The Louise Imogen Guiney (1861-1920) Letters at the University of Notre Dame

The Department of Special Collections at the University of Notre Dame possesses eighty-eight letters written by Louise Imogen Guiney (1861-1920), essayist and poet, to her publisher, J.R. Tutin of Hull, Yorkshire, between 1895 and 1913. These letters retrace the professional relationship between the writer and her publisher and their mutual interest in seventeenth century literature, particularly in Henry Vaughan, Silurist. Guiney writes to Tutin concerning book orders and printing details as well as discussing manuscript choices made in compiling editions of Vaughan (especially a comprehensive edition which was never completed), Thomas Stanley, Katharine Philips ('The Matchless Orinda'), and other lesser known seventeenth century poets (e.g. Wither, Habington, Quarles, Hammond, and Rochester). The letters, written from Boston, Oxford, Falmouth, and sometimes London, give the reader an idea of what was available at the time through the Bodleian and the British Museum. Also, the letters occasionally herald the discovery of "new" poems (though generally not specifying which poems) in various seventeenth century manuscripts. Guiney's letters also touch upon more biographical themes: Tutin's ongoing battle with tuberculosis, Guiney's own problems with ear infections and deafness, and the knighting of a fellow Vaughanian, Miss Morgan. There is also some account of Guiney's role in preserving Vaughan's tomb at Llansantffraed.

In addition to the letters themselves, the epistolary collection also contains an Oxford University Press proof of Guiney's 1902 edition of The Mount of Olives, by Henry Vaughan, as well as a publicity blurb for and a photogravure frontispiece from Guiney's 1907 edition of the lyrics of Thomas Stanley. There are also samples of Guiney's research notes (included with one of the letters), a portrait of Guiney from a 1906 issue of The Tatler, a select bibliography, and reviews of Grace Guiney's edition of Louise Imogen's letters. As well as this epistolary collection, Special Collections also possesses Guiney's editions of Thomas Stanley (1907), Katharine Philips (1904), Lionel Johnson (1912), James Clarence Mangan (1897) and Recusant Poets (1938—an anthology of Catholic poetry), as well as numerous volumes of Guiney's own verse and essays on literary and religious themes. Special Collections also has an additional collection of Guiney's letters compiled by her cousin, Grace Guiney, in 1936, and the University Archives has nineteen additional original letters sent by Guiney to various American publishers and fellow authors.

Prepared by Anne M. Enenbach, 6/98