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Ford Madox Ford Papers

 Collection
Identifier: MS-MS-ms046

The most significant portion of Washington University's Ford Madox Ford Papers is the carbon typescript of A Little Less Than Gods (1928), Ford's novel of romance and adventure set in the Napoleonic Wars. This manuscript contains numerous revisions and corrections by him. The collection also contains several letters from Ford, primarily to Alfred H. Mendes, whose book Ford was helping to get published, as well as an autograph draft of the poem The Old Faith by Ford and several drafts and galleys of work from The Transatlantic Review with corrections by Ford. Also included are a large group of photocopies of scarce columns written by Ford for The Outlook between 1913-1915.

Dates

  • Creation: 1914-1939

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Open

Conditions Governing Use

Users of the collection must read and agree to abide by the rules and procedures set forth in the Materials Use Policies.

Providing access to materials does not constitute permission to publish or otherwise authorize use. All publication not covered by fair use or other exceptions is restricted to those who have permission of the copyright holder, which may or may not be Washington University.

If you wish to publish or license Special Collections materials, please contact Special Collections to inquire about copyright status at (314) 935-5495 or spec@wumail.wustl.edu. (Publish means quotation in whole or in part in seminar or term papers, theses or dissertations, journal articles, monographs, books, digital forms, photographs, images, dramatic presentations, transcriptions, or any other form prepared for a limited or general public.)

Extent

2.00 boxes

Biographical Information

Ford Madox Ford is one of the most important, but overlooked, literary figures of the early 20th centuruy. He was a poet and novelist who wrote more than 60 books, but he is remembered as much for his literary associations as for his own writings. He was born Ford Madox Hueffer in Marton, England into a family of German artists and writers and began his writing career at an early age. Ford befriended Joseph Conrad and the two collaborated on three novels, The Inheritor (1903), Romance (1903), and The Nature of Crime (1924). His own early works were well-received and critics predicted a promising career for Ford. He founded The English Review in 1908 and published Conrad, Thomas Hardy, Henry James, H. G. Wells, T. S. Elliot, and others. After serving in Wolrd War I, Ford settled in Paris. There he founded The Transatlantic Review and introduced the work of James Joyce and Ernest Hemingway. Other authors of note with whom Ford was associated as editor or friend include Ezra Pound, D. H. Lawrence, Wyndham Lewis, and Gertrude Stein. He spent his later years in the United States and in France where he died in 1939. While he is remembered most often for his friendships with Pound, Conrad, Joyce, and others, Ford was also a major force in the development of the modern English novel. He was especially adept at new techniques involving narration and the shifting of time within his works. These innovative approaches to writing are best seen in his most famous novels, The Good Soldier (1915) and a quartet of novels written between 1924 and 1928 which were gathered into one volume, Parades End (1950). Ford was a distinguished critic and wrote numerous essays, reviews, and monographs about contemporary art and literature.

Source of Acquisition

Accession number 787. Purchase from House of Books, November 1, 1966.

Accession number 842. Purchase from Bertram Rota, Ltd, July 27, 1967.

Accession number 929. Purchase from Charles Book Books, June 27, 1968.

Accession number 959. Purchase from House of Books, August 5, 1968.

Accession number 976. Purchase from House of Books, August 27, 1968.

Accession number 1279. Gift of Sondra Stang, July 19, 1971.

Accession number 1315. Purchase, October 26, 1971.

Accession number 1567. Gift of Sondra Stang, January 18, 1983.

Accession number 1649. Unknown, January 25, 1985.

Accession number 22978. Unknown

Accession number 22979. Unknown

Accession number 23916. Gift of Richard Stang.

Related Materials

See also Richard Stang Papers

Title
Ford Madox Ford Papers
Description rules
dacs
Language of description
eng

Revision Statements

  • 2021 April 21: Resource record updated in ArchiveSpace by Sarah Schnuriger.

Collecting Area Details

Part of the Manuscripts Collecting Area

Contact:
Joel Minor
Olin Library, 1 Brookings Drive
MSC 1061-141-B
St. Louis MO 63130 US
(314) 935-5495