Leverson, Ada

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English novelist.

From the description of Letters from Edith, Osbert and Sacheverell Sitwell, ca. 1920-1935. (Washington State University). WorldCat record id: 29852975

Epithet: novelist, friend of Oscar Wilde

British Library Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue : Person : Description : ark:/81055/vdc_100000001083.0x00001e

Ada Leverson, 1859-1936, was an English novelist who belonged to London's world of wealth and fashion. Her six novels were published between 1907 and 1916; they belong to Edwardian era.

She married early, becoming Mrs. Ernest Leverson. She had a son who died when a small boy. Her one daughter, Violet, married Guy Windham and has written a biography of her mother, The Sphinx and Her Circle.

She was a friend of the artists and writers of her time from Oscar Wilde to the Sitwells. It was Wilde who gave her the nickname "Sphinx". This is the title of one of Oscar Wilde's poems, "The Sphinx", that Ada parodied. From then on Oscar always called her "Sphinx", and the name stuck.

In her later years, she spent time abroad, particularly in Italy, where she passed the time in the company of the Sitwells. By this time, she had grown distressingly deaf.

In 1935 while returning to London from Florence, she was struck down by illness. She died in 1936 at the age of 71.

From the guide to the Ada Leverson Letters from Sitwells, ca. 1920-1935, (Washington State University Libraries Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections)

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf Wilde, Oscar, 1854-1900. Telegrams to Ada Leverson, 1893-1895. Houghton Library
creatorOf Vol. CXXI. 1918.Alexander Galt Ross, brother of Robert Baldwin Ross: Lewis and Lewis; solicitors: Letter from Lewis and Lewis to Alexander Galt Ross: 1918.Robert Baldwin Ross, literary executor of Oscar Wilde: H. Clifford Smith, of Campden Hill Squar..., 1918 British Library
creatorOf Sitwell, Osbert, 1892-1969. Osbert Sitwell Collection, 1887-1969. Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center
creatorOf Beerbohm, Max, Sir, 1872-1956. Max Beerbohm letters and memorabilia, 1900-1972. Pennsylvania State University Libraries
creatorOf Vol. CXXIII. 1924-1933.A. S. Hope, friend of Alexander Galt Ross: Letters to A. G. Ross: 1924-1926.Sidney Fenold, of the Savile Club: Letter to A. G. Ross: 1926.E. O. Pope, secretary, United University Club: Letter to A. G. Ross: 1924.Margaret Storm ..., 1924-1933 British Library
creatorOf Vol. CXXIX. n.d.Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree, actor-manager: Robert Baldwin Ross, literary executor of Oscar Wilde: Letters to Robert Baldwin Ross from Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree: 1911-1918, n.d.: Partly typewritten.Sir Max Beerbohm, author and cartoonis... British Library
referencedIn Oscar Wilde and his Literary Circle Collection: Correspondence, 1819, 1849-1957, 1962 William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, UCLA
referencedIn Maugham, W. Somerset (William Somerset), 1874-1965. W. Somerset Maugham collection, 1897-1956. Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
referencedIn Houghton Library. Houghton Library printed book provenance file, L-Q. 1942. Houghton Library
referencedIn Maugham, W. Somerset (William Somerset), 1874-1965. W. Somerset Maugham collection, 1897-1956. Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
creatorOf James, Henry, 1843-1916. Papers of Henry James [manuscript], 1876-1915, 1930-1939. University of Virginia. Library
referencedIn Oscar Wilde and his Literary Circle Collection: Manuscripts and Miscellaneous Materials, 1854-1962 William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, UCLA
creatorOf Eccles Bequest. Vol. LXXIV. Correspondence of Oscar Wilde with the following; 1888-1900. 1. Elizabeth Robins Parks; 1888-1895.2 Leonard C. Smithers; 1888-1899.3. Robert Baldwin Ross; 1889-1898.4. Ada and Ernest Leverson; 1892-1895.5. George Bernard S..., 1888-1900 British Library
creatorOf Leverson, Ada. Correspondence with Theodore Dreiser, 1911-1912. University of Pennsylvania Libraries, Van Pelt Library
creatorOf Ada Leverson Letters from Sitwells, ca. 1920-1935 Washington State University Libraries Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections (MASC)
referencedIn Eccles Bequest. Vol. CLXVI. Portraits, etc., of Oscar Wilde; [1878-1985], n.d. Includes: caricatures:― drawings, including pen and ink drawing by James Edward Kelly inscribed 'To Dr Marcus M. Benjamin from his friend Kelly. I sketched Oscar Wilde fro..., 1878-1985 British Library
referencedIn George Moore collection of papers, 1879]-[1935, 1889-1933 The New York Public Library. Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature.
creatorOf SUPPLEMENTARY ABERCONWAY PAPERS. Vol. II A (ff. 130.) 1. Letters from: Maurice Baring, 1921: -John Christie, 1939: -C.B. Cochran, 1927: -Ada Leverson, 1927, n.d.: -Andrée and Dugald Sutherland Maccoll, 1945-1948: -A.E.W. Mason, 1927?, 1939?: -S..., 1911-1956 British Library
creatorOf Wilde, Oscar, 1854-1900. Collection, 1851-1957 (bulk 1877-1957). Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center
creatorOf Leverson, Ada. Letters from Edith, Osbert and Sacheverell Sitwell, ca. 1920-1935. Washington State University, Holland and Terrell Libraries
referencedIn Robert Baldwin Ross Collection, 1888-1951 University of California, Los Angeles. Library. William Andrews Clark Memorial Library
creatorOf Beerbohm, Max, Sir, 1872-1956. ALS : Rouen, France, to Ada Leverson, [ca. 1895]. Rosenbach Museum & Library
referencedIn W. Somerset Maugham collection, 1897-1956 Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Beerbohm, Max, Sir, 1872-1956. person
associatedWith Houghton Library. person
associatedWith James, Henry, 1843-1916. person
associatedWith Maugham, W. Somerset (William Somerset), 1874-1965. person
associatedWith Moore, George, 1852-1933 person
associatedWith Ross, Robert Baldwin 1869-1918 person
correspondedWith Sitwell, Edith, 1887-1964 person
associatedWith Sitwell, Osbert, 1892-1969. person
correspondedWith Sitwell, Sacheverell, 1897-1988 person
associatedWith Wilde, Oscar, 1854-1900. person
associatedWith William Andrews Clark Memorial Library corporateBody
Place Name Admin Code Country
Subject
Authors, English
Literature
Occupation
Authors, English
Activity

Person

Birth 1862-10-10

Death 1933-08-30

Britons

English

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