Inventory of the Bernard Shaw Papers, 1878-1964

Collection Number 3516

Manuscripts Department, University Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Contact Information:

Manuscripts Department

CB#3926, Wilson Library

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill, NC 27514-8890

Phone: 919/962-1345

Fax: 919/962-3594

Email: mss@email.unc.edu

URL: http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/

Descriptive Summary

Repository

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.

Creator

Shaw, Bernard, 1856-1950.

Title

Bernard Shaw Papers, 1878-1964

Call Number

3516

Language of Materials

Materials in English

Extent

Items: About 5,000

Linear Feet: 5.5

Administrative Information

Restrictions to Access

This collection has restrictions to access. Please see details below or contact the Manuscripts Department for more information.

Usage Restrictions

No photocopying or publication without permission.

Acquisitions Information

Received from Archibald Henderson, Series A (1959-1960), Series B (1960), Series E (1964); Series C received from Cyril Clemens of Kirkwood, Mo. (1962, 1976, and 1978); Series D/F received from Archibald Henderson, Mrs. Lucille Kelling Henderson, and other members of the Henderson Family (1962, 1970- 1976); Series H acquired from Swann Galleries, New York (1976); Series G acquired from multiple sources, including: Middle House, Witney, Oxfordshire, England (November 1975); Swann Galleries, New York (June 1976); Transfer from Rare Book Collection (July-August 1976); Bertram Rota, London (November 1977); Bertram Rota, London (June 1980); Paul C. Richards, Templeton, Mass. (October 1980); Jenkins Company, Austin, Tex. (October 1980); John Wilson, Witney, Oxfordshire, England (October 1980); Bernard Quartitch, London (July 1981); Paul Richards, Templeton, Mass. (July 1981); Transfer from Rare Book Collection (August 1981); Paul C. Richards, Templeton, Mass in January 1986 (Acc. 86001); Bertram Rota, London, in January 1997 (Acc. 97051); Charles Apfelbaum, Watchung, N.J., in April 2006 (Acc. 100369).

Processing Information

Processed by: Tim Pyatt, April 1997

Encoded by: Jackie Dean, April 2006

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], in the Bernard Shaw Papers #3516, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Copyright Notice

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Online Catalog Headings

These and related materials may be found under the following headings in online catalogs.

Authors and publishers--Great Britain--History--20th century.

Authors and theater.

Calvert, Louis, 1859-1923.

Clemens, Cyril, 1902-

Constable (Firm)

Fabian Society (Great Britain)

Halstan, Margaret, 1879-1967.

Henderson, Archibald, 1877-1963.

Kyllmann, Otto.

Shaw, Bernard, 1856-1950.

Socialism--Great Britain.

Theater--Great Britain--History--20th century.

Unwin, Thomas Fisher, 1848-1935.

Webb, Beatrice Potter, 1858-1943.

Webb, Sidney, 1859-1947.

Related Collections

J. M. Dent & Sons Records (#11043)
George William McCoy Papers (#4157)

Biographical/Historical Note

George Bernard Shaw was born in Dublin in 1856. He moved to London in 1876 to devote himself to writing. In London, he worked as art, music, and drama critic on various London journals. Shaw was a founding member of the Fabian Society in 1884 and edited its Fabian Essays in Socialism (1889).

Among his plays were Arms and the Man (1898); Caesar and Cleopatra (1900); Man and Superman (1903); Major Barbara (1905); Androcles and the Lion (1912); and Pygmalion (1912). Shaw also wrote novels, tracts and books on socialism, and collections of music and dramatic criticism. He received the Nobel Prize for literature in 1925. Shaw died in 1950.

(Adapted from Webster's New Biographical Dictionary (1983).)

Collection Overview

The collection includes items related to author George Bernard Shaw collected or received by Archibald Henderson (1877-1963), mathematics professor at the University of North Carolina, and other materials. Included is correspondence between Henderson and Shaw, his secretaries, and members of his family, largely relating to Henderson's biography of Shaw. Also included are letters and cards received from Shaw by Otto Kyllman of Constable & Co., London, publishers of Shaw's collected works, and carbon copies of the letters sent by Kyllman to Shaw. These letters, dated 1909-1950 (bulk 1929-1933), are concerned primarily with the business relations between the author and his publisher. Letters, 1891-1945 (photostatic copies), from Shaw to Sidney Webb and Beatrice Potter Webb concern their common interest in the Fabian Society and socialism in theory and practice. Also included is correspondence, 1910-1950, between Shaw and Cyril Clemens. This consists largely of letters from Clemens to Shaw requesting permission to quote Shaw's work and to dedicate works to him, and soliciting his advice on publishing activities. Letters, 1888-1907 (copies), from Shaw to British publisher Thomas Fisher Unwin (1848-1935), concern publishing possibilities for his own work and that of others. Letters, 1896-1928, from Shaw to British actress Margaret Halstan (1879-1967) deal with the production of Shaw's plays in which Halstan appeared, offering advice on acting and making comments on the British theatrical scene. Letters from Shaw to Louis Calvert, Shavian actor and director, chiefly concern productions of Major Barbara. There is a small amount of other correspondence and compositions by Shaw as well as prints and photographs of Shaw and other subjects.

Arrangement of Collection

A. Constable & Co. Correspondence
B. Webb Correspondence
C. Clemens Correspondence
D. Unwin Correspondence
D/F. Henderson Correspondence and Notes
G. Miscellaneous
H. Halstan Correspondence
I. Pictures

Detailed Description of the Collection