| Admin/Biog History | Jocelyn Baines (1924-1972) was a literary biographer who worked in publishing. His acclaimed book on Joseph Conrad was published in 1959, after which he worked for series of publishing firms including Foyle's and Sotheran's, Longman's and Thomson's. When he died suddenly at the age of 48, he was managing Director of the antiquarian bookseller, Bernard Quaritch.
The Nicolson Archive does not document when or how Nicolson and Baines first met, but they were certainly well acquainted by 1949. Indeed, in Nicolson's diary of the same year, and in some of the correspondence, it is clear that they were very close. When, in 1955, Nicolson announced his intention to marry, Baines suggested that he might occupy a flat within the marital home. Nicolson wrote Baines' obituary for the Times in 1972. |
| Description | Includes correspondence of a personal nature concerning friendship; relationships; and arrangements to socialise.
Of particular note:
-four letters written in July & August 1955 concerning Baines' voyage to America; sharing a cabin with John Heath-Stubbs; studying at Yale, 'a gothic phantasmagorica'; Nicolson's forhcoming marriage to Luisa Vertova; Baines' announcement that he will be married too and the proposal that the two couples share a flat
-two undated letters concerning Baines' holiday to Italy, during which he visited Bernard Berenson
Also includes a newspaper cutting of Baines' obituary, written by Nicolson, published in the Times, 1 December 1972, and three letters of condolence sent to Nicolson from Francesca Wilson, Ethel Mannin and Richard [?]. |