LETTERS: Editorial Correspondence.
Rumer Godden to Her Editors
Documenting a Long, Prolific Career
Godden, Rumer. Letters to her editors, 1944-1986.
A collection of 35 letters (21 TLS, 11 ALS and 3 cards) by Rumer Godden to her editor at Little, Brown—Raymond Everitt—and her editors at Viking—B.W. Huebsch, Marshall Best, Alan Williams and Amanda Vaill; 1944-1986 (bulks in the 1960s to Best and Williams). Godden’s letter from May 25, 1962 includes a copy of a letter she wrote to Lovat Dickson, at Macmillan.
Author of over 60 books, including fiction, non-fiction, poetry, translations, and children’s books, Godden’s letters to her publishers highlight her involvement in the publishing process; sending her opinions on dust-jacket design; her thoughts on copy-editing and proofs (see her letters to Marshall Best in the summer of 1969 regarding In the House of Brede); and her queries about advertising and publication dates. The two books discussed at length in this correspondence are In the House of Brede (1969) and The Diddakoi (1972), a children’s book.
The letters are broken down as follows:
Raymond Everitt: 1 TLS, 8 ALS;
B.W. Huebsch: 2 TLS;
Marshall Best: 12 TLS;
Andy Williams: 5 TLS, 3 ALS;
Amanda Vaill: 1 TLS
Unaddressed: 3 cards
Together with typescript material by Godden and others; letters by others, regarding Godden; and printed material.
The typescript material is broken down as follows:
“Subscription list”; n.d. (ca. 1980); one leaf of plain paper, recto only. Accompanies Godden’s letter to Alan Williams; ca. November 1980.
“The Beast’s Choir”; 5 pp. typescript (“The Bear,” “The Peacock,” and “The Whale” poems, plus two additional typescript pages marked “2 pages to be replaced”). Together with a 1 p. typed list and a 1 p. autograph list of potential prayers to include in the book (i.e. “The Prayer of the Hedgehog,” and “The Prayer of the Parrot,” etc.).
“Some Notes on Rumer Godden by Rumer Godden”; n.d.; 1 p. memo, printed on yellow legal-sized Viking “New and Notes of Books and Bookmen” letterhead. Together with 1 p. typed biography of Godden (not by her) and a memo from “Publicity” to “MAB.”
Additional letters:
Gasztold, Carmen Bernos de. Typed letter signed, to “Monsieur”; February 2, 1963; one half-leaf of plain paper; recto only. In French, regarding Godden’s translation for her Editions de Cloitre books. Together with typed translation.
Ford, Alice. Typed letter signed, to “Reverend Mother”; n.d.; one leaf of plain paper, recto and verso. Regarding Goasztold and Godden.
Dickson, Lovat. Autograph letter signed, to Marshall Best. January 24, 1963; two leaves of Macmillan letterhead, rectos only. Regarding serial rights for Godden with Reader’s Digest and Ladies Home Journal.
Haynes-Dixon, J.L (Godden’s husband). Typed letter signed, to Marhsall Best; December 15, 1969; one leaf of Lamb House letterhead. Sends a copy of a book (not included here).
Printed material:
“Godden: The Pretty Beads”; 2 pp. typed memorandum on Viking letterhead; November 21, 1978.
Hartley, Lois. “The Indian Novels of Rumer Godden”; n.d.; 12pp., six leaves; offprint from Mahfil, Vol. III, nos. 2-3.
Gasztold, Carmen Bernos de. Le Mieux Amie. Illustrations de R. Temple. [Paris]: Editions du Cloitre, [1947].
Together with:
Gasztold, Carmen Bernos de. Prieres dans l’Arche. Illustrations de R. Temple. [Paris]: Editions du Cloitre, [1962].
Two juvenile prayer books by Gasztold, each bound in printed wrappers, were later translated by Godden and published by Viking; Prieres dans L’Arche in 1962 and Le Mieux Amie in 1963.
Book of the Month Club News; May 1953. With a piece on Godden printed on page 6.
Description:
In Godden’s earliest letter, written to Raymond Everitt, she shares her thoughts on Black Narcissus and her expectation about future books she’d write. Godden seems to feel that the success of Black Narcissus jinxed her rather than helped her:
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