Flora Anne Armitage (1911 - 1995) Author

She was born in Yorkshire, England. In her teens, she emigrated to the United States, living in Texas with her family. In 1945, she moved to New York City and began working for the British Information Services where she was employed until her retirement. Miss Armitage died in Webster, Texas, on February 6, 1995.

Miss Armitage was the author of three published novels: Sebastian (Garden City: Doubleday & Co., Inc., 1946); The Five Deceivers (New York: Dodd, Mead, 1963); and The Transformation of Mrs Arthur (New York: Dodd, Mead, 1966). She was most noted for her biography of T. E. Lawrence, The Desert and the Stars: a Portrait of T. E. Lawrence (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1955), that was also published in England and translated and published in three other languages. In addition, she was noted for her short fiction and essays published in the United Kingdom.

Miss Armitage also wrote, but did not publish, at least four other novels, a series of short stories, and some poetry. At her death, she was engaged in a biography of W. H. Hudson.

The collection consists of drafts and completed manuscripts of a series of unpublished short stories and novels, the manuscripts of her biography of T. E. Lawrence, and a large body of research notes and materials on W. H. Hudson, including copies of original letters of Hudson, documents, and photographs as well as drafts of the unpublished biography.

The collection was acquired in two parts: material relating to her biography of T. E. Lawrence was a gift of the author in 1956. The bulk of the collection was a gift of the estate of Flora Armitage through the good offices of Patricia Owen in 1995. It is contained in 3 boxes utilizing 3 linear feet of shelf space. There are no restrictions on the use of the collection.

Source: Wikipedia