Sitwell, Edith Louisa, Dame, 1887-1964
Variant namesEdith Sitwell was born on September 7, 1887 in Scarborough, England to Sir George Reresby Sitwell, fourth Baronet, and Lady Ida Emily Augusta Denison. In 1913, one of her earliest poems, “Drowned Suns”, was published in The Daily Mirror. Three years later, Sitwell began editing Wheels, an anthology of new verse that sparked controversy among conservative critics. In the 1920s, Sitwell and her two brothers, Osbert and Sacheverell Sitwell, became known for their avant-garde literary work. Sitwell became truly famous in 1923, following a reading of her 1922 poem, Facade, during which she sat with her back to the audience, her voice muffled by the Sengerphone into which she spoke.
Sitwell published her first significant piece of prose in 1930, a biography of the English poet Alexander Pope. That same year, she published her Collected Poems. In 1933, Sitwell was awarded the Royal Society of Literature medal. She later received an honorary degree from the University of Leeds in 1947, and Durham University in 1949, and the honorary degree of doctor of letters from Oxford University in 1951. In 1954 she was made Dame of the British Empire. Sitwell converted to Catholicism in 1955, filling a spiritual void she had been experiencing for some time. She continued to publish, including an anthology collection, The Atlantic Book of British and American Poetry (1958) and her own poetry collection, The Outcasts (1962). Sitwell died in London on December 9, 1964.
Archival Resources
| Role | Title | Holding Repository | |
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| referencedIn | Collection of typed letters signed (184), autograph letters signed (19), autograph and typed postcards signed (15), and autograph notes signed (7) : St. Helena, California, Last House [Glen Ellen, California], and Aix-en-Provence, to David Pleydell-Bouverie | Pierpont Morgan Library. | |
| referencedIn | The Personal Reading Library of Robert Sterling Clark | Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, The Clark | |
| creatorOf | Edith Sitwell Correspondence | Washington State University Libraries Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections (MASC) | |
| referencedIn | Paul Scott Collection TXRC98-A8., 1952-1976 | Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center | |
| referencedIn | William Rose Benet Collection | St. Lawrence University, Owen D. Young Library | |
| referencedIn | H. D. Papers, 1887-1977 | Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library | |
| referencedIn | Letters to Lincoln Kirstein | New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division | |
| referencedIn | Bryher papers, 1812-1980, 1911-1978 | Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library | |
| referencedIn | T. S. Eliot collection of papers, 1918-1989, 1918-1957 | The New York Public Library. Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature. | |
| referencedIn | Georgia Doble Sitwell Collection TXRC03-A?., 1901-1974 | Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center | |
| referencedIn | Richard Fifoot Collection of the Sitwell Family, 1919-1962 (bulk 1951-1962) | Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center | |
| referencedIn | Osbert Sitwell Collection TXRC03-A0., 1887-1969 | Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center | |
| creatorOf | Siegfried Sassoon Papers of the Sitwells | Washington State University Libraries Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections (MASC) | |
| creatorOf | Collection of autograph poems sent to Kenneth and Jane Clark | Pierpont Morgan Library. | |
| referencedIn | Nimbus Magazine Records TXRC94-A20., 1945-1962 | Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center | |
| referencedIn | Sir William Rothenstein correspondence and other papers, 1887-1957. | Houghton Library | |
| referencedIn | Letters to Geoffrey Elborn, 1976-1981 | University of Kansas Kenneth Spencer Research Library Department of Special Collections | |
| creatorOf | Dame Edith Sitwell collection of papers, 1926-1965 | The New York Public Library. Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature. | |
| creatorOf | Burgon, Geoffrey. A hymn to Venus : for mezzo-soprano and piano / Geoffrey Burgon ; [text by] Edith Sitwell. | University of Manitoba Libraries | |
| referencedIn | Howard D. Rothschild papers, 1921-1989. | Harvard Theater Collection, Houghton Library, Harvard College Library, Harvard University | |
| referencedIn | George Lynes Platt photographs, 1935-1953. | Harvard Theater Collection, Houghton Library, Harvard College Library, Harvard University | |
| referencedIn | Maurice Cranston Papers None., 1943-1997 | Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center | |
| creatorOf | Edith, Osbert, and Sacheverell Sitwell Papers | University of Iowa. Libraries. Special Collections Dept. | |
| referencedIn | Dante Gabriel Rossetti collection of papers, 1855]-1941, 1863-1882 | The New York Public Library. Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature. | |
| referencedIn | J. B. Matthews Papers, 1862-1986 and undated | David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library | |
| referencedIn | Papers of Robert Graves: Correspondence (arranged by correspondent), c1909 to 2004 | St John's College, Oxford | |
| referencedIn | Papers of M.T. De Lautour and the Bournemouth Poetry Society, c.1920-1951 | University of Southampton Libaries Special Collections | |
| referencedIn | Edward Knoblock papers MS 324., 1904-1936 | Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library, Rice University | |
| referencedIn | W. K. Rose Papers | Vassar College | |
| creatorOf | Boston College Collection of Edith Sitwell | Boston College. John J. Burns Library | |
| referencedIn | Sitwell collection MS 0021., [192-?]-1941. | Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections | |
| referencedIn | John Pudney Papers TXRC95-A1., 1850-1977, (bulk 1926-1976) | Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center | |
| referencedIn | Siegfried Sassoon collection of papers, 1905]-1975, 1915-1951 | The New York Public Library. Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature. | |
| referencedIn | Evelyn Shrifte Collection Relating to Vanguard Press, 1928-1990 | Syracuse University. Library. Special Collections Research Center | |
| referencedIn | Graham Greene Letter | Washington State University Libraries Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections (MASC) | |
| referencedIn | Pavel Tchelitchew collection, 1907-1971, 1928-1957 | Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library | |
| referencedIn | New Directions Publishing records | Houghton Library | |
| creatorOf | Dame Edith Sitwell Collection | Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center | |
| creatorOf | Sitwell family letters and manuscripts | Columbia University. Rare Book and Manuscript Library | |
| creatorOf | Letters to Hubert Nicholson | Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library | |
| referencedIn | Stephen Spender collection of papers, 1928]-1993, 1931-1967 | The New York Public Library. Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature. | |
| creatorOf | British authors collection | Stanford University. Department of Special Collections and University Archives | |
| referencedIn | Charles Henri Ford Papers TXRC97-A13., 1928-1981 | Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center | |
| referencedIn | Letters to Sir William Rothenstein from various correspondents, 1900-1945. | Houghton Library | |
| referencedIn | Osbert Sitwell correspondence and compositions, 1950-1967. | Houghton Library | |
| creatorOf | A song of the dust : autograph poem signed | Pierpont Morgan Library. | |
| creatorOf | Sitwell Family Papers | University of Virginia Library Dept. of Special Collections | |
| referencedIn | Leonard Russell Letters | Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center | |
| referencedIn | Donald and Katharine Foley Collection of Penguin Books, 1935-1965 | Bancroft Library | |
| referencedIn | Frederick R. Koch collection, 1640-1983 | Yale University Library | |
| referencedIn | Sir Alec Guinness Archive, 1914-2003 | British Library: Western Manuscripts | |
| creatorOf | Autograph letter signed : Renishaw Hall [near Sheffield], to Jane Clark, 1954 June 26. | Pierpont Morgan Library. | |
| referencedIn | Dylan Thomas collection of papers, 1935]-1965 | The New York Public Library. Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature. | |
| referencedIn | Susan Groag Bell's, An Annotated bibliography of British Women's autobiographies, 1790-1950 :, research and reference materials, 1986-1998 | Stanford University. Department of Special Collections and University Archives | |
| referencedIn | Witter Bynner papers, 1829-1965. | Houghton Library | |
| referencedIn | Sacheverell Sitwell Collection TXRC03-A1., 1912-1988 | Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center | |
| referencedIn | Houghton Mifflin Company correspondence and records, 1832-1944. | Houghton Library | |
| referencedIn | Georgia Doble Sitwell Collection | Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center | |
| referencedIn | Jean Starr Untermeyer papers, 1924-1970 (inclusive) | Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library | |
| referencedIn | Marguerite Bennett letters | Bancroft Library | |
| creatorOf | Edith Sitwell letters | Pennsylvania State University Libraries | |
| creatorOf | Ada Leverson Letters from the Sitwells | Washington State University Libraries Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections (MASC) | |
| referencedIn | Ada Leverson Letters from Sitwells, ca. 1920-1935 | Washington State University Libraries Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections (MASC) | |
| referencedIn | Woodberry Poetry Room collection of poems, 1896-1967 | Houghton Library | |
| referencedIn | Eugene N. Salmon papers, 1940-1985, 1950-1980 | California State University, Sacramento Special Collections & University Archives | |
| referencedIn | William Butler Yeats collection of papers, 1876-[1965, 1897-1939 | The New York Public Library. Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature. | |
| referencedIn | Marianne Moore General correspondence | Rosenbach Museum & Library | |
| referencedIn | Willard Maas papers, Maas (Willard) Papers, 1931-1967 | John Hay Library, Special Collections | |
| creatorOf | Edith Sitwell Papers, 1943-1960 | Washington State University Libraries Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections (MASC) | |
| referencedIn | Elizabeth Jennings Papers | Boston College. John J. Burns Library | |
| referencedIn | Steegmuller, Francis Papers | Columbia University. Rare Book and Manuscript Library | |
| referencedIn | May Lamberton Becker Papers | Temple University Libraries Special Collections Research Center | |
| referencedIn | Manuscripts and proofs of New Directions books, 1937-1997. | Houghton Library | |
| referencedIn | W. H. Auden collection of papers, 1809-1979, 1927-1973 | The New York Public Library. Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature. | |
| referencedIn | Allen Tanner papers, 1902-1986 | Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library | |
| referencedIn | Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas papers, 1837-1961 | Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library | |
| referencedIn | Tribute to Walter De la Mare, Letters | Temple University Libraries Special Collections Research Center | |
| referencedIn | Janet Flanner and Solita Solano Papers, 1870-1976, (bulk 1955-1975) | Library of Congress. Manuscript Division | |
| referencedIn | Cleverdon mss. II, 1926-1988 | Lilly Library (Indiana University, Bloomington) | |
| referencedIn | Boston College Collection of the Alice and Wilfrid Meynell Family | Boston College. John J. Burns Library | |
| referencedIn | Inventory of The Legion Papers: Rare MSS 00149 ., 1927-1935 | Cushing Memorial Library, | |
| referencedIn | Vera Zorina papers | Harvard Theater Collection, Houghton Library, Harvard College Library, Harvard University | |
| referencedIn | Sir Stanley Unwin Letters, 1888, 1914-1966 | Washington State University Libraries Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections (MASC) | |
| creatorOf | Osbert Sitwell correspondence and compositions | Harvard University Archives. | |
| referencedIn | Photoprint and Letter | University of Virginia. Library. Special Collections Dept. | |
| referencedIn | James Purdy papers | Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library | |
| referencedIn | Harry Levin papers | Houghton Library | |
| referencedIn | Amy Bonner papers | Pennsylvania State University Libraries | |
| referencedIn | Carson McCullers papers | Duke University Archives | |
| referencedIn | Robert Byron Papers, 1866-2005, 1909-1941 | Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library | |
| referencedIn | Lytton Strachey collection of papers, 1904-1934 | The New York Public Library. Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature. | |
| referencedIn | Houghton Mifflin Company contracts, 1831-1979 (inclusive) 1880-1940 (bulk). | Houghton Library | |
| referencedIn | The Frederick and Rose Plaut Papers, 1907-1986 (inclusive) | Irving S. Gilmore Music Library | |
| referencedIn | Dylan Thomas Collection | Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center | |
| creatorOf | Edith Sitwell Papers | Princeton University Library | |
| creatorOf | Edith Sitwell Letters, 1930-1962 | University of Sussex Library | |
| creatorOf | Miscellaneous manuscripts | University of Pennsylvania, Archives & Records Center | |
| referencedIn | Gertrude Stein Collection, 1922-1955 | University of Virginia. Library. Special Collections Dept. | |
| referencedIn | John Bennett Shaw Collection of Printed Ephemera for Modern Authors | University of Notre Dame, Hesburgh Library | |
| referencedIn | Letters to Lincoln Kirstein, 1947-1976 | The New York Public Library. Jerome Robbins Dance Division. | |
| referencedIn | Volume of Manuscript Poems by Edith Sitwell (1887-1964), 1945-1951 | The University of Nottingham | |
| creatorOf | Edith Sitwell Correspondence | Texas Woman's University Library, Mary Evelyn Blagg-Huey Library | |
| referencedIn | The Gordon Bottomley Papers, 1773, 1831-1958, nd | British Library: Western Manuscripts | |
| referencedIn | Woodberry Poetry Room (Harvard College Library) poetry readings, 1931- (ongoing). | Woodberry Poetry Room, Houghton Library, Harvard College Library, Harvard University | |
| referencedIn | Denton Welch Papers | Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center | |
| referencedIn | English literature mss. | Lilly Library (Indiana University, Bloomington) | |
| referencedIn | Gertrude Lippincott collection of ballet music, ca. 1944-1964 | The New York Public Library. Music Division. | |
| referencedIn | Wyndham Lewis collection, 1877-1975 | Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library. | |
| referencedIn | Evelyn Waugh Collection TXRC99-A13., 1843-1994, (bulk 1910-1966) | Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center | |
| referencedIn | Morrill Cody (AC 1921) Papers, 1930-1969, 1958-1962 | Amherst College Archives and Special Collections | |
| referencedIn | John Russell papers | Pierpont Morgan Library. | |
| referencedIn | Poets' Theatre (Cambridge, Mass.) records | Houghton Library | |
| referencedIn | Philip Caraman, SJ papers | Boston College. John J. Burns Library | |
| referencedIn | Margaret Geddes Collection, 1932-1998 | The Women's Art Library (MAKE) | |
| referencedIn | Frederick R. Koch collection, 1640-1983 | Yale University Library | |
| referencedIn | Lincoln Kirstein papers, ca. 1914-1991 | The New York Public Library. Jerome Robbins Dance Division. | |
| referencedIn | B.S. Johnson Archive | British Library: Western Manuscripts | |
| referencedIn | Osbert Sitwell Collection | Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center | |
| referencedIn | Dunstan Thompson papers | Huntington Library, Art Collections & Botanical Gardens | |
| referencedIn | Virginia Woolf collection of papers, 1882-1984, 1912-1940 | The New York Public Library. Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature. | |
| referencedIn | Jack Harris Samuels English and American literary manuscripts and letters collection | Columbia University. Rare Book and Manuscript Library | |
| referencedIn | James Purdy papers, 1944-1973 | Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library | |
| referencedIn | Alan Steele: Letters to him, 20th century | Cambridge University Library, Department of Manuscripts and University Archives | |
| referencedIn | Edith Sitwell Letters (MS 121), 1918 | University of Colorado at Boulder Libraries. Special Collections Dept. | |
| creatorOf | Dame Edith Sitwell papers | Huntington Library, Art Collections & Botanical Gardens | |
| referencedIn | Charles Wrey Gardiner papers | Emory University. Special Collections and Archives | |
| referencedIn | Thomas Balston Papers of the Sitwells, 1924-1960 | Washington State University Libraries Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections (MASC) | |
| referencedIn | Edith, Osbert, and Sacheverell Sitwell Papers, 1917-1972 | Washington State University Libraries Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections (MASC) | |
| referencedIn | Thomas Hardy collection of papers, 1870-1964, 1870-1928 | The New York Public Library. Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature. | |
| referencedIn | Derek Parker Collection TXRC96-A45., 1955-1970 | Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center | |
| referencedIn | Plomer Collection, 1870-1973 (predominantly post-1920) | Durham University Library, Archives and Special Collections | |
| referencedIn | Banyan Press archive | Getty Research Institute | |
| referencedIn | Victoria Ocampo papers, 1908-1979. | Houghton Library | |
| referencedIn | Theodora Bosanquet papers, 1898-1960. | Houghton Library | |
| creatorOf | Sacheverell Sitwell Collection | Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center | |
| referencedIn | William James Jr. papers, 1857-1960 (inclusive), 1911-1959 (bulk). | Houghton Library | |
| referencedIn | Autograph File, S, 1556-1996. | Houghton Library | |
| referencedIn | Vanguard Press Records, ca.1925-ca.1985 | Columbia University. Rare Book and Manuscript Library | |
| creatorOf | Letter to the Editor of the Saturday Review of Literature | University of Virginia. Library. Special Collections Dept. |
Bibliographic and Digital Archival Resources
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| Place Name | Admin Code | Country | |
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| Scarborough | UK | ||
| London | ENG | GB |
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| Women authors |
| English literature |
| English poetry |
| Poets, English |
| Literature |
| Newberry Library Purchase Prize |
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| Women authors, English |
| Women poets, English |
| Occupation |
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| Women authors |
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Person
Birth 1887-09-07
Death 1964-12-09
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