Manuscripts

Christopher Isherwood letters to John Zeigel

Description: Six typed letters, signed, from Christopher Isherwood to John Zeigel, who was living in Jalisco, Mexico, at the time. Most were sent from Isherwood's home in Santa Monica, California, though a few were written during a trip to London. Letters discuss Isherwood's current literary projects, publishing, teaching, and travels, his partner Don Bachardy's artistic career, and friends including W.H. Auden and Gerald Heard. The last letter is dated November 9 but has no year; it is likely from November 1962, soon after the death of Zeigel's partner Ed Halsey.
Type: Manuscripts(Opens in new tab)
Date: 1961-1962
Call number: mssCIJZ
Creator: Isherwood, Christopher (1904-1986)(Opens in new tab)
Provenance: Purchased from Big Star Books and Music, January 2022.
Restrictions: Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more information.
Rights: The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining permission rests with the researcher.
Find out more: View in the Library catalog(Opens in new tab); View in the Online Archive of California(Opens in new tab)

Christopher Isherwood letters to John Zeigel

Manuscripts

Six typed letters, signed, from Christopher Isherwood to John Zeigel, who was living in Jalisco, Mexico, at the time. Most were sent from Isherwood's home in Santa Monica, California, though a few were written during a trip to London. Letters discuss Isherwood's current literary projects, publishing, teaching, and travels, his partner Don Bachardy's artistic career, and friends including W.H. Auden and Gerald Heard. The last letter is dated November 9 but has no year; it is likely from November 1962, soon after the death of Zeigel's partner Ed Halsey.

mssCIJZ

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Christopher Isherwood letters to Jack Rosen

Manuscripts

The collection consists of eight postcards and one note written by Christopher Isherwood to Jack Rosen of Portland, Oregon. The correspondence refers to Isherwood's and Don Bachardy's creative output, and several works including A Meeting By the River, Exhumations, Cabaret, Frankenstein: The True Story, Kathleen and Frank, My Guru and His Disciple, and others; Isherwood also mentions his friends W. H. Auden, Igor Stravinsky, and Vera Stravinsky. The postcards are autograph or typewritten and are all written from Santa Monica, California, the home of Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy. The collection also includes one empty envelope postmarked January 15, 1975.

mssCIJR

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Christopher Isherwood letters to Rachel and Dorothy Monkhouse

Manuscripts

This collection contains five letters written by Christopher Isherwood, one letter to Dorothy Monkhouse and four letters to Rachel Monkhouse. There is also a copy of "All the Conspirators," Isherwood's first novel, inscribed to Rachel. The correspondence between Isherwood and Rachel discusses Isherwood's novel being accepted by publisher Jonathan Cape, Isherwood looking for a new place to live, arranging a visit between Isherwood and Rachel, and Rachel's new farm. The letter between Isherwood and Dorothy expresses Isherwood's condolences on the death of Dorothy's husband Allen. Isherwood's letters were sent from Kensington, England; Berlin, Germany; and Sao Pedro, Portugal.

mssCIMonk

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Christopher Isherwood letters to Rachel and Dorothy Monkhouse

Manuscripts

This collection contains five letters written by Christopher Isherwood, one letter to Dorothy Monkhouse and four letters to Rachel Monkhouse. There is also a copy of "All the Conspirators," Isherwood's first novel, inscribed to Rachel Monkhouse. The correspondence between Isherwood and Rachel discusses Isherwood's novel being accepted by publisher Jonathan Cape, Isherwood looking for a new place to live, arranging a visit between Isherwood and Rachel, and Rachel's new farm. The letter between Isherwood and Dorothy expresses Isherwood's condolences on the death of Dorothy's husband Allen. Isherwood's letters were sent from Kensington, England; Berlin, Germany; and Sao Pedro, Portugal.

mssCIMonk

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Christopher Isherwood letters to John B.L. Goodwin

Manuscripts

Three letters from Christopher Isherwood to the American author and poet, John B.L. Goodwin. HM 83696, autograph letter written from London, England (Sep. 18, 1961) ; HM 83697, typewritten letter written from Santa Monica, Calif. (Sep. 23, [1963]) ; HM 83698, also a typewritten letter from Santa Monica (Aug. 30, [1964]). The letters discuss mutual friends John Osborne, Somerset Maugham, Tony Richardson, and Don Bachardy; also Isherwood's current work: Down There on a Visit (1962), A Single Man (1964), the screenplay for The Loved One (1964), Ramakrishna and His Disciples (1965), and Goodwin's book, A View of Fuji (1963). All letters are in excellent condition; HM 83697 contains autograph notes in red ink on the bottom of the page.

mssHM 83696-83698

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Lehman, John, 1907-. 3 letters (1973-1975) to Christopher Isherwood, 1904-

Manuscripts

The collection includes drafts of most of Isherwood's works, as well as book reviews, essays, interviews and travel narratives; the collection also includes extensive correspondence files containing letters from W. H. Auden, Don Bachardy, Truman Capote, E. M. Forster, John Lehmann, Stephen Spender, Edward Upward, Gore Vidal, Tennessee Williams, and others. The correspondence files also contain the letters of Isherwood's parents, Frank Bradshaw-Isherwood and Kathleen Bradshaw-Isherwood, as well as diaries kept by Kathleen, containing references to the first World War. The correspondence files deal with the literary works of Isherwood and others, male homosexuality, Isherwood's interest in Hinduism, World War One and World War Two among other subjects. Also included are important series of poems and other literary manuscripts by Auden and Spender, audiovisual material, photographs and negatives, a scrapbook and ephemera. A box of Addenda was added to the collection in 2020, it contains manuscripts, photographs, printed material, and ephemera.

CI 1651, 1655, 1659.

Christopher Isherwood letters to John Zeigel

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Christopher Isherwood letters to John Zeigel

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Lehman, John, 1907-. 3 letters (1973-1975) to Christopher Isherwood, 1904-