Vanessa Bell Letters to Madge Vaughan: Finding Aid mssHM 57535-57553
Gayle M. Richardson
The Huntington Library
December 2023
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Business Number: (626) 405-2191
reference@huntington.org
Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: Vanessa Bell letters to Madge Vaughan
Creator:
Bell, Vanessa,
1879-1961
Identifier/Call Number: mssHM 57535-57553
Physical Description:
1.25 Linear Feet
(1 box)
Date (inclusive): 1900-1920
Abstract: A collection of letters from Vanessa
Bell, English painter, to her friend Madge Vaughan.
Language of Material: Materials are in
English.
Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at
the Huntington Library for more information.
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
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necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
[Identification of item]. Vanessa Bell letters to Madge Vaughan, The Huntington Library,
San Marino, California.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased from Sotheby's (lot 232), December 1980.
Vanessa (Stephen) Bell (1879-1961) was a British painter, interior designer, and a central
figure in the Bloomsbury group -- a group of friends, artists, writers, and intellectuals
united around a belief in the importance of the arts. She was the sister of author Virginia
Woolf and the wife of art critic Clive Bell whom she married in 1907. The Bells had two sons
Julian Bell and Quentin Bell; the couple also had an open marriage and Vanessa Bell had a
daughter, Angelica, with the painter Duncan Grant.
A collection of letters, primarily from Vanessa Bell to her friend Margaret "Madge" Symonds
Vaughan; the letters discuss their families, friends, and other personal subjects. There are
numerous references to Virginia Woolf scattered throughout the letters, and three letters in
particular discuss Virginia at length and give details relating to her 1904 breakdown. The
collection also includes two letters from Margaret Vaughan, sister-in-law of Madge
Vaughan.
Processed by Rebecca Tuttle in April 1998; in December 2023, Gayle M. Richardson created
the finding aid.
Arranged chronologically.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Bloomsbury group
English literature -- 20th century
Letters (correspondence)
Vaughan, Margaret, 1863-1934
Vaughan, Margaret Symonds, 1869-1925
Woolf, Virginia,
1882-1941
Box 1, Folder 1-19
Vanessa Bell letters to Madge Vaughan 1900-1920