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Last modified: October 20, 2009
© 2009 University of Delaware Library
Identification: MSS 099, F220
Creator: Shaw, Bernard, 1856-1950.
Title: George Bernard Shaw card to Fred Terry and Miriam Michelson playscript "The Duchess Barbara [of Leeds]"
Inclusive Dates: 1932 April 20 and undated
Extent: 2 items (2 pp. and 148 pp.)
Abstract: George Bernard Shaw card laid in a copy of Miriam Michelson's "The Duchess Barbara [of Leeds]."
Language: Materials entirely in English.
MSS 099, F220, George Bernard Shaw card to Fred Terry and Miriam Michelson playscript "The Duchess Barbara [of Leeds]," Special Collections, University of Delaware Library, Newark, Delaware.
Shelved in SPEC MSS 099
Special Collections Department, University of Delaware Library / Newark, Delaware 19717-5267 / Phone: 302-831-2229 / Fax: 302-831-6003 / URL: http://www.lib.udel.edu/ud/spec/
Purchase, 1986.
Processed and encoded by Debra Johnson, April 2007.
The collection is open for research.
Use of materials from this collection beyond the exceptions provided for in the Fair Use and Educational Use clauses of the U.S. Copyright Law may violate federal law. Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. Please contact Special Collections Department, University of Delaware Library, http://www.lib.udel.edu/cgi-bin/askspec.cgi
George Bernard Shaw was born July 26, 1856, in Dublin, Ireland; he died November 2, 1950, in Ayot Saint Lawrence, Hertfordshire, England. Shaw was a renowned playwright, novelist, essayist, critic, and lecturer, whose life work was recognized through awards such as the Nobel Prize for literature, 1925; Irish Academy of Letters Medal, 1934; and the Academy Award (Oscar), Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, 1938, for the screenplay of Pygmalion.
Sources:
"Shaw, George Bernard." Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2003. Biography Resource Center. http://galenet.galegroup.com (accessed April 23, 2007).
Miriam Michelson (1870–1942) was an American novelist who flourished in the first half of the twentieth century.
Sources:
"Miriam Michelson." Literature Online. http://lion.chadwyck.com (accessed April 18, 2007).
This collection consists of an autograph card signed laid into a typescript carbon copy of Miriam Michelson's "The Duchess Barbara [of Leeds]." The card is addressed to Fred Terry of the Royal General Theatrical Fund. Shaw mentions "I know my place too well; and it is not, alas! on the stage." Shaw appears to be responding to Terry’s request of him to appear in a play.
The typed carbon playscript displays the title as "The Duchess Barbara" on the cover page. The name "Barbara" has been crossed out and in pencil reads "of Leeds." The subtitle is "A Slightly Historical Drama, Careless of Chronology, Indifferent to Facts, and Frankly Fanciful. In Four Acts." Also on the cover page are two names, including Fred Terry. Within the typed playscript there are instances of underlining in red pen as well as autograph corrections.
This collection also includes a cloth cover of the playscript with "The De Mille Company, Author's Representative, Astor Theatre, Broadway and 45th St., New York City" inscribed. It is noted as "Set No. 2." Inside the cover, there is some writing in pencil and there is additional writing on the back cover. It was apparently used as a prompt copy.
George Bernard Shaw card to Fred Terry, 1932 April 20 [Box 10 F220]
Autograph card signed, 2 pp.
Miriam Michelson playscript "The Duchess Barbara [of Leeds]", undated [Box 10 F220]
Typescript carbon copy, 148 pp.
