Mary Lago Collection

Abstract

The massive correspondence of E. M. Forster, which Professor Lago gathered from archives all over the world, is one of the prominent features of the collection, with over 15,000 letters. It was assembled in preparation for an edition of selected letters that she edited in collaboration with P. N. Furbank, Forster's authorized biographer. A similar archive of Forster letters has been deposited in King's College. The collection also includes copies of the correspondence of William Rothenstein, Edward John Thompson, Max Beerbohm, Rabindranath Tagore, Edward Burne-Jones, D.S. MacColl, Christiana Herringham, and Arthur Henry Fox-Strangways. These materials were also gathered by her in preparation for subsequent books. In addition, the collection contains Lago's extensive personal and professional correspondence, including correspondence with Buddhadeva Bose, Penelope Fitzgerald, P.N. Furbank, Dilys Hamlett, Krishna Kripalani, Celia Rooke, Stella Rhys, Satyajit Ray, Amitendranath Tagore, E.P. Thompson, Lance Thirkell, Pratima Tagore, John Rothenstein and his family, Eric and Nancy Crozier, Michael Holroyd, Margaret Drabble, Santha Rama Rau, Hsiao Ch'ien, Ted Uppmann, Edith Weiss-Mann, Arthur Mendel, Zia Moyheddin and numerous others. The collection is supplemented by extensive files related to each of her books, proof copies of these books, and files related to her academic career, honors, awards, and memorabilia. Personal material includes her journals and diaries that depict the tenuous position of a woman in the male-dominated profession of the early seventies. The book collection fully supports research in Edwardian and Victorian literature and also contains a representative selection of recent Bengali literature.