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Scope and Contents |
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The George Ives papers range in date from 1874 to 1949 and are divided into four
series: I. Correspondence, 1874-1936; II. Works, 1897-1937; III. Diaries, 1886-1949;
and IV. Miscellaneous, 1888-1949. |
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The correspondence contains invitations to dinners, parties, and cricket matches,
as
well as letters regarding Ives' writings and lectures on prison reform, sodomy,
the
British Society for the Study of Sex Psychology, and other topics. There are also
several letters thanking Ives for gifts of books and various lectures given. Among
his correspondents were Adolf Brand, Oscar Browning, Edward Carpenter, Havelock
Ellis, Norman Gale, Augustus Hare, Ernest Jones, Cesare Lombrose, C. M. North,
Reggie
Turner, Edward Westermarck, and others. |
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There are several examples of Ives' published works, lectures, and notes, 1897-1926.
Some of the topics represented are: prison reform, crime and punishment, historical
views of sexuality, religion, and samples of his verse writing. Typescripts and
holograph examples are both present in this series. |
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The bulk of the material consists of 122 volumes of diaries kept by Ives from the
age
of nineteen until about six months before his death at age eighty-two. Most of
the
diaries have daily entries for the period from December 20, 1886 to November 16,
1949. Ives often used the battle of Chaeronea when dating his diary entries, adding
338 years to the actual date. The view Ives provides in his diary of the life
of an
upper-middle class English homosexual from the end of the nineteenth century to
the
mid-twentieth century is of particular interest for understanding the homosexual
movement in England during this time. The content varies from descriptive
impressions of social events, to detailed examinations of his friends and
acquaintances, to analyses of the treatment of criminals and the workings of
prisons. From volume thirteen on, Ives indexed his diaries and often used them
when
he was preparing for a lecture or other writings. |
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Miscellaneous materials include the rules and wax seal impressions for the Secret
Society, along with a library catalog for the British Society for the Study of
Sex
Psychology, and a scrapbook of reviews and loose clippings for three of Ives books,
Ero's Throne (1900), A History of Penal Methods (1914), and
Obstacles to Human Progress
(1939). There is also a galley proof of G. B. Shaw's preface to English Prisons (1922), prior to
alterations. |
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While Ives amassed 45 volumes of scrapbooks, 1892-1949, they do not form part of this
collection. These scrapbooks consist of clippings on topics such as murders,
punishments, freaks, theories of crime and punishment, transvestism, psychology
of
gender, homosexuality, cricket scores, and letters he wrote to newspapers. For
extracts of these scrapbooks, which were edited by Paul Sieveking and published
by
Jay Landesman in 1981, see Man Bites
Man. |
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The British Sexological Society Collection at the Ransom Center also contains a large
amount of Ives material. He was involved from the onset of the British Sexological
Society in several ways, one of which was preserving the papers and records for
the
organization. There are materials to and from him throughout the collection. A
large
portion of the Ives material is in the Miscellaneous series, including nine boxes
of
his notebooks, lectures, and works. A substantial number of letters to Ives from
Lawrence Housman (1916-1948), correspondence from Ives' family members, and others,
are also part of the Miscellaneous Series. See the manuscript card catalog for
further information. |
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Series Descriptions |
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Series I. Correspondence, 1890-1936 (1.5 boxes) |
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Consists of letters and invitations to Ives from Edward Carpenter, Havelock
and Edith Ellis, Augustus Hare, E. B. H. Lacon, W. D. Morrison, C. M. North,
Edward Westermark, W. H. Wilkins, and others. Several of the correspondents
who
wrote only one or two letters were primarily discussing arrangements for
dinner or cricket games. There is one folder of unidentified letters, one
folder consisting of invitations and envelopes, and one folder containing
two letters to Ives' grandmother, Emma. One of these letters is from Susan
Ann Talbot Ives (his aunt) and the other is from Anna Whiteside, which was
removed from the family bible (cataloged in HRC book collection, BS 2085
1848 O94b IVS). This series is arranged alphabetically by author. There is
an alphabetical index to the correspondents at the end of the inventory. For
other corresponence to and from Ives, see the list of additional
materials. |
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Series II. Works, 1897-1937 (2.5 boxes) |
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Holograph drafts of Ives' published works present in the collection are,
Continued Extension of Criminal
Law and The
Graeco-Roman View of Youth. Also included are notes for several
lectures that Ives gave: an address delivered to the British Society for the
Study of Sex Psychology (1915); Ashford lecture I, Treatment of Crime (1922); a League of Peace
and Freedom address (1919); and a lecture before the Orthopsychic Society
(1915). There are four versions of The Missing Baronet, including revisions, though they are not
all complete. The Missing Baronet
manuscripts are bound and housed as volumes 123-126. Other bound
works are housed in folders. All works are arranged alphabetically by
title. |
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Series III. Diaries, 1886-1949 (122 volumes) |
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The 122 volumes of diaries were handwritten on a single side of a page, and
occasionally Ives would add information at a later date on the verso in
order to clarify a point or add other comments. Sometimes Ives wrote in
several different codes so that an onlooker could not at a glance understand
what he was writing about. The codes are decipherable, though some require
more time than others. For further descriptions of the codes see "A Catalogue of the George Ives
Collection," attached as an appendix to this inventory. |
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These diaries provide detailed descriptions of Ives' life and his impressions
of persons around him such as Oscar Wilde, Lord Alfred Douglas, Magnus
Hirschfeld, Edward Carpenter, and close intimate friends and acquaintances.
Other topics such as penal methods, the homosexual "Cause," dressing in drag, detailed
descriptions of social events and parties, current criminal cases, personal
feelings, and many other subjects are recorded by Ives in his diaries. |
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The first sixty volumes were bound together in groups of five. Diary 35 was
bound between 32 and 33, but all other volumes are in chronological order.
There are two sets of page numbers, one in the upper righthand corner that
paginates each individual volume and one at the bottom of the page which is
continous from volume 1 through 122, ending with page number 19,973. Ives
indexed each volume beginning with volume thirteen. The indexes refer to the
page numbers for the individual volume found at the top of the page. The
volume number designations were retained for this reason. The condition of
the diaries is good, though volumes 1-60 are bound very tightly and require
special care when opening. |
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Series IV. Miscellaneous, 1888-1949 (.5 box) |
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Arranged alphabetically, the seven items in this series are: an address book,
clippings, library catalog, scrapbook, Secret Society materials, G.B. Shaw's
galley proof and letters concerning his preface to English Prisons Today, and miscellaneous
documents. Ives' address book provides cross references to his diaries and
traces the members of the Order of Chaeronea. Other Secret Society materials
include the Service of Initiation, 1899; Order Rules, 1933; and wax
impressions from signet rings of members of the Order. |
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The clippings include reviews of three of Ives' published works; Eros' Throne (1900) is located
in a folder, while A History of
Penal Methods, (1914) and Obstacles to Human Progress, (1939) are in a
bound scrapbook, volume number 127. |
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The library catalog for the British Society for the Study of Sex Psychology
is organized alphabetically, first by title and then by author. The works
represented in this catalog are in various languages and include topics such
as homosexuality, flagellation, slavery, transvestism, prostitution,
pornography, eunuchism, circumcision, and obscene literature. |
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A galley proof of G. B. Shaw's preface to English Prisions Today (1922, published by S
& B Webb) is accompanied by some correspondence about the
publication of the preface. The folder of miscellaneous items includes an
army memorandum (1888), a bill of remittance from the Morning Post (1910), and information about the
Sex Education Society lecture in 1948/49. |
