Dorothy Nevile Lees papers relating to Edward Gordon Craig and The Mask

The bulk of this collection documents the publication of The Mask, a journal founded by Edward Gordon Craig to promote his philosophy of the theater. The largest part of it -Craig's letters to Dorothy Nevile Lees, who served as the Mask's managing editor and usually its only staff member— will tell researchers much about Craig: his philosophy of the theater; his opinions about Americans, Italians, Germans, and certain individuals involved in the theater; his feelings about women (in general) in the theater; his editorial style and working methods; his methods of raising money both for The Mask and to support his families. The correspondence is almost all from Craig to Lees, so half of the story is lost, though he frequently responds to specific questions or complaints from her. Lees rarely left Florence during the years of The Mask 's publication, while Craig traveled all over Europe and even the United States. Even while he lived in Florence or other parts of Italy he sent Lees frequent notes about Mask editorial issues, many of which are retained in this collection.

A frequent subject of Craig's letters is Lees' behavior: he thought she used far too many words and far too many emotions to get her work done. One of the notes that Lees kept from him that condenses this sentiment into three words: "One, not 20" (i.e. - use one word, not twenty words; see Series I-A, Item 4261). She especially treasured "personal" comments from Craig, even when they were critical, and frequently marked these letters "Save for Davidino." Lees took great care to document the relatively short time during their long acquaintance when she and Craig were involved enough for her to become pregnant. Series I-A (Letters between Edward Gordon Craig and Dorothy Nevile Lees) and VIII-A (Personal Records of Dorothy Nevile Lees) contain the most documentation of their relationship, which remained a source of both conflict and pride for Lees for the rest of her life.

Craig's other family members are rarely mentioned in this collection, though a few Craig letters mention the illness and death of his mother, Ellen Terry, in 1928. The death of two of Craig's children (Deirdre, his daughter with Isadora Duncan, in 1913; and Peter, a son by his wife, May Gibson, in 1923) are noted more by Lees than by Craig. It is possible that Lees destroyed the more personal letters in her possession when she was preparing the Mask office files to be confiscated by the Nazi government.

Lees saved much of the correspondence she received after The Mask ceased publication; these letters are in Series I-B, and will be a good source for anyone studying her life and career after Craig left Florence.

We do not know exactly how much of The Mask's business records were taken by the Nazi government in 1944, but what remains in this collection leaves only a partial documentation of The Mask's history. Contributions from authors besides Craig and Lees are almost non-existent here; financial information is incomplete; and a full history of Mask subscriptions will be hard to reconstruct from these documents.