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Mare, Walter de la, 1873-1956 (poet and writer)

 Person

Staff Only

Dates

  • Existence: 1873 - 1956

Biography

The poet, novelist, and anthologist Walter De La Mare was born in Charleton, Kent, on 25 April 1873. He was educated at St. Paul's Cathedral Choristers' School in London. From 1890 until 1908, De La Mare worked for the Anglo-American Oil Company in London. However, after the appearance in 1902 of his Songs of childhood, under the pseudonym of Walter Ramal, he spent more and more time writing and his first novel Henry Brocken was published in 1904. A large output of poems, stories, novels, books for children and anthologies continued throughout the rest of his life. His production includes Poems (1906), The return (1910), The listeners (1912), Peacock pie (1913), Memoirs of a midget (1921), Come hither (1923), Behold, this dreamer (1939), The Burning Glass (1945), The Traveller (1946), Inward Companion (1950), and O Lovely England (1953). He was made Companion of Honour in 1948, and received the Order of Merit in 1953. Walter De La Mare died in Twickenham on 22 June 1956. He was buried in St. Paul's Cathedral.

Found in 2 Collections and/or Records:

Letter from Walter de la Mare to Nancy Bowden, 5 May 1947

 Item
Identifier: Coll-1848/23-0189
Scope and Contents This is a typed signed letter (two lines in holograph) from Walter de la Mare to Nancy Bowden, dated The Old Park, Penn, 5 May 1947. De la Mare writes to Bowden of his "particular pleasure" in receiving her previous letter in which she wrote how she "discovered and with so much delight and interest Charlotte Mew's poems". De la Mare offers a few lines about Mew's life and poetry: "As Mr Masefield says, it is possible that her two Collections were not reprinted because she did not wish them...
Dates: 5 May 1947
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Smaller acquisitions collection

Letters from Walter De la Mare to Mary Somervell

 Fonds
Identifier: Coll-2944
Scope and Contents This collection consists of seven thirteen letters and a postcard sent by Walter de la Mare to Mary Somervell, dated 1922-1948. Ten autograph letters signed, three typed letters signed, and one small postcard in an envelope. Also includes the letters' envelopes.Mary Somervell (née Beresford) was a deeply religious woman who suffered from poor mental health throughout her life. She was also an aspiring poet, and had befriended Walter de la Mare. In their correspondence, de la Mare...
Dates: 1922-1948
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections