Scope and content
Material for a biography of Robert Edward Dell, 1895-1973, collected by his elder
daughter Sylvia Blelloch in the 1960s, notably family correspondence, 1854-1940, mainly
between Dell and his wife and daughters; general correspondence to Robert and Sylvia
Dell, 1889-1973, with correspondents including Edmund Bishop concerning Catholic affairs,
Clifford Sharpe, Dorothy Frances Buxton (wife of Charles Roden Buxton), Joseph Cailleux
(French Minister of Finance), Herbert George Wells, Rabbi Stephen Wise (Rabbi of the
Free Synagogue, New York), Maxim Litvinov (Soviet Foreign Minister), Edgar Algernon
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, Viscount Cecil of Chelwood (President of the League of Nations
Union), and Diana Sheean (wife of James Vincent Sheean); letters and press cuttings
relating to the publication of Germany unmasked(Martin Hopkinson, London, 1934) and The Geneva racket, 1920-1939(Robert Hale, London, 1921), 1934-1973; papers concerning Dell's relations with Anatole
France, [1913-1939], including typescript copies and photocopies of correspondence
between the two, [1913-1922], material relating to the Cercle Carre, and a typescript
of part of 'Anatole France as I knew him' by Dell, [1930-1939]; rough draft of an
autobiography by Dell, [1930-1940]; typescript articles by Dell, 1900-1940, mainly
concerning European politics following World War One, especially relating to Germany
and France, and the build up to World War Two; published pamphlets and articles by
Dell, 1899-1940, notably relating to Catholicism, foreign affairs, and the Geneva
League Assembly; biographical material relating to Dell, [1950s-1960s], including
papers relating to Dell's membership of the Fabian Society, his work as Editor of
the Surrey Mirror, his work as a Catholic modernist, as well as photographs, certificates and correspondence
of Sylvia Blelloch relating to her research.
Record creators history
Born 1865; joined Fabian Society, 1889; received into the Roman Catholic Church, 1897;
Editor, Surrey
Mirror, 1892-1900; Editor, Review of the Week, 1900-1902; Acting Editor, The Connoisseur, 1902-[1906]; settled in Paris as a journalist and picture dealer, 1906, where he
remained throughout the war; Paris correspondent, Manchester Guardian; expelled from France, 1918; Foreign correspondent for the Manchester Guardianand other newspapers in Geneva, 1920-1921, Berlin, 1922-1924, Paris, 1925-1932, and
Geneva, 1932-1939; his writings were controversialist from a variously Catholic modernist,
socialist, pacifist and anti-fascist perspective; died in New York, 1940.
Publications: Anglo-French relations: the policy of the Union of Democratic Control(Union of Democratic Control, London, 1920 ); Germany unmasked: on Germany under the National-Socialist regime(Martin Hopkinson, London, 1934); My second country, France(John Lane, London and New York, 1920); Socialism and personal liberty(Leonard Parsons, London, 1921); The Catholic Church and the social question(Catholic Press Co, London, 1899); translator of Disestablishment in France(T Fisher Unwin, London, 1906); The left bank of the Rhine(Union of Democratic Control, 1919); The Geneva racket, 1920-1939(Robert Hale, London, 1921).
Archival history
Given by the family in 1967, 1968, 1970, 1972 and 1973. The Buxton correspondence
was given via Professor Keith Robbins in 1971.
Processing information
Sources: British Library of Political and Economic Science catalogue; British Library
On-Line Public Access Catalogue 97. Compiled by Sarah Aitchison as part of the RSLP
AIM25 project.
System of arrangement
Arranged in sections as follows: family correspondence, general correspondence, papers
relating to Anatole France, autobiography, typescript articles, published articles,
and biographical material.
Conditions governing access
Conditions governing reproduction
Rights to access and re-use digital objects:
Unknown
Copyright held by British Library of Political and Economic Science. Most documents
may be photocopied.
Other finding aids
Printed handlist and on-line catalogue available.
Related material
The BLPES holds a letters from Robert Dell in the papers of George Bernard Shaw (Ref:
Shaw/16/9).
Extent
8 boxes
Keywords
Subjects:
Ancient religions
Catholicism
Christianity
Collectivism
Foreign relations
International conflicts
International relations
Journalism
Pacifism
Political doctrines
Political science
Politics
Religions
Socialism
War
World War One (1914-1918)
World wars (events)
World War Two (1939-1945)
Wars (events)
Geographic names:
France
Geneva Switzerland
Germany
Surrey England
London England
Personal names:Bishop, Edmund, 1846-1917, liturgiologist and theologian Blelloch Sylvia nee Dell fl 1900 Buxton, Dorothy Frances, fl 1904-1940, wife of Charles Roden Buxton Cailleux, Joseph, fl 1906-1918, French politician Cecil, Edgar Algernon Robert, Gascoyne-, 1864-1958, Viscount Cecil of Chelwood, politician
and diplomat Dell Robert Edward 1865-1940 journalist France, Anatole, 1844-1924, French writer, pseudonym of Jacques Anatole François Thibault Litvinov, Maxim, 1876-1951, Soviet politician Sheean, Diana, fl 1935-1946, wife of James Vincent Sheean Wells, Herbert George, 1866-1946, author Wise, Stephen S, 1874-1949, Rabbi of the Free Synagogue, New York
Corporate names: Cercle Carre Fabian Society Geneva League Assembly League of Nations Surrey Mirror, newspaper
Language of the material
English
Record creator
Dell, Robert Edward, 1865-1940, journalist
Content provider
British Library of Political and Economic Science