Series consists of correspondence relating to Beny's personal life and to his career as an artist and photographer. Included is correspondence pertaining to his years at the University of Toronto, the State University of Iowa, the Institute of Fine Art at the University of New York, his career as an artist resident in Paris, 1952 and New York in the late 1940s and early 1950s. This early correspondence was stored at his parent's house in Lethbridge. Correspondents include Vivien Leigh, Laurence Olivier, Peggy Guggenheim, Lady Joan Assheton Smith, James and Carol George, Lesley Blanche, Arthur Erickson, Lord Robin Maugham, Contessa Anna Maria Cicogna, Hedda Hopper, Anton Dolin, John Butler, Jean Cocteau, Evelyn Lambert, Judy Lamarsh, Sylvia Matheson, John Lindsay Opie, Earl Blackwell, Henry Moore, Ted Heinrich, Dame Freya Stark, Dr. John Woods, Farah Pahlavi, Mitchell Crites, Signy Eaton, Charles Comfort, Sir Herbert Read, Mauricio Lasansky and Julius Fleischmann.
The series also contains extensive correspondence relating to Roloff Beny's exhibitions, travels and various projects, including his books. Included is correspondence with his publishers Thames and Hudson, McClelland and Stewart, Longmans, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, Mondadori, Calmann and King, The Viking Press, Collins Publishers, The Hamlyn Group, McGraw-Hill Book Co., Aldus Books, Harcourt, Brace and World Inc., Little, Brown and Company, Harper and Row, Harry N. Abrams, Arthaud, and with his agents Curtis Brown Ltd. and Julian Bach. Also noteworthy is correspondence with the National Film Board, Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, Canadian Group of Painters, the Museum of Modern Art, The Art Gallery of Toronto, Robertson Galleries, the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, The Art Gallery of Toronto, Robertson Galleries Canada Council, Royal Ontario Museum, Art Gallery of Ontario, Institute of Contemporary Arts, National Gallery of Canada, University of Lethbridge, University of Calgary, Alberta Government, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Smithsonian Institute and British Broadcasting Corporation.
Some of the correspondence is filed in "Reading Files", which follow Beny's own arrangement.
A few documents have been removed from the series and are stored separately because of special restrictions on access (vol. 137).
See also the following related series: Financial Records, Correspondence - Family, Project Files and Exhibitions Series.
