| Bram Stoker Collection |
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Bram Stoker, the author of Dracula, was also the theatre manager of the great Victorian actor Sir Henry Irving. Irving's scholarly approach and spectacular interpretations of Shakespeare's plays made him one of the most admired performers of his day. With honorary doctorates from Cambridge, Dublin and Glasgow Universities, he gave his profession a social acceptability never reached before. In 1895 he became the first actor to be knighted. The Bram Stoker Collection is Stoker's own record of his work with Irving at the Lyceum Theatre, London, from 1878-1895. It covers the Lyceum Company productions of Shakespeare and other plays, in London and on tour, including tours to North America. It includes play texts, playbills, letters and telegrams, notes and speeches, relics of British and American tours, souvenir programmes, illustrations and reviews, portraits and press cuttings. Material relating to Ellen Terry, Irving's leading lady, is also included, as well as a small amount on Stoker's literary career. The collection was sold at Sotheby's in March 1920 by Stoker's widow and was subsequently presented anonymously to the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre. Now housed in the Shakespeare Centre Library, the collection is complemented by a range of other 19th century material held in the Library, and provides a valuable resource for students of Victorian theatre, and biographers interested in the lives and careers of Stoker, Irving, and Ellen Terry. The contents of the 77 boxes that make up the Collection were listed and a finding aid list was created in c.1970-72. This is available at the Shakespeare Centre Library. A selection from the collection was published in microform in 1987 by Harvester Microform. These continue to be available from the Primary Source Microfilm division of Gale Group Publishing. Much of the collection is extremely fragile and readers will be expected to use microfilm copies, unless original material has been specially requested and conditions of use agreed with the Special Collections Librarian in advance of your visit. |
