University of Texas at Austin

Claude Houghton:

An Inventory of His Collection at the Harry Ransom Center

Creator: Houghton, Claude, 1889-1961
Title: Claude Houghton Collection
Dates: 1911-1975
Extent: 36 boxes (15.12 linear feet), 7 galley folders (gf)
Abstract: The collection of Claude Houghton (pseudonym of Claude Houghton Oldfield) contains an extensive number of manuscripts for his stories, novels, plays, poems, and essays, as well as both outgoing and incoming correspondence.
Call Number: Manuscript Collection MS-03097
Language: English
Access: Open for research. Researchers must create an online Research Account and agree to the Materials Use Policy before using archival materials.
Use Policies: Ransom Center collections may contain material with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in the collections without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the Ransom Center and The University of Texas at Austin assume no responsibility.


Administrative Information


Preferred Citation Claude Houghton Collection (Manuscript Collection MS-03097). Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin.
Processed by: Isabel Morales and Hope Rider, 2004; Joan Sibley and Richard Workman, 2018 Note: This finding aid replicates and replaces information previously available only in a card catalog. Please see the explanatory note at the end of this finding aid for information regarding the arrangement of the manuscripts as well as the abbreviations commonly used in descriptions.
Repository:

Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin

Scope and Contents


This finding aid gathers together materials previously described separately in an online finding aid and in a card catalog, along with three acquisitions not previously cataloged. The earlier form of the author’s name, Claude Houghton Oldfield, has been replaced with the current authoritative form of his name, which is his better known pseudonym, Claude Houghton.
Works and Career-Related Material (boxes 1-8, gf 1)
This material was previously described in an online finding aid under the name of Claude Houghton Oldfield and formed a 2004 addition (Purchase R 15296) to the Claude Houghton Oldfield Papers already at the Ransom Center. It contains typescripts for many of his novels, as well as two plays and several film novelizations. Also included are tear sheets of short stories and articles that he wrote for various publications, primarily The Aryan Path and The Aquarian Paths. All of these works were written under the pseudonym Claude Houghton. Among the personal papers, there is one folder of correspondence written to Ernest Rasdall, including a signed photo of Houghton and a typewritten autobiographical sketch.
Claude Houghton Oldfield Papers (boxes 9-31, gf 2-7)
This material was previously described in a card catalog under the name of Claude Houghton Oldfield. It is subdivided into four groups of materials: Works; Letters; Recipient; and Miscellaneous and contains eighteen boxes of manuscripts for novels, plays, stories, and poems as well as two boxes of correspondence. The most extensive correspondence is with book dealer Ben Abramson. This description replicates and replaces the information previously available in the card catalog. Please see the explanatory note at the end of this finding aid for information regarding the arrangement of the manuscripts as well as the abbreviations commonly used in descriptions.
Additional Acquisitions; Not Described in Card Catalog (boxes 32-36)
Three additional acquisitions not previously cataloged make up this portion. These include Purchase R 7294, 1976; Gift 2428, 1985; and Purchase R 13243, 1994. The first group of materials was acquired from Houghton’s long-time secretary-typist, Kathleen E. King. It consists mostly of manuscripts of his work, some with alterations dictated to King. The second group consists of papers collected by Grace White of Houston, Texas, who wrote Houghton a fan letter that evolved into a friendship. Of interest in this group are Houghton’s approximately 200 letters to White, two letters from writer Henry Miller, and correspondence from Constance Upcott Gill, a relative of Houghton’s who shared family history with White. The third group comprises a small amount of material acquired from the estate of Dermot Francis Fahy.

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