Scope and Contents: The collection contains letters from Aldington to William Dibben, Aldington's London bookseller from 1947 to 1956. While living in France, Aldington needed source books for a variety of writing projects and for his personal collection. These requests and acknowledgments of books received are the primary subjects of the correspondence.
Aldington's letters reflect the wide range of his literary activity and authorial intention on individual projects. Noteworthy are Aldington's comments on the Waterton autobiography Pinorman, the D.H. Lawrence biography, the T.E. Lawrence book and its reception, as well as problems with publishers, the British press, and repression of unfavorable T.E. Lawrence material. The correspondence provides few details about his personal life, with the exception of his devotion to daughter Catherine and their mutual interest in stamp collecting.
The letters to William Dibben reveal high regard for his bookseller and friend but also document Aldington as a bibliophile, a wit, and a writer devoted to meticulous and thorough research with truth as his primary motivation.