FRAZ/1-4 consists of four boxes containing just over 575 letters, most of them addressed to J. G. Frazer. The letters span 1888-1941, but the bulk date from the 1920s and 1930s, and primarily concern Frazer’s works and related personal business. An alphabetic sequence of letters spans the four boxes, preceded by a shorter one of 62 letters in FRAZ/1, and succeeded by a collection of 110 letters written to congratulate Frazer on the award of the Order of Merit in FRAZ/4. FRAZ/1 is unusual in that it includes the only original letters from J. G. Frazer in the papers (29 of them: Items 4-29, 39, 42-43); there are also thirteen typed copies of his letters in this box (Items 44-54, 82 and 84) dating from the 1930s, after Frazer's eyesight failed and a secretary was employed. There are 9 original letters from Lilly Frazer to William James Lewis (Items 30-38), and a copy of a letter from Lilly to Sir John Myres (Item 55). Three other copies of James's letters from the late 1930s appear in boxes 2-4 (Items 2/95, 3/43, 3/47), and there is also a draft of a letter to Lord Stamfordham in box 4 (Item 119). Two other copies of letters from Lilly appear in box 3: to R. R. Marett (Item 3) and Norman Parley (Item 44).
FRAZ/10 consists of two boxes containing the manuscript draft of 'The Worship of Nature'. The draft, in J. G. Frazer's hand, is corrected and has addenda slips, with typesetters' marks, and dates from 1925. Chapters are divided and numbered in a different manner than in the final printed volume. The title page for chapters XIII and XIV [printed chapters XIV and XV] carries an R. & R. Clark ink date stamp of 15 Aug. 1925, and the last chapter title page lists the date Frazer sent it to Clark: 15 Aug. 1925.
FRAZ/11 consists of two boxes containing materials relating to the Macmillan edition of the 'Fasti' of Ovid, spanning the dates [1928?]-1930, including drafts of the Preface, Commentary, footnotes, and related notes and cuttings.
FRAZ/12 consists of three boxes containing material relating primarily to the Macmillan edition of the 'Fasti' of Ovid, spanning the dates 1926-1931. These are primarily galley proofs for the Commentary in the Macmillan edition, most of them stamped 'First Proof' and carrying date stamps and corrections in Frazer's hand. Many are accompanied by the envelopes they were originally sent in. Proofs for Book III are missing. Proofs for Book V include notes for a lecture on the Argei given at Queens' College, Cambridge 1 Mar., 1926.
FRAZ/13 consists of two boxes of partial galley proofs for the Loeb and Macmillan editions of the 'Fasti' of Ovid and related photographs, spanning the dates [1901?]-1926. The Loeb edition was well underway with proofs being reviewed when production stopped after reaching an agreement with Macmillan in 1926. Macmillan agreed to publish a 5 volume set with extensive notes and commentary; after two years had elapsed, Loeb agreed to publish a one volume edition as part of the Loeb Classical Library, using no more than 50 pages of notes from the Macmillan edition.
FRAZ/14 consists of one box containing 38 letters addressed to Lilly Frazer on J. G. Frazer's award of the Order of Merit in 1925 [see also letters to J. G. Frazer on the award, FRAZ/4], and 53 letters addressed to J. G. Frazer relating to Frazer's translation of Ovid's "Fasti" dated 1923-1930. The letters to Lilly Frazer are arranged alphabetically, with the exception of the letter from Pauline de Broglie, which was previously unidentified, and which is filed at the end of the run before one letter that remains unidentified.
Letters 36-87 relate to the publication of Frazer's translation of Ovid's 'Fasti', which appeared first as a five volume set published by Macmillan in 1929, and then, per an agreement reached in February 1926, as a one volume version for the Loeb Classical Library published in 1931. There are three subgroups within these letters: items 36-52 relate to the research done for the commentary, items 53-69 relate to the publishers' agreements; and items 70-87 are letters to libraries relating primarily to reproductions of the manuscripts of the 'Fasti'.
FRAZ/15 consists of one box of 157 letters comprising three distinct groups: letters to Sir James Frazer on general topics, with a small grouping within it of testimonial letters in support of the publication of Frazer's anthropological notebooks, followed by letters written to Lilly Frazer concerning subscriptions to Besterman's 'Bibliography'. The dates of the letters span 1898-1937.
Letters 1-28 and 45-47 are written to James George Frazer and cover general topics reflective of other runs of correspondence in the collection.
Letters 29-44 are replies to letters asking for testimonials of the utility of the publication of Frazer's anthropological notebooks, which were published as the "Anthologia Anthropologica" series. The letters are written to Frazer and include letters from influential anthropologists whose letters appear in other runs of correspondence in the collection. Most of the letters have sticky labels affixed to many corners as if they were in an album at one time.
Letters 48-152 are letters written to Lady Frazer concerning subscriptions to Theodore Besterman's "Bibliography". It is evident that she has written not only with information on the bibliography but also with a description of Frazer's blindness and the multiple surgeries, and many correspondents sympathise with his troubles. Many of these correspondents also appear elsewhere in the collection.
FRAZ/16 consists of one box containing 131 letters and two writings which fall into three discernable groups with an unformed miscellany in the middle. Items 1-51 consist of letters written primarily to Lilly Frazer from friends and selected institutions to thank her for the copy of R. Angus Downie's biography 'James George Frazer: the Portrait of a Scholar' published in 1940. The letters date from June to October 1940, and many of the correspondents refer to life in wartime, including R. R. Marett, who writes on 12 June about his son Jack, missing after the attack on the HMS Glorious (Item 34).
Letters 52-70 are letters of congratulation on the award of the Légion d'honneur and date from March and April 1926. Items 71-98 are the miscellany, and include two writings, a group of Frazer's poems, and a speech made at Queen's College, London (Items 97 and 98). This group also includes Asquith's letter offering the knighthood in June 1914 (Item 82), and a typed copy of a letter from J. G. Frazer to Alfred Radcliffe-Brown (Item 74).
Letters 99-131 are the start of the alphabetic run that continues into box 17. The 168 letters in box 17 span the dates 1888-1940 with the bulk dating from the 1920s and 1930s, are addressed to J. G. Frazer and sometimes also Lilly Frazer and primarily concern J. G. Frazer's works and related personal business. The alphabetic run continues with 22 letters by Warren Dawson on the topic of the Frazer Lectures volume followed by 11 more letters related to the volume which interrupt the alphabetic order, a number of them relating to the question of omitting R. R. Marett's lecture from the volume. Two letters from Lilly Frazer to James Frazer, the only two letters between them in the papers appear here, Items 48 and 49, dated December 1904.
There are three speeches in FRAZ/17 as well: a copy of the speech by Canon Farrar at Durham University conferring the Honorary Doctor of Letters on Frazer (Item 42), a summary of a speech by René Maunier, President of the French Folklore Society (Item 47); Frazer's speech on being admitted an Honorary Bencher of the Middle Temple (Item 101).
FRAZ/17 is the second of two boxes (FRAZ/16-17) forming an alphabetic sequence of letters addressed to J. G. Frazer and Lilly Frazer. A fuller description of these letters may be found in the scope and content note for FRAZ/16.
FRAZ/18-19 consists of two boxes containing 225 letters mostly addressed to Lilly Frazer. The letters span 1901-1941, but the bulk date from the 1920s and 1930s, and primarily concern J. G. Frazer's works and related personal business. There is a more extensive run of letters to Lilly Frazer in FRAZ/32-33, but letters to her appear throughout the collection as well, in part because the subject matter is the same as those to Sir James, as she assumed the role of secretary/agent after their marriage.
An alphabetic sequence spans the two boxes. One item appears out of place: the incomplete manuscript draft of Lucien Lévy-Bruhl's preface to "La crainte des morts" (Item 107), which is filed after three unrelated letters from Lévy-Bruhl.
FRAZ/19 is the second of two boxes (FRAZ/18-19) forming an alphabetic sequence of letters addressed to Lilly Frazer. A fuller description of these letters may be found in the scope and content note for FRAZ/18.
FRAZ/2 is the second of four boxes (FRAZ/1-4) forming an alphabetic sequence of letters addressed to J. G. Frazer. A fuller description may be found in the scope and content note for FRAZ/1.
FRAZ/20 consists of two boxes containing three catalogues of Sir James Frazer's private library: a complete list created in 1907 [by John Roscoe], a list of additions created in 1922, and a two-part list created in 1935-1936 with an update in 1940. Accompanied by an exact and somewhat decorative plan of the library made by assistant P. W. Filby.
FRAZ/21 consists of two boxes containing original material and printed material written by others, manuscript notes and drafts by J. G. Frazer, and photographs, including sixteen views of Achaea. The materials span 1888-1941 but the bulk date from 1900-1929.
FRAZ/22-27 consist of eight boxes of papers relating to J. G. Frazer's writings arranged according to the date of the publication or creation of the works, dating from 1884 to 1938. FRAZ/25 includes the papers relating to the 'Anthologia Anthropologica', which was published in 1938-1939 but was begun to be discussed in 1932, the end date of the material in that box. FRAZ/27 includes some items added at the end with earlier dates.
FRAZ/22 consists of one box of papers relating to J. G. Frazer's books, speeches, and articles written from 1884 to 1903, arranged in chronological order of appearance. 'The Golden Bough' is represented solely by cuttings, including an album of 44 reviews of the first edition, dated 1890-1891 (Item 4). The only book represented by a manuscript here is 'Pausanias's Description of Greece', with a 178 page Introduction in Frazer's hand, lacking two pages at the end (Item 59).
FRAZ/23 is the second of eight boxes of papers relating to J. G. Frazer's writings, arranged according to the date of the publication or creation of the works, dating from 1884 to 1938 (FRAZ/22-27).
FRAZ/23 consists of one box of papers relating to J. G. Frazer's books, speeches, and articles written primarily from 1903 to 1921, arranged in chronological order of appearance (except for the last item, possibly added later). There are five manuscript drafts of articles and speeches in Frazer's hand, and one unsigned manuscript draft of 'Fire making in the Trobriand Islands' by Bronisław Malinowski (Item 28). Other papers relating to Frazer's 'Myths on the Origin of Fire' (Items 26-42) include two letters from Malinowski concerning a myth from the village of Moligilagi; a letter from Miles Burkitt about the first appearance of fire, mentioning evidence of fire at Piltdown; two more letters about fire in prehistory from Marcellin Boule and Aimé Rutot, as well as a letter from Herbert Ian Hogbin enclosing a folktale about Pa'eva and Ke Ahi, gods of the sea and fire. An entire copy of 'The Papuan Villager', Vol. 1, No. 1, printed in Port Moresby in February 1929 and designed for the people of Papua, contains an article headed 'The Fire and the Dog'.
FRAZ/24 is the third of eight boxes of papers relating to J. G. Frazer's writings, arranged according to the date of the publication or creation of the works, dating from 1884 to 1938 (FRAZ/22-27).
FRAZ/24 consists of one box of papers relating to J. G. Frazer's books, speeches, and articles written primarily from 1921 to 1927, with four cuttings dated later, from 1929 to 1940, arranged in chronological order of appearance. There are seven manuscript drafts of articles and lectures in Frazer's hand, and two more that are incomplete. Items 32-44 are letters and printed material relating to Frazer's article 'Our Debt to France' in 'The Morning Post' 1 July 1925, advocating the forgiveness of French war debt. Items 47-59 are letters and the manuscript draft of an acceptance speech on the award of the Commandeur de la Légion d'honneur in April 1926. (Another group of letters of congratulation on the award of the Légion d'honneur may be found at FRAZ/16/52-71.) Items 72-73, and 75 are typescripts of speeches made at a gathering in the Old Combination Room at Trinity College on 1 Mar. 1927.
FRAZ/25 is the fourth of eight boxes of papers relating to J. G. Frazer's writings, arranged according to the date of the publication or creation of the works, dating from 1884 to 1938 (FRAZ/22-27).
FRAZ/25 consists of one box of papers relating to J. G. Frazer's books, speeches, and articles written from 1928 to 1939, arranged in chronological order of appearance. The Macmillan edition of 'Publii Ovidii Nasonis Fastorum Libri Sex, The Fasti of Ovid' and the Loeb Classical Library 'Ovid's Fasti' (Items 1-32), and the 4 volume 'Anthologia Anthropologica' (Items 49-97) are most fully represented here, by notes, drafts, specimen pages, letters, and cuttings.
The 20 letters to James or Lilly Frazer about the 'Fasti' include a letter from Benito Mussolini (Item 20). Item 59 is a typed copy of a letter by James Frazer written to R. R. Marett. A typescript list of invitees to the presentation of the Freedom of Glasgow provides a list of Frazer friends and acquaintances based mainly in Glasgow (Item 115).
FRAZ/26 is the fifth and sixth of eight boxes of papers relating to J. G. Frazer's writings, arranged according to the date of the publication or creation of the works, dating from 1884 to 1938 (FRAZ/22-27).
FRAZ/26 consists of 2 boxes of papers relating to J. G. Frazer's works written from 1932 to 1938, arranged in chronological order of appearance. These years are just after Frazer's eye troubles began in earnest, and appear to show a shift from writing drafts in his own hand to dictation to a secretary at the end of 1934. Lady Frazer's work as business manager continues to be evident, and letters are addressed mainly to her.
There are manuscript drafts in J.G.F’s hand of two different works: his obituary of his friend, Canon John Roscoe (Item 57); and the 1932 Zaharoff Lecture, entitled 'Condorcet on the Progress of the Human Mind' (Items 78-79). A secretary to J.G.F. is likely the hand writing the prefaces to 'Creation and Evolution in Primitive Cosmogonies' (Items 97-98) and 'Etudes d'anthropologie biblique' (Item 104).
FRAZ/27 forms the final two boxes of eight boxes of papers relating to J. G. Frazer's writings, arranged according to the date of the publication or creation of the works, dating from 1884 to 1938 (FRAZ/22-27).
FRAZ/27 consists of 2 boxes of papers relating to J. G. Frazer's works written between 1935 and 1938, and arranged (roughly) in chronological order of appearance. Some items have been identified as having dates earlier than 1935 and later than 1938, but remain as they were originally arranged. These include manuscripts written in Frazer's own hand (and therefore possibly dating from the 1920s): the drafts of two poems: "The Bitter Cry of an Anthro-polo-gist, a lyrical drama in two acts" (Item 79) and "The Sunset Dream" (Item 74), notes, suggestions for passages to be used in "Man, God and Immortality" (Item 3), and two drafts of speeches given, one of them incomplete (Items 80 and 81). Other manuscript drafts were dictated by Frazer, who was, by the middle 1930s, relying on a secretary due to increasing blindness.
The work with the most amount of material here is a children's story the Frazers wrote together in 1937, "Pasha the Pom" (Items 48-58). The typescript draft and galley proofs are incomplete, but the page proofs are complete, as is the short essay, identified as marketing 'puff' for the book.
FRAZ/28 consists of one box of letters, writings, and printed material relating to awards and other honours amassed by J. G. Frazer, spanning the dates [after 20 Feb. 1885]-1941, the bulk dating from the 1920s and 1930s.
A significant portion of the material is in the form of letters: those announcing honours (found throughout Items 1-23), those concerning Émile Antoine Bourdelle's bust of J. G. Frazer (Items 24-41), and those concerning the Frazer lectureship and the printed Frazer Lectures volume (Items 47-87).
FRAZ/29 consists of one box of 114 letters, most of them addressed to J. G. Frazer. The letters span the dates 1872-1940, the bulk dating from the 1920s and 1930s, and primarily concern J. G. Frazer's works and related personal business. Over a third of the letters are written in French. The alphabetic sequence is limited to one box, with some previously unidentified letters filed at the end, along with one letter that remains unidentified. There are five typed copies of letters from J. G. Frazer to five correspondents, dated 1937 and 1938, when he was using the services of a secretary (Items 24-28). The earliest letters here are two letters from Archbishop Luigi Josef Puecher Passavalli to Emilie Hyacinthe-Loyson and an unidentified person, dated 13 and 17 April 1872 (Items 52-53). It is unclear how they came into the Frazers' possession, though the letter filed directly before, from Frédéric Passy to Abbé [Breuil] makes reference to Hyacinthe Loyson's letters.
Items 112-114 have been removed: they were catalogued with the Frazer papers initially in error, they are are part of the Papers of Sir Walter Greg, GREG 1/196-198, three postcards from [J. S.?] to W. W. Greg, dated 1939-[1942].
FRAZ/3 is the third of four boxes (FRAZ/1-4) forming an alphabetic sequence of letters addressed to J. G. Frazer. A fuller description may be found in the scope and content note for FRAZ/1.
FRAZ/30 consists of one box of materials relating to research conducted by Lilly Frazer (before her marriage in 1896, Lilly Grove) for her illustrated book 'Dancing', published in 1895. The material spans the dates [c 1895]-1933. There are no textual research notes; there are two albums of photographs reproducing images of dancing in different cultures and time periods, gathered for consideration for inclusion in the book. There are also six unrelated photographs here, including one of a display of tribal objects, which was possibly sent to James George Frazer.
FRAZ/31 consists of one box containing Lilly Frazer's writings and materials relating to her plays, lectures, and French lessons, with a small collection of press cuttings and printed material, many of them in her native French. There are only three playscripts and five short stories or articles represented in their entirety; the rest are incomplete.
The box includes a draft of a 12 page letter in Lilly Frazer's hand to an unidentified correspondent dated 19 May [1926], in which she shares stories of J. G. Frazer's absentmindedness and lack of interest in money (Item 64); it also includes an early telegram possibly sent by Père Hyacinthe [the religious name taken by Charles Loyson] to [Emilie?] Meriman in 1872 (Item 38).
FRAZ/32-33 consists of three boxes containing over 750 letters, most of them addressed to Lilly Frazer and almost half of them written in her native French. The letters span 1895-1941, but the bulk date from the 1920s and 1930s. An alphabetic sequence of letters spans the three boxes. Many correspondents may be represented not only by one or two letters here but also by letters addressed to James Frazer elsewhere in the collection. The largest group of letters is from François Ceccaldi in Corsica, a French préfet who signs himself 'Jack' and addresses Lilly as 'Flaminica' (FRAZ/32/85-201). The next largest collection of letters is from Noémi Renan Psichari, the daughter of Ernest Renan (FRAZ/33/270-305). Other principal correspondents in these boxes are Lauro de Bosis; Lillian de Bosis; David Lindsay, the Earl of Crawford and Balcarres; Arundell Esdaile; Aimé Joseph de Fleuriau; Matthieu Gorce; Arthur Gray; Pauline de Broglie, Comtesse de Pange; Pierre Sayn; Rose Thomson; and Dorothy Young. An original letter from Lilly to Alexandre Moret appears here (Item 26), and a copy letter from Lilly to Hermann Braunholz of the Council of the Anthropological Institute dated 1937 is also here (Item 25).
There are two writings housed with these letters. The first is the corrected draft of "Le bois qui chante", an operetta by Margaret Rose and Stuart Young, based on Lilly Frazer's "The Singing Wood" (FRAZ/32/266) which bears no apparent relationship to the letters around it. The second is a printed copy of a letter from Elise Révoire to 'Madame', undated, which according to a note in Lady Frazer's hand, appears in facsmilie in "Famille Troisel"; a version of the letter also appears in "Pasha the Pom" (FRAZ/33/315).
FRAZ/33 is the second and third of three boxes (FRAZ/32-33) forming an alphabetic sequence of letters addressed to Lilly Frazer. A fuller description may be found in the scope and content note for FRAZ/32. FRAZ 33/471, a previously unidentified letter fragment, has been reunited with the rest of its letter and is now at FRAZ 1/96.
FRAZ/34 consists of one box of diaries kept on four trips abroad, a total of twelve volumes spanning the dates 1883-1901, with one volume carrying a later note dated 1928.
FRAZ/35 consists of eight boxes of notebooks previously housed apart from the rest of the Frazer Papers. Eleven volumes were housed on Trinity College Library shelves with printed books. Thirteen volumes and a small number of loose notes were removed from the Papers at the time they were bequeathed by Lady Frazer, and were presented by the College to the Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology and then transferred to the Haddon Library of Archaeology and Anthropology. In 2010 these volumes were transferred back to Trinity College. A note has been made recording the previous location of each volume.
The notebooks contain notes on books read; drafts of articles, speeches, and introductions; and bibliographical references to be added to later editions of works. They have been arranged in a rough chronological order, according to the date of the publication of the works where applicable, and roughly span the dates 1880-1939. The early notebooks include one evidently from Frazer's study of the law, 'Maine's Ancient Law, Jurisprudence' (Item 2). Three notebooks relate to the second and third editions of 'The Golden Bough' (Items 9-11). The loose notes included with the notebooks arriving back from the Haddon Library are on Vitruvius and on items at the Pitt Rivers Collection at Oxford (Item 5).
FRAZ/4 is the fourth of four boxes (FRAZ/1-4) forming an alphabetic sequence of letters addressed to J. G. Frazer. It also contains a collection of 110 letters written to congratulate Frazer on the award of the Order of Merit [see also letters to Lilly Frazer on the same subject, FRAZ/14]. A draft of a letter from J. G. Frazer to Lord Stamfordham may be found at FRAZ/4/119. A fuller description may be found in the scope and content note for FRAZ/1.