The correspondence consists principally of letters to John Purves, 1894-1960, undated, from a variety of authors and scholars discussing literary and academic matters, reflecting, in particular, Purves’ interest in English and Italian literature. The early correspondence includes letters of Professor Herbert Grierson concerning his edition of ‘The poems of John Donne’, for which Purves read the proofs and checked all the references. There is some material on Purves’ ‘South African book of English verse’. There is also a letter, 1922, of Thomas Hardy enclosing a corrected typescript of an essay on R L Stevenson: This memoir was published in ‘I can remember Robert Louis Stevenson’ edited by Rosaline Masson, pages 214-216.

A section of the correspondence deals with possible contributors to a literary miscellany published to celebrate the twenty-first anniversary of the opening of the Edinburgh University Women’s Union, ‘Atalanta’s garland’ (Edinburgh, 1926), edited by Purves, There are letters from a number of authors offering contributions, including C M Grieve, Neil Munro, Lytton Strachey, George Douglas, Sylvia Lynd, W H Davies, with typescripts of two poems which were published in the miscellany, and Edwin Muir, with his essay ‘On the impoverishment of language’, also published in ‘Atalanta’s garland’.

The later correspondence concentrates rather more on Italian literature and includes several Italian authors and scholars. Purves’ typescript of ‘The abbregement of Roland Furious by John Stewart of Baldynneis and the early knowledge of Ariosto in England’ published in 1946 in ‘Italian studies’ is also included.