The papers of British author Lady Mary Dolling Sanders O'Malley, who wrote under the pseudonym Ann Bridge, consist largely of her holograph manuscripts for books published from 1932 through 1973. Also included are manuscripts of poems, short stories, articles, reviews, and lectures, as well as manuscripts of unpublished works. Correspondence, scrapbooks of clippings and letters, and a few photographs are also present.
Lady O'Malley compiled an extensive inventory of her papers which identifies and describes this collection in great detail. Her original list contains much description, identification, and commentary not available in the collection itself, and forms a valuable manuscript in and of itself. The list often includes synopses or transcriptions of correspondence in the collection. The papers have been unpacked and rehoused in archival folders and boxes, and arranged to respect her original order and to facilitate use of the many internal cross references within her inventory.
Her original order divides manuscripts for published book-length works (arranged chronologically, 1932-1969) from the rest of the papers, which are subdivided into Appendices A-R. These appendices contain other genres of manuscripts, research material, correspondence, etc., which are also usually arranged chronologically. The following folder list, which identifies the particular boxes and folders in which the collection is now housed, should be used in conjunction with the O'Malley inventory attached. Additional materials not described in Lady O'Malley's original inventory were found and are noted at the end of this list.
Though the papers chiefly concern Lady O'Malley's works and their publication, there is correspondence relating to her experiences as the wife of a diplomat, some of which were incorporated into her writings. These include her impressions while traveling in China (1925-27), Dalmatia (1930), Albania (1936), and Portugal (1946-47). Also of interest are a small group of letters written by others to Lady O'Malley which describe wartime England, 1940-41. Her relief work in Hungary (1940-41), Poland (1944-45), and France (post World War II) is also documented. Four very large files of correspondence, chiefly 1953-1954, represent her research for
In addition to O'Malley's outgoing correspondence (present in both originals and carbons) are numerous letters from family, friends, fans, agents, publishers, and others. Among some of the notable correspondents are Lord Edgar Douglas Adrian, Sir Leopold Amery, Maurice Baring, Lord Ronald Gorell Barnes, Lord Max Beaverbrook, John Betjeman, Laurence Binyon, Sir Nevile Bland, Gordon Bottomley, Sir Angus Cunninghame Graham, Lord George Derwent, Morris L. Ernst, E. M. Forster, Sir Ralph Furse, Sir Stephen Gaselee, Oliver St. John Gogarty, Cosmo Gordon Lang (Archbishop of Canterbury), Loelia Mary Grosvenor Lindsay (Duchess of Windsor), Alfred R. McIntyre, Margaret Haig Thomas Mackworth (Viscountess Rhondda), Sir Edward Marsh, Charles J. B. Masefield, John Masefield, Sir Charles Mendl, Naomi Mitchison, Sir Owen St. Clair O'Malley, A. D. Peters, Raymond Queneau, I. A. Richards, Denys Kilham Roberts, V. Sackville-West, Elisabeth Schumann, Lord William Strang, Edward Weeks, Dame Rebecca West, and Steuart Wilson. An index of all correspondents appears at the end of this inventory.
Gift, 1975
Open for research
Katie Salzmann, Angela Courtney, Joan Sibley, 1994