Mary Morley Eccles, Viscountess Eccles (née Crapo; 8 July 1912 – 26 August 2003) was an American-British book collector and author. She was renowned for establishing one of the largest private collections of 18th century literature with her first husband, Donald Hyde (1909-1966). This includes works from

Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson ( – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, literary critic, sermonist, biographer, editor, and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...

and

James Boswell James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck (; 29 October 1740 ( N.S.) – 19 May 1795), was a Scottish biographer, diarist, and lawyer, born in Edinburgh. He is best known for his biography of the English writer Samuel Johnson, '' Life of Samuel ...

. She also created an Oscar Wilde Collection which was bequeathed to the British Library in 2003.

Early life and education

Eccles was born Mary Morley Crapo in

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

, in 1912, to American railway executive Stanford T. Crapo (grandson of Governor

Henry H. Crapo Henry Howland Crapo (pronounced ''Cray-poe''; May 24, 1804 – July 23, 1869) was a businessman and politician who was the 14th governor of Michigan from 1865 to 1869, during the end of the American Civil War and the beginning of Reconstruction. ...

) and wife Emma Caroline Morley. She attended

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States. The college be ...

, where she became friends with novelist Mary McCarthy. She later attended

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

where she undertook an MA and PhD in

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...

. The dissertation from her doctorate was later developed into a book, entitled ''Playwriting for Elizabethans''.

Literary collections

In 1939 she married Donald Hyde, a New York City lawyer. The couple bought

's silver teapot in 1941 and threw a tea party in its honour. Over the next 25 years, they became avid collectors of Johnson's belongings, including hundreds of his letters, several of his diaries and a collection of his poems. Mary Hyde — as she was then known—bought Four Oaks Farm in

Branchburg, New Jersey Branchburg is a township in Somerset County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 14,940, its highest decennial census count ever and an increase of 481 (+3.3%) from the 2010 cen ...

in 1943. Here they bought up surrounding land and added a library to the property, filling the house with their Samuel Johnson collection. Hyde also published ''The Thrales of Streatham Park'' in honour of Mrs Hester Thrale who had previously collected many of Johnson's belongings. During the following years, Hyde became well acquainted with many influential figures, including business tycoons, politicians and English

aristocrats Aristocracy (; ) is a form of government that places power in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocrats. Across Europe, the aristocracy exercised immense economic, political, and social influence. In Western Christian co ...

. Among them was businessman Robert Borthwick Adam, from whom she purchased a portion of her collection. Donald Hyde died in 1966. His wife later wrote ''The Impossible Friendship'', a study of Mrs Thrale and

. She also wrote ''Bernard Shaw and Alfred Douglas: A Correspondence'' and developed an

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...

collection that was second in size only to that of the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...

. She donated this collection to the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...

to form the Lady Eccles Oscar Wilde Collection there. The collection relating to Samuel Johnson and his circle was bequeathed to

Houghton Library Houghton Library, on the south side of Harvard Yard adjacent to Widener Library, Lamont Library, and Loeb House, is Harvard University's primary repository for rare books and manuscripts. It is part of the Harvard College Library, the library s ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

Later years

Mary Hyde married

David Eccles, 1st Viscount Eccles David McAdam Eccles, 1st Viscount Eccles (18 September 1904 – 24 February 1999), was an English Conservative politician and businessman. Background Eccles was born in London. He was educated at Winchester College and New College, Oxford, w ...

in 1984, becoming The Right Honourable The Viscountess Eccles. They founded the Eccles Centre for American Studies at the

in 1992 as Lord Eccles had previously been its Chairman. Lady Eccles died at Four Oaks Farm on 26 August 2003, aged 91. At the time of her death, she had been working on a book.

Honours

Lady Eccles was made an Honorary Fellow of Samuel Johnson's college at

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, Pembroke College. She was also Benjamin Franklin Fellow of the

Royal Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, commonly known as the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), is a learned society that champions innovation and progress across a multitude of sectors by fostering creativity, s ...

. She was a member of The

Roxburghe Club The Roxburghe Club is a Bibliophilia, bibliophilic and Text publication society, publishing society based in the United Kingdom. Origins The spur to the Club's foundation was the sale of the enormous library of the John Ker, 3rd Duke of Roxburghe ...

, an exclusive society of bibliophiles, from 1985 to 2003. She was also an elected member of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

(1978).

References

External links

The Donald and Mary Hyde Collection of Dr. Samuel Johnson
at Houghton Library
The papers of Mary Eccles
at Houghton Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Eccles, Mary Eccles, Viscountess 1912 births 2003 deaths 20th-century American women writers 20th-century English women writers 21st-century American women writers 21st-century English women writers American book and manuscript collectors American emigrants to the United Kingdom British book and manuscript collectors British viscountesses Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Members of the American Philosophical Society People from Branchburg, New Jersey Vassar College alumni Writers from Detroit Writers from Somerset County, New Jersey