The Mary Lavin papers, consisting almost entirely of letters, is of interest to scholars primarily because of the close and lasting friendship between Mary Lavin and Lord and Lady Dunsany. The correspondence lasts more than twenty years, and includes more than 191 letters or postcards from the Dunsanys to Mary Lavin.

In addition to the Dunsany letters, other correspondence to Mary Lavin from Seumas O'Sullivan, Estella Starkey, and Jack B. Yeats is included in this collection, as well as tape recordings of a set of interviews I conducted with Mary Lavin during the spring of 1972. The letters, which were purchased from Ms. Lavin several years ago, delineate the scope of Lord Dunsanys imagination, and testify to a warm, longstanding community of literary interest.