Samuel Beckett letters to Herbert Benjamin Myron and other papers
Overview
Contains letters from playwright, Samuel Beckett to his friend, American scholar Herbert Benjamin Myron, as well as photographs, posters, and printed materials related to Beckett's plays and productions, collected by Myron.
Dates
- 1953-1985
Language of Materials
Collection materials are in English, French, German, Norwegian, Greek, and Dutch.
Conditions Governing Access
There are no restrictions on physical access to this material. Collection is open for research.
Most of 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
3.25 linear feet (8 boxes and 10 oversize folders)Correspondence series is primarily autograph manuscript (signed) letters from Samuel Beckett to his friend Herbert Benjamin Myron. Some of Beckett's letters include poems in French or English and some include autograph manuscript notes made by Myron. Many letters from Beckett also include photocopies of the original letter or postcard and notes or transcriptions of the text, made by Herbert Benjamin Myron. This series also includes some letters to and from others concerning Beckett or his works.
The composition series includes Myron's notes on Beckett from his visits with him, a few compositions by Myron on Beckett, photocopies of Beckett manuscripts for Cascando, an unidentified screenplay, and a Norwegian translation of Radio II.
The series "printed materials and photographs" is primarily theater programs and on-stage photographs of Samuel Beckett plays, collected by Herbert Benjamin Myron or collected by Samuel Beckett and sent to Myron. Myron regularly sent this material to the Harvard Theatre Collection. Some of these items were sent directly to the Harvard Theatre Collection by Samuel Beckett. Many items are annotated and/or inscribed by Beckett. Includes: pamphlets, clippings, offprints and reprints, photomechanical prints, and other printed items relating to performances of Beckett’s plays, as well as Myron’s annotated copy of Deirdre Bair’s book, Beckett: A biography.
Biographical / Historical
Samuel Barclay Beckett (1906-1989) was a playwright, novelist, theater director, and poet, who was born in Dublin, Ireland, lived in Paris for most of his adult life, and wrote in both English and French. Herbert Benjamin Myron (1906-1990) was a professor of French at Boston University who received a Ph.D. from Harvard in 1939. He corresponded with many French writers and collected theater materials. Myron corresponded extensively with and was friends with Samuel Beckett.
Arrangement
Organized into the following series:
- I. Correspondence
- II. Compositions
- III. Printed material and photographs
Physical Location
Harvard Depository and onsite
Immediate Source of Acquisition
2006MT-113r. Most materials in this collection are the gift of Herbert Benjamin Myron; received from approximately 1950-1985.
Existence and Location of Copies
Microfilm of a portion of the correspondence is available through Houghton Public Services as TSM 467.
Processing Information
Processed by: Bonnie B. Salt. Oversized materials processed by Betts Coup, 2018 September.
Processing Information
990101607290203941
- Title
- Beckett, Samuel, 1906-1989. Samuel Beckett letters to Herbert Benjamin Myron and other papers, 1953-1985: Guide.
- Author
- Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
- Description rules
- dacs
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- hou02505
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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