THE HOPKIN COLLECTION OF LAWRENCE MATERIAL : THE LETTERS

Letters from David Herbert Richards Lawrence (1885-1930) and his wife Frieda (1879-1956) and from others connected with Lawrence addressed principally to William E. Hopkin (1862-1951), boot and shoe retailer, and his first wife Sallie (d.1922), of Eastwood, Notts. Include a letter from Frieda Lawrence to Ada Clarke, Lawrence's younger sister, and to Olive Lizzie ('Betty') Hopkin, William Hopkin's second wife.

The Hopkin Collection also contains around two hundred books by and concerning Lawrence (including many first editions presented to the Hopkins by Lawrence himself and signed by him). These were acquired by the County Library along with the letters and are housed at Eastwood Library. The letters were mounted soon after their acquisition in two leather-bound volumes by the Record Office on behalf of the County Library. The first volume contains letters from D.H. Lawrence and the second letters from Frieda Lawrence and others.

William and Sallie Hopkin were friends and champions of Lawrence at a time when he was very unpopular with the majority of Eastwood people

Records are open for consultation, unless otherwise stated

Items purchased from Mrs. Olive Lizzie ('Betty') Hopkin of Eastwood, Notts., by the Nottinghamshire County Library, County Hall, West Bridgford, Nottingham.

Handed to the County Council by Mrs. Hopkin at a ceremony at County Hall on 14 March 1966. Transferred to the Nottinghamshire Record Office in 1976