Sir Stanley Wells Shakespeare Archivist

Help Protect Shakespeare’s Archive for Future Generations

The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust cares for the world’s most important Shakespeare collections - over one million items that reveal how Shakespeare lived, worked and shaped culture across the centuries. Yet much of this internationally significant archive remains uncatalogued or only partially accessible, limiting its use by researchers, teachers, students and the public.

To safeguard this heritage, we are creating a new Sir Stanley Wells Senior Shakespeare Archivist, a post established in honour of Professor Sir Stanley Wells CBE - one of the greatest Shakespeare scholars of our time and a guiding force in the Trust’s history.

This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to secure the future of Shakespeare’s archive and ensure it remains alive, accessible and inspiring for decades to come.

Help Protect Shakespeare’s Archive for Future Generations

The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust cares for the world’s most important Shakespeare collections - over one million items that reveal how Shakespeare lived, worked and shaped culture across the centuries. Yet much of this internationally significant archive remains uncatalogued or only partially accessible, limiting its use by researchers, teachers, students and the public.

To safeguard this heritage, we are creating a new Sir Stanley Wells Senior Shakespeare Archivist, a post established in honour of Professor Sir Stanley Wells CBE - one of the greatest Shakespeare scholars of our time and a guiding force in the Trust’s history.

This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to secure the future of Shakespeare’s archive and ensure it remains alive, accessible and inspiring for decades to come.

What the Senior Archivist Will Do

This endowed role will:

• Catalogue and digitise underused collections, opening them up for research and interpretation.
• Protect and conserve fragile items, especially during the forthcoming archive relocation.
• Enhance online access, improving metadata, searchability and public engagement.
• Lead skills development, mentoring early-career archivists and curators.
• Champion Shakespeare scholarship, contributing to publications, exhibitions and conferences.

This is not simply a job - it is leadership at the heart of global Shakespeare heritage.

Honouring Sir Stanley Wells

Few individuals have shaped Shakespeare scholarship like Sir Stanley Wells: editor, biographer, mentor, public intellectual and lifelong advocate for making Shakespeare accessible to all.

He has guided generations of students, influenced actors and directors worldwide, and played a transformative role at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust for over fifty years.

Creating a permanent curatorial post in his name celebrates his extraordinary contribution and links his legacy to the preservation of the collections he has championed throughout his life.

How Your Support Will Make a Difference

We are raising £1 million to endow the Senior Shakespeare Archivist post over 20 years. This fund will:

• Secure the role’s salary and core costs
• Provide early-year surpluses to invest in cataloguing, digitisation and research
• Strengthen the collections during and after relocation
• Ensure long-term public and scholarly access to Shakespeare’s archive

Your gift will protect the world’s most significant Shakespeare collections and create a lasting legacy for global heritage and scholarship.

Recognition

Supporters will be acknowledged through:

• Invitations to previews and briefings
• Permanent recognition in the Reading Room
• Opportunities to be associated with digital catalogues, spaces or research initiatives
• An annual Stanley Wells Lecture celebrating Shakespeare scholarship

Help Safeguard Shakespeare’s Legacy

By supporting the Stanley Wells Shakespeare Archivist, you will help:

• Preserve fragile and irreplaceable materials
• Unlock collections for discovery and learning
• Train the next generation of archivists
• Honour one of the world’s greatest Shakespeare scholars

Together, we can ensure that Shakespeare’s archive - and Sir Stanley Wells’s contribution to it - continues to inspire scholars, artists and audiences for generations to come.