British Society of Aesthetics

Description

This file contains correspondence, meeting minutes and associated material relating to the British Society of Aesthetics.


Herbert Read co-founded the British Society of Aesthetics in 1960 and was the Society’s first President.


File 1 covers the years 1959 – 1963 and includes: correspondence to Herbert Read from Frank J. W. Harding, co-founder of the British Society of Aesthetics, dated 5 Aug – 23 Nov 1959, regarding the formation of the Society and its announcement in the Times Literary Supplement, 7ff; correspondence and typescript circulars, including Read’s manuscript signature, relating to the 1960 International Congress of Aesthetics held in Athens; signed typescript letters to Read from Sylvia Schweppe, Hon. Secretary and Treasurer of the Society and Thomas Munro, Editor of the Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, dated Mar – May 1960, discussing the formation of the Society and enclosing typescript lists of the Society’s Advisory Council; 1 signed typescript letter to Read from T. S. Eliot at Faber and Faber, dated 2 Jun 1960, declining a position on the Society’s Advisory Council and 1 carbon copy response by Read, dated 7 Jun 1960, 2ff; various typescript papers relating to the
Society’s first General Meeting, held 6 Jul 1960, including copies of Read’s President’s Address; correspondence and associated material to Read from Harold Osborne of the Board of Trade, dated 10 Aug – 17 Oct 1960, regarding the formation of the British Journal of Aesthetics, 16ff; 1 signed typescript letter to Read from Benjamin Britten, dated 15 Jun 1960, discussing supporting the Society; various further correspondence to Read from Schweppe, Munro and Osborne; typescript Report and Statement of Accounts for the year ended 31 Jul 1961, 5ff; typescript Income and Expenditure Account for the period from 1 Aug 1961 – 31 Jul 1962 and typescript Report of the Executive Committee for the year 1961 – 1962.


File 2 covers the years 1964 – 1968 and includes: typescript material relating to the 1964 International Congress of Aesthetics held in Amsterdam; various correspondence from Etienne Souriau and P. A. Michelis, President and General Secretary of the Comite International pour les Etudes d’Esthetique; typescript Statement of Accounts for the year ended 31 Jul 1964, 3ff; 1 typescript Proposal for a London Conference in September 1965, 1f; signed typescript correspondence to Read from Vida Carver, Hon. Secretary of the Society; 1 typescript President’s Address by Read for the second National Conference of the Society, 1965, 1f; 1 signed typescript letter from Jan Aler, dated 30 Nov 1965, announcing the formation of a Dutch Association of Aesthetics, 1f; typescript notes relating to the 1966 Annual Conference of the Society; 1 signed typescript letter, with Herbert Read’s carbon copy response typed on verso, to Read from Harold J. McWhinnie of the Ohio State University School of Art,
dated 10 Nov 1967, attaching a copy of a draft proposal to seek funds to start a Journal in the Psychology of Art, 5ff; typescript Statement of Accounts for the year ended 31 Jul 19678, 3ff and a typescript brochure for the 1968 International Congress of Aesthetics held in Sweden.

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