Two typed letters signed by Harold Nicolson Prestige Lecture 1937
NICOLSON, Harold (1886-1968). Two typed letters signed, on Anglo-American political identity and the meaning of "Prestige". 23 July and 19 August 1937.
Two typed letters signed, each one page, with one typed on one side, and the other on two. The first on headed paper from 4 King's Bench Walk, Temple, E.C.4., approximately 190 x 240mm; the second on Sissinghurst Castle, Kent, paper, approximately 185 x 230mm. Both signed by Harold Nicolson.
Just about good overall. Both with old folds and evidence of previous mounting or attachment along one edge, including old transparent tape or tape residue. The July letter is more toned and creased, with some edge wear. Both remain legible.
A related pair of letters concerning Nicolson's 1937 lecture on "Prestige" and the difficulty of defining national identity in Britain and the United States. In the first letter, dated 23 July 1937, Nicolson thanks recipient Poole for his comments on the lecture and says that he would like to see an American definition of the same concept. He reflects on what the word "America" means to an intelligent American, contrasting this with the image of England suggested to him by the Dover Cliffs and "a feeling-tone of solidity". He then questions how the American conception of liberty is reconciled with the Constitution, tariffs, immigration laws and the pressure of mass opinion.
The second letter, written from Sissinghurst Castle on 19 August 1937, continues the same discussion. Nicolson refers to reading Arnold's Symbols of Government and hoping to obtain Allport's book, and suggests that the different British and American conceptions of national identity may lie close to the centre of their mutual misunderstanding. He contrasts the ordinary Englishman's feeling for Empire with the American idea of liberty, opportunity, the frontier and the "golden West", asking what these ideas mean now that "the frontier is closed, opportunity is extremely limited and liberty diminished".
An interesting pair of Nicolson letters, linking directly with his 1937 lecture on prestige.