Dear readers,
we are absolutely thrilled to announce the imminent publication of Volume IV of Selected Letters of Vernon Lee, 1856-1935, edited by Sophie Geoffroy and Amanda Gagel, with the precious contributions of Christa Zorn (contributing editor and translator of Lee’s letters written in German) and Crystal J. Hall (translator of Lee’s letters written in Italian). Lee’s letters originally in French were translated by Sophie Geoffroy. The book will be available for pre-order on August 31, 2026 on the publisher’s website. The editors, Sophie and Mandy, will present it at the Vernon Lee Conference in Liverpool in September 1-3, 2026, where we look forward to meeting you all!
After Volume I with the 309 letters collected from 1865 to 1884, Volume II with the 421 letters collected from 1885 to 1889, and Volume III with the 429 letters collected from 1890 to 1896, we are presenting here no fewer than 536 letters—including 119 letters in French, seven letters in Italian and five letters in German—written in the course of seven years by Vernon Lee, aged 41 to 48. They cover several European countries, and beyond, and are complete with a critical apparatus.
In this volume, Lee’s Correspondents include (alphabetical order):
Clementina Anstruther-Thomson; Maurice Baring; Charles Frederic Moberly Bell (the editor of the London Times); Alfred William Benn; Bernard Berenson; Mary (Costelloe) Berenson; Guido Biagi; Marie-Thérèse Blanc (“Th. Bentzon”); Henry (“Harry”) Brewster; Augustine Bulteau (“Toche”) (pseud. “Cleg”, “Jacque Vontade”, “Foemina”); Alice Callander; Lady Ottoline Cavendish-Bentinck (Morrell); Arnaldo Cervesato; Princess Anna Barberini Corsini; Prince Tommaso Corsini; Donna Elisabetta (“Tinna”) Corsini; Anna de Noailles; Elizabeth Nelson Fairchild (Mrs Charles Fairchild); Annie Adams Fields; Richard Garnett; Nerina Gigliucci; Edmund Gosse; Daniel Halévy; Mrs Christian Head (Cameron-Head); Mathilde Hecht; Annie E. Holdsworth (“Max Beresford”) (later Mrs Lee-Hamilton); Elbert Hubbard; Sarah Orne Jewett; John Lane; Eugene Lee- Hamilton; Dugald Sutherland McColl; Carlo Placci; Suzanne Hecht (Pontremoli); Mario Pratesi; Gaetano Salvemini; Telemaco Signorini; Stephen Sommier; Gabriella Spaletti; Isabella Stewart Gardner; Mona Taylor; Yvonne Vernon, Comtesse Sabini; Lady Evelyn Vesey, Viscountess de Vesci; Maria Krebs (later Waser); Herbert George (H.G.) Wells; Edith Wharton; Evelyn Wimbush; Lady Louisa Wolseley; Helen Zimmern.
We are particularly grateful to the many archives whose help made this project possible. Special thanks are due to the Vernon Lee Archive in the Miller Library at Colby College, Waterville, Maine, and to Patricia Burdick, Maggie Libby, Erin Rhodes and Kathryn Donohue for their continued support over the years. This book is as much a tribute to Vernon Lee, her friends and her correspondents, as to the guardians of literary treasures around the world: archivists, librarians and… readers too!
