Overview
Miscellaneous letters and documents by or about playwright, theater owner, and politician, Richard Brinsley Sheridan.
Dates
- Creation: 1781-1814
Language of Materials
Collection materials are in English.
Conditions Governing Access
There are no restrictions on physical access to this material. Collection is open for research.
This collection is not housed at the Houghton Library but is shelved offsite at the Harvard Depository. Retrieval requires advance notice. Readers should check with Houghton Public Services staff to determine what material is offsite and retrieval policies and times.
Extent
.25 linear feet (1 box)Primarily autograph manuscript letters (signed) from Richard Brinsley Sheridan to many others. Also contains: letter from John Jervis to Sheridan; and manuscript documents on vellum concerning and signed by Sheridan, such as a receipt and a grant of admission to the Theatres Royal.
Associated names include: Richard Peake, Thomas Lindley, Thomas Harris, Edward Barlow, John Grubb, James Cobb, Henry Burgess, William Adam, Thomas Hammersley, and others.
Biographical / Historical
Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751-1816) was a playwright, theater proprietor, and politician. He was born in Dublin, Ireland and later moved to London. He became the manager and part-owner of the Drury Lane Theatre in 1776. He wrote several plays, including the comedies The Rivals (1775) and The School for Scandal (1780). He also served as a Minister of Parliament from 1780 to 1812.
Arrangement
Arranged alphabetically by author or title.
Physical Location
Harvard Depository
Immediate Source of Acquisition
No accession number. Various sources, various dates; see items for accession information, if known.
General note
This collection is shelved offsite at the Harvard Depository. See access restrictions below for additional information.
Processing Information
Processed by: Bonnie B. Salt
- Title
- Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 1751-1816. Richard Brinsley Sheridan additional papers, 1781-1814: Guide.
- Author
- Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
- Description rules
- dacs
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- hou02288
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.
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