Bodley Policy

["SID HUTTNER, THE UNIVERSITY OF TULSA" <SFH@VAX2.UTULSA.EDU>]

The *Times Literary Supplement* dated April 15 contains a
letter from Eric Jacobs, who identifies himself as the
authorized biographer for Kingsley Amis, which complains
that the Bodleian has denied him access to Amis's letters
to Philip Larkin, despite Amis's authorization, on the
grounds, Jacobs writes (quoting a Bodley letter to him)
that (I shorten Jacobs's quote) "Any responsible library
... has a responsibility not only to protect the privacy
of the writer and the receiver of the letters....but also
to protect that of third parties whose affairs may be
mentioned in the letters...."  The third parties, it
seems, must be living.

It seems not unreasonable to assume the situation is more
complex than Jacobs's letter indicates (I don't intend here
to be critical of any party), but the letter prompts two
questions to the list:

Can anyone on the list write with authority as to Bodley's
policy in this regard?

Has any other institution attempted to articulate a policy
which protects, or is intended to protect, the privacy of
living persons mentioned in correspondence, or I suppose
other documents, which they hold and which neither writer
nor recipient has restricted?

Sid Huttner, Tulsa