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COLLECTION Identifier: MS Thr 266

Edward Sheldon correspondence

Overview

Correspondence of American playwright Edward Sheldon.

Dates

  • Creation: 1899-1959

Creator

Language of Materials

Collection materials are in English.

Conditions Governing Access

There are no restrictions on physical access to this material.

Extent

.5 linear feet (1 box)

Includes correspondence of Sheldon, Van Wyck Brooks, Katherine Cornell, Helen Keller, Eugene O'Neill, Theodore Sheldon, John Hall Wheelock, and Thornton Wilder, among others. The correspondence is frequently personal in nature, discussing both English and American daily life and family matters. A looming awareness of WWII pervade many of the letters. Also discusses contemporary theatrical criticism and often reviews a large variety of productions. Correspondents frequently comment on their own experiences with plays they have written, produced, or acted in. Also includes compositions by Sheldon, Edgar Frank, Alice Kauser, and John Hall Wheelock, among others, as well as photographs of Sheldon, telegrams, and printed materials. Some materials compiled for a possible biography of Sheldon by Eric Barnes and another by Marion Meggs Woods are also included.

Biographical / Historical

Sheldon was an American playwright. He helped to bring social consciousness and seriousness of purpose into U.S. drama of the early 20th century.

Arrangement

Organized into the following series:

  1. I. Letters to Edward Sheldon
  2. II. Letters from Edward Sheldon
  3. III. Other letters
  4. IV. Compositions
  5. V. Photographs and printed material

Physical Location

b

Immediate Source of Acquisition

*70M-95. Gift of Mrs. Theodore Sheldon, 321 Chestnut Street, Winnetka, Illinois; received: 1970 August 3.

Title
Sheldon, Edward, 1886-1946. Edward Sheldon correspondence: Guide.
Author
Harvard Theatre Collection, Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
Language of description
und
EAD ID
hou00667

Repository Details

Part of the Houghton Library Repository

Houghton Library is Harvard College's principal repository for rare books and manuscripts, archives, and more. Houghton Library's collections represent the scope of human experience from ancient Egypt to twenty-first century Cambridge. With strengths primarily in North American and European history, literature, and culture, collections range in media from printed books and handwritten manuscripts to maps, drawings and paintings, prints, posters, photographs, film and audio recordings, and digital media, as well as costumes, theater props, and a wide range of other objects. Houghton Library has historically focused on collecting the written record of European and Eurocentric North American culture, yet it holds a large and diverse number of primary sources valuable for research on the languages, culture and history of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.

Houghton Library’s Reading Room is free and open to all who wish to use the library’s collections.

Contact:
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Harvard University
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