Henry Havelock Ellis papers

Abstract: Ellis' papers largely consist of handwritten letters from him to others and annotated handwritten or typed manuscripts, often with editing marks. The main correspondents represented include O. Kyllam of Constable & Co. and John F. Kendrick. Topics of both letters and manuscripts include but are not limited to Freud, eugenics, sexuality, racial characterizations of nations, Ellis' own biographical information, publishing and writing/editing (especially Ellis' Art of Life and Sex and Marriage, published posthumously), birth control, Thomas Hardy, John Middleton Murray, Eleanor Marx, and William Morris. Includes both original materials and photocopies, and the bulk of the materials date from the 1920s and 1930s. Ellis' handwriting can be difficult to read.

Summary: The papers of Henry Havelock Ellis, a British psychologist who studied human sexuality, consist of handwritten letters and annotated handwritten or typed manuscripts, often with editing marks. The main correspondents represented include O. Kyllam of Constable & Co. and John F. Kendrick. Topics of both letters and manuscripts include, but are not limited to Freud, eugenics, sexuality, racial characterizations of nations, Ellis' own biographical information, publishing and writing/editing (especially Ellis' Art of Life and Sex and Marriage, published posthumously), birth control, Thomas Hardy, John Middleton Murray, Eleanor Marx, and William Morris. These papers are part of the historic psychiatry material in the Menninger Archives.

Biog. Sketch (Full): Henry Havelock Ellis was born 2 February 1859 in Croydon, England, the son of Edward Peppern and Susannah Mary Ellis. At the age of 19, Henry went with his father to teach in the Australian outback. After returning to the United Kingdom in 1879, he became a medical student in Southwark, at St. Thomas's Hospital.

In early 1884, Ellis was one of the founding members of the Fabian Society, a socialist debating club. His first book, The New Spirit, was published in 1890, and he married Edith Lees in 1891. Ellis continued writing and publishing, on such topics as a national health system and particularly on sexuality and the psychology of sex.

Henry H. Ellis retired to Suffolk, where he died on 8 July 1939.