Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

See the University of Virginia Library’s use policy.

Preferred Citation

Papers of H.G. Wells, Accession #2637, Special Collections Dept., University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Acquisition Information

This collection was purchased in December 1947.

Scope and Content Information

There are ca. 320 items, 1903-1914, chiefly letters of Amy "Jane" Catherine (Robbins) Wells, wife of Herbert George Wells (September 21, 1866 - August 13, 1946), and literary agents and book publishers, concerning the publication, copyright, and translation rights, of her husband's works. Among the correspondents are C. F. Cazenove, G. H. Perris, Arthur Waugh (1866-1943), and Horace Horsnell (1882-1949).

Correspondence, 1907-1914, of the Literary Agency of London on behalf of H. G. Wells, contains letters chiefly of C. F. Cazenove, head of the Agency, with Arthur Waugh, managing director of the publishing house of Chapman & Hall, Ltd., E. Clement Scott, acting editor of London Magazine , and other editors and publishers. There are also copies of letters, 1910-1914, from Cazenove to H. G. and Catherine Wells. Other letters, 1903-1913, are of G. H. Perris, agent of the Agency, with Filson Young and Arthur Mee (1875- ), literary editors of Daily Mail , London; Clement K[ing] Shorter (1857-1926), of The Sphere , London; and, Eugen Diederichs, publisher, Jena, Germany. There are also copies of letters, 1910-1913, from Perris to H. G. and Catherine Wells. Works represented in this correspondence include: A Modern Utopia, The War in the Air, The New Machiavelli, New Worlds for Old, First and Last Things, The Future in America , and articles or short stories.

Correspondence, 1905-1908, of H. G. Wells with publishers and others, pertain to the publication of his books and articles, and translation rights. On November 18, 1906, Wells wrote to Arthur Waugh, director of Chapman & Hall, Ltd., calling his "publication of The Future in America ineffectual and unbusinesslike," and declaring his intention to pursue a legal opinion on the matter. Waugh answers Wells' accusations in his letter of November 23, 1906, explaining the details of the advertisement and poor sales of the book. A letter, September 17, 1906, from D. W. Sutherland of the Daily Dispatch , requesting that Wells contribute occasional articles on topics relating to socialism. Other requests for articles are from The Daily Graphic, The Evening News, Funk and Wagnalls Company , and The Home Messenger . Correspondence in September 1906 with S[amuel] S[idney] McClure (1857- ) concerns an idea for "a series of papers which give a clear conception of just what Socialism demands of modern civilisation" to be presented in McClure's Magazine . There is also correspondence, 1905-1907, of L. Simons, editor and director of Wereld-Bibliotheek (World-Library) , Amsterdam, Holland, chiefly concerning the translating into Dutch and the publishing of the works of Wells, including A Modern Utopia, The Food of the Gods and New World for Olds , as well as other of his scientific romances and character novels. There is also a memorandum of agreement, September 29, 1905, between H. G. Wells and The Maatschappy Voor Goede en Goedkoope Lectuur (Association for the distribution of Good and cheap literature) at Amsterdam, directors G. Schreuders and L. Simons, concerning the Dutch translations.

There are ca. 230 letters, 1905-1911, of Amy Catherine Robbins Wells and Horace Horsnell with C. F. Cazenove and G. H. Perris, on behalf of H. G. Wells. Horsnell was a critic, playwright, and novelist from Sussex, England, who assisted Mrs. Wells in literary matters concerning the works of H. G. Wells. These letters are quite numerous and detailed in their content pertaining to different aspects of publishing and translating the works of H. G. Wells, contract negotiations between Wells and publishers, and related matters.