[Memorandum]
Inter-Office Correspondence
Department of Library
ToPrinceton Universityand EH's bequest;e8———Mr Clark, Mr Heyl,1 Mr Rice
FromDix, William Shepherd;a6—–William S. Dix
I attach a copy of the tentative agreement signed by Miss Emily Hale and stating the conditions governing the extensive file of T. S. Eliot correspondence which she has deposited with us. I am holding the signed original in my files. Willard Thorp believes this to be the richest file of Eliot letters in existence, and while this may be somewhat superlative it is certainly important.
ThereClark, Alexander P.and EH's Princeton bequest;a1 are two things which we should do at once: Mr Clark should have someone arrange the letters in folders in rough chronological sequence so that the nature of the collection will be apparent. MissHale, Emilycorrespondence with TSE;w3EH promises Princeton her statement on;j3 Hale has promised to write quite soon a background summary for retention with the collection. Then Mr Heyl should arrange for an independent appraisal, the cost to be borne by us. Since Miss Hale will probably want to spread the gift over several years, the appraiser should describe the material in such a way that a division into units for gift purposes may be made easily. This appraisal should be completed in time for Miss Hale to determine what portion of the collection she wants to present in this calendar year. We shall then follow the customary procedure of acknowledgment as we have done with the Reed, the Connett, and other collections.
1.Lawrence Heyl (b. 1893), Associate Librarian.
1.AlexanderClark, Alexander P. P. Clark, Curator of Manuscripts, Princeton University Library.
1.WilliamDix, William Shepherd Shepherd Dix (1910–78): Librarian, Princeton University, 1953–75. Having gained first degrees (BA and MA) at the University of Virginia, he earned a doctorate in American literature at the University of Chicago. After working first as a teacher and English instructor, he became Associate Professor of English and Librarian of Rice Institute, Houston, Texas (now Rice University), 1947–53. Resolutely opposed to censorship and intellectual constraint, he served as chair of the Intellectual Freedom Committee of the American Library Association (ALA), 1951–3; chair of the International Relations Committee, 1955–60; and President of the ALA, 1969–70. In addition, he was Executive Secretary, 1957–9, and President, 1962–3, of the Association of Research Libraries. Recognised as one of the topmost figures in librarianship, he was honoured by the American Library Association with the Dewey Medal, 1969, and the Lippincott Award, 1971.