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Havelock Ellis: An Annotated Selected Bibliography of Primary and Secondary Works
- English Literature in Transition, 1880-1920
- ELT Press
- Volume 9, Number 2, 1966
- pp. 55-107
- Article
- Additional Information
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55 Havelock Ellis: An Annotated Selected Bîbliography of Pr i mary and Secondary Works, Compiled and Annotated by Glenn S. Burne (Harpur College, State University of New York) Introduction It is not surprising that Havelock Ellis's fame as a controversial psychologist of sex has obscured his role as literary critic, editor, and translator. In the less sensational world of literary activity he is remembered chiefly as the editor of the Mermaid drama series and author of THE NEW I)PiKIT, THE DANCE OF LIFE, and perhaps a few other studies in social ô;hI literary criticism. A bibliography of Ellis reveals, however, a remarkable range of literary and scholarly work, much of which has slipped into an undeserved obscurity* Most of this work was well received by his contemporaries and remains of considerable interest to us today. It is not unusual to find him publishing, in any one year, studies, translations, and reviews of belles-lettres of ¿everôi rations (he read German, French, Italian, and Spanish): studies of Zola, Nietzsche, Casanova, the population problem, the nature of "genius" in any number of Tu;opean countries, the art of the dance, socialism—along with technical studies of sexual inversion or "hypnogogic paramnesia^" He produced over two hundred articles and reviews, about thirty-five editions and introductions, a dozen translations, and more than fifty books (some of which, to be sure, were reprîntings of earlier writings). Since nearly all of his writings have some humanistic if no: actually literary importance, I have excluded from this compilation only work of a strict^y and clearly medical nature. (Anyone interested can find these listed, up to 1928, id the bibliography of Houston Peterson's HAVELOCK ELLiS.) All of his studies in psychology and anthopology are included—along with works on population control, "social hygiene," and such. In the section devoted to works about Ellis I have given most attention, however, to commentaries dealing with him as a man of letters and social philosopher, though these are far outnumbered by discussions of his contributions to sex psychology. Most of the articles dealing with Ellis are review articles, or pieces written "a propos" of some specific work recently published. There are few studies of him as a man of letters, apart from some occasion which drew the critic's attention to him. Most of these have little new or especially revealing to offer; they tend to echo one. another or to run to absurd extremes of condemnation or praise. But Ellis was fortunate in having several critics and philosophers of the first rank treat his writings seriously and sympatheticaIIy. if not with total admiration: Joseph Wood Krutch, Bertrand Russell., H. L, Mencken, Bernard DeVoto, Robert Morss Lovett, Oscar Cargill, Marl- Van Doren, Arthur Symons -to name a few of those who offer the best evaluations of Ellis's stature as thinker and writer. Ellis's books of literary criticism are almost always collections of previously published articles--sometinnes reprintec in original form and sometimes revised, sometimes bearing the same title and sometimes not, Only close examination and comparison of texts can enable the reader tc distinguish originals from revisions, especially as Ellis and his editors did not always indicate where and when material had been previously published. Also, the Some article was occasionally published in different journals at nearly the same time (eg, in the NATION [Lond] and THE LIVING AGE). Often introductions were originally separate articles and vice-versa. 56 Indicating reprintings, revisions, and simultaneous publication is therefore one of the principal concerns of this bibliography. In the interests of space I have used a number of abbreviations of titles: FROM R TO P (FROM ROUSSEAU TO PROUST), FROM M TO S (FROM MARLOWE TO SHAW), IMP S- COMM (IMPRESSIONS AND COMMENTS), STUDIES (STUDIES IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SEX), PHIL OF CONF (PHILOSOPHY OF CONFLICT), LITTLE ESSAYS and MORE ESSAYS (LITTLE ESSAYS OF LOVE AND VIRTUE and MORE ESSAYS OF LOVE AND VIRTUE). Other abbreviations should be self-explanatory. In the section listing works about Ellis, the commentary reproduces, in precis form, the gist of the original article and retains, as far as possible, the language and tone of its author. My...