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COLLECTION Identifier: MS Thr 731

Photographs of Ellen Terry

Overview

Portraits and theatrical photographs of English stage actress Ellen Terry.

Dates

  • Creation: 1878, 1883-1906

Language of Materials

Collection materials are in English.

Conditions Governing Access

There are no restrictions on physical access to this material.

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 linear feet (1 box)

Collection of portraits and photographs of Ellen Terry from theatrical productions, primarily Shakespeare, in the United States, England, and Scotland. The bulk of the collection consists of cabinet photographs with a few photographs and cartes-de-visite (card photographs). Notable productions include Hamlet, The merchant of Venice, and Much ado about nothing.

Biographical / Historical

Dame Edna Terry (1847-1928) was an English stage actress who was well known for her Shakespearean roles. Terry began acting as a child and joined Henry Irving's company in 1878 as his lead actress, later she also managed the Imperial Theatre in London. Terry had a successful stage career for almost seven decades until her death.

Arrangement

Arranged into the following series:

  1. I. Portraits
  2. II. Photographs of theatrical productions

Physical Location

Harvard Depository

Immediate Source of Acquisition

2010MT-11. Gift of Thomas Garrett; received: 2010 October 9.

Forms part of the Fredric Woodbridge Wilson Collection of Theater, Dance and Music (Harvard Theatre Collection).

General note

This collection is shelved offsite at the Harvard Depository. See access restrictions below for additional information.

Processing Information

Processed by: Alison Harris

Title
Photographs of Ellen Terry, 1883-1906: Guide.
Author
Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
Description rules
dacs
Language of description
und
EAD ID
hou02240

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:
Harvard Yard
Harvard University
Cambridge MA 02138 USA
(617) 495-2440