Coll-686
MS 3216; E90.1; E91.6; E92.4; E93.119
Correspondence and Papers relating to Christopher
Isherwood (1904-1986)
[1937]-1983
Edinburgh University Library
circa 23 letters, 2 essays.
Access
to records in a fragile condition may be restricted.
Isherwood, Christopher
English.
Novelist and playwright Christopher Isherwood (Christopher William
Bradshaw-Isherwood) was born in Disley, Cheshire, on 26 August 1904. He was
educated at St Edmunds School, Hindhead, Surrey, which was a preparatory
school, and at Repton School. He studied first at Corpus Christi College,
Cambridge, from 1924, though he did not take his degree. He then studied
medicine at King's College London, 1928-29. He gave this up however, and after
the publication of his first novel
All the conspirators (1928), he went to Germany and taught
English in Berlin, 1930-1933. For a time he was a journalist in London,
1934-1936 and he also did film-script work for Gaumont-British. In 1938
Isherwood travelled to China with W. H. Auden, a long-time friend from prep'
school days. Indeed when Erika Mann (daughter of Thomas Mann) approached him
with the suggestion that she marry him to obtain a British passport, the
unwilling Isherwood approached Auden who did agree to marry her in 1935. In
1939, he emigrated to California to be a scriptwriter for Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer,
and in 1946 he took US citizenship. Auden too had emigrated to the USA and took
American citizenship. In 1947, Isherwood stayed in Quito, Ecuador, during a
tour of several months in South America. Other works by Isherwood include
The memorial (1932),
Mr. Norris changes trains (1935),
Goodbye to Berlin (1939) upon which the musical
Cabaret was based,
Prater Violet (1945),
The world in the evening (1954), and
Down there on a visit (1962). With Auden he wrote
The dog beneath the skin (1935),
Ascent of F6 (1937),
On the frontier (1938), and
Journey to a war (1939). Isherwood became interested in
the teaching of Swami Prabhavananda and he also co-translated with him,
The Bhagavad-Gita (1944),
Shankara's crest-jewel of discrimination (1947), and
How to know God. The yogi aphorisms of Patanjali (1953).
Many of his famous literary friends appeared in his books under different
names, including Auden, Stephen Spender, and Virginia Woolf. Isherwood became a
leading spokesman for gay rights and he was one of the first internationally
known figures to admit that he was homosexual. His relationship with Don
Bachardy - who became a portraitist and later Los Angeles bon vivant, and who
together with Isherwood in 1968, was painted by David Hockney - continued for
over thirty years until Isherwood's death. Christopher Isherwood died in Santa
Monica on 4 January 1986.
The material in the collection includes: typescript by Isherwood on K.
Mansfield, from circa 1937; typescript letters, 1969, 1971 and including those
from Isherwood to H. Heckford, 1966-1970, 1967, and to Osborne, circa 1938;
manuscript letters, 1954, 1973, 1978, 1983; manuscript letter to Mr. Piggot,
1974; manuscript letter to Dick Walker, 1980, and postcard photograph of
himself, 1983; manuscript letter to M. Bean, 1967; manuscript letter to
Deutsch, circa 1953; manuscript letter to S. Smith, 1940s; manuscript letter to
A. Loos, 1966; Isherwood typescript
Some thoughts in Quito, circa 1947; and, essay
A single man.
Isherwood on Mansfield, purchased Gekoski, May 1988, Accession no.
E88.41. Isherwood typescript, purchased Bristow, January 1989, Accession no.
E89.7. Isherwood to Heckford, purchased Bristow, October 1989, Accession no.
E89.62. Isherwood to Heckford, purchased Silverman, October 1989, Accession
nos. E89.65-66. Isherwood to Heckford, purchased Wilson, October 1989,
Accession no. E89.69. Isherwood to Heckford, purchased Bristow, January 1990,
Accession no. E90.1. Isherwood letters, purchased Silverman, March 1990,
Accession no. E90.32. Isherwood to Piggott, purchased Silverman, October 1990,
Accession no. E90.100. Isherwood letters, purchased Dupre, January 1991,
Accession nos. E91.5-6. Isherwood letter, purchased Wilson, February 1991,
Accession no. E91.11. Isherwood to Walker, purchased Dupre, May 1991, Accession
no. E91.45. Isherwood
Some thoughts in Quito, purchased Wilson, July 1991,
Accession no. E91.63. Isherwood to Bean, purchased Sotheran, September 1991,
Accession no. E91.74. Isherwood letter, purchased Dupre, September 1991,
Accession no. E91.79. Isherwood to Osborne, and to Deutsch, purchased Edrich,
January 1992, Accession nos. E92.3-4. Isherwood to Smith, purchased Wilson,
October 1992, Accession no. E92.62. Isherwood letter, purchased Silverman,
November 1992, Accession no. E92.85. Isherwood essay, purchased Dupre, March
1993, Accession no. E93.15. Isherwood to Loos, purchased Dupre, December 1993,
E93.119.
Check the local Indexes for details of any additions.
Generally open for consultation to bona fide researchers, but please
contact repository for details in advance.
At the time of creation of this description, the following items were
not found: E90.1; E91.6; and E93.119.
The biographical/administrative history was compiled principally using
the following material: (1)
Who's who 1976. London: Adam and Charles Black, 1976.
Important finding aids generally are: the alphabetical Index to
Manuscripts held at Edinburgh University Library, Special Collections and
Archives, consisting of typed slips in sheaf binders and to which additions
were made until 1987; and the Index to Accessions Since 1987.
Important finding aids generally are: the alphabetical Index to
Manuscripts held at Edinburgh University Library, Special Collections and
Archives, consisting of typed slips in sheaf binders and to which additions
were made until 1987; and the Index to Accessions Since 1987.
English literature
20th century
Isherwood
Christopher
William Bradshaw
1904-1986
Author