Ethel Mannin Letters

Collection

Identifier: MSE/IR 1523

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This collection primarily consists of correspondence sent from Ethel Mannin to a number of her fans. Includes seventeen letters from Ethel Mannin to various correspondents including George Arthur Fleet (1899-1988), Victor Croxford, a “Mr. Threadgold,” and a “Cecil.” Additionally includes thirteen carbon copies of letters sent from George Arthur Fleet to Ethel Mannin, a postcard from Fleet to Mannin, a collage including the letter to Victor Croxford, a card from Mannin to “Cecil” and a photograph of Mannin accompanied by a lengthy caption.

Dates

1961 - 1983
Majority of material found within 1980 - 1983

Creator

Mannin, Ethel, 1900-1984 (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright status for collection materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.

Biographical / Historical

Born in London to a socialist family of Irish extraction, Ethel Mannin (1900-1984) was a British novelist, travel writer, and political activist in the twentieth century. Beginning her career as a copywriter and editor in the twenties, Mannin also became an anarcho-syndicalist and was active in anti-imperialist causes in Africa throughout the 1930s. She produced seven autobiographical works and fourteen travelogues, detailing her time in Germany, India, Japan, Morocco, Burma, Egypt, Jordan, and Italy, in addition to nearly eighty novels and several children’s books.

Mannin married twice, one a short-lived marriage in 1919 which produced one daughter, the other to Quaker writer Reginald Reynolds (1905 - 1958) in 1938. She remained with Reynolds until his premature death in 1958. She made her home at Oak Cottage, Burghley Road, Wimbledon from 1929 to 1974, then relocated to Teignmouth in Devon to live near her daughter. Her 1977 memoir, Sunset Over Dartmoor was based on her time in Devon. Ethel Mannin died of pneumonia and heart failure at Teignmouth Hospital, on 5th December 1984.

Extent

0.5 Cubic Feet (Legal Document Box)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Arrangement

Arranged by creator, then chronologically by correspondent.

Subjects

Anarchists Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Black-and-white photographs Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
Collages (Visual Works) Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
England -- Social Life and Customs -- 20th Century Subject Source: Library Of Congress Subject Headings
Letters (correspondence) Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
Postcards Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
West Country (England) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Women Authors, English Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings