the letter D is added after Scott's name. For convenience' sake Scott's photograph is filed with the letters.
Reference
GEORGE (Stefan) see SCOTT (Cyril)
Notes on revised edition
This edition incorporates material received since the end of 1962. In revising the inventory the compiler has profited by Professor Leonard Forster's review of the first edition in German Life & Letters NS 16 (January 1963), 136-7. An appendix has been added to the inventory listing other material in the University relating to Jethro Bithell.
Manuscript, typescript and printed items
Biography or history
Jethro Bithell was education at Owens College, Manchester, in the Victoria University, where in 1900 he graduated with first-class honours in Modern Languages (proceeding to the M.A. in 1903). He continued his studies in Munich and Copenhagen, and in 1904 returned to Manchester as Lecturer in German, a post he vacated in 1910 when he became Head of the Department of German at Birkbeck College, London. He was appointed Reader in 1921 and reamined at Birkbeck until his retirement in 1938. He acted as external examiner in the University of Leeds. He died at Paignton on February 26, 1962; an obituary notice appeared in 'The Times' for 6 March 1962. A Festschrift issue of 'German life and letters' (N.S. 11, July 1958) includes (pp.252 ff.) a biographical note, a photograph and a list of his publications. A short account of his bequest was published in the University of Leeds Review, 8 (December 1962), pp.146-153.
System of arrangement
The MS 199 catalogue is based on an historic inventory, created in 1967. The arrangement of material does not necessarily represent the original order of the archive and it is considered partly processed by an archivist. When making requests to consult, please be aware that there may be discrepancies between description and physical arrangement. The retrievable unit for this collection is file level.
Access and usage
Access
Access to this material is unrestricted.