Acton, Harold, 1904-1994

Harold Acton was a British writer and scholar. His works include The Last Medici (1932), The Bourbons of Naples, 1734-1825 (1956), and two memoirs, Memoirs of an Aesthete (1948) and More Memoirs of an Aesthete (1970). Acton lived in China from 1933 to 1939, during which time he supported himself by teaching English Literature and collaborated with others to translate various Chinese literary works. His translations include Glue and Lacquer: Four Cautionary Tales (1941) and the unpublished Popular Chinese Plays. He wrote a novel, Peonies and Ponies (1941), about British expatriate life in Beijing before the Second World War. Acton returned to England in 1939 and shortly thereafter embarked upon a lecture tour of Italy under the auspices of the British Council to promote continuing ties between England and Italy at a time when the two countries were on the verge of war.

From the guide to the Harold Acton papers, 1932-1941, (Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library)