| Description | This series contains correspondence received by Nicolson from a wide range of friends between 1932-1978, with the majority of the material dating from the 1930s to the 1950s. The letters are predominantly of a personal nature, with many including discussion of mutual friends and family. Letters received from Philip Toynbee, Nicolson's best friends, and Luisa Vertova, his wife, are particularly revealing in this regard covernig subjects such as relationships, marriage, children, religion, love and ageing.
Given that many of Nicolson's friends shared his love of art and were active in the field - many of the letters also contain discussion about related matters. In particular; views on works seen in public and private collections; artists; exhibitions; as well as research/writing projects etc. A small number of letters - mostly dating post 1940s - are exclusively concerned with professional matters, in particular Nicolson's work commissioning articles for the Burlington Magazine.
It is clear that the series is not comprehensive: it does not include all the correspondence received by Nicolson. Letters from his parents, for example, are almost entirely absent. Even within the existing files, it is clear that some letters are missing. It is not known why these particular letters were retained.
In some cases, the letters were not dated. In these instances, where the original envelopes had been retained, 'sent' dates have been recorded. In the absence of envelopes, it has often been possible to ascertain approximate dates from the journals and these have been recorded in square brackets.
Letters have been organised alphabetically by surname at the time of writing. Where appropriate, maiden and married names have also been included in the descriptions, so that searches on any variation of a name will retrieve all relevant material.
In many cases the letters are best read alongside the journals.
Apart from a file entitled 'received at Oxford', Nicolson had organised the letters alphabetically by correspondee. This arrangement has been retained. Correspondees with four letters or more have been given their own file. Correspondees with less than four letters have been added to a 'miscellaneous' file. There are three miscellaneous files: within these files, correspondence has been filed aphabetically by surname and first name (whichever is known).
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