The Quennell mss., 1959-1971, are the letters of Henry Milon de Montherlant, 1895-1972, essayist and dramatist, to Peter Quennell, 1905-1993, editor of History To-day in London; an exception is the first letter which is to Sir Arthur George Weidenfeld. The letters, all in French and written chiefly from 25, quai Voltaire, in Paris, are concerned with the publication and translation of Montherlant's writings. At one point he questions whether certain passages might be "désagréable pour les Anglais ou pour les Américains?" Among the works under consideration are Brocéliande, Le Cardinal d'Espagne, Le Carnets, Le chaos et la nuit, Les célibataires, L'Équinoxe de Septembre, Les Jeunes Filles, Les Olympiques, Port-Royal, La Rose de Sable, Le Songe, and La Ville dont le Prince est un enfant.

Writers whose names are put forth in connection with translating include John Cruickshank, Peter Lauderdale Daubeny, Ronald Frederick Henry Duncan, Peter Reginald Frederick Hall, Terence Kilmartin, Terence Mervyn Rattigan, and Henry Reed.

Accompanying the letters are the page proofs of Peter Quennell's "Introduction to Selected Essays by Montherlant," published in 1960 by Weidenfeld and Nicolson: Montherlant's own copy with holograph corrections in blue ink in his hand.