Agnes Furnivall transcript copies of old plays
Overview
Manuscript transcript copies of pre-Shakespearian plays made by Agnes Furnivall, cousin by marriage to Frederick James Furnivall.
Dates
- Creation: undated
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
.5 linear feet (5 volumes in 2 boxes)Manuscript transcriptions, attributed to Mrs. Furnivall, of various pre-Shakespearian texts of plays. Many texts annotated by John Matthews Manly in preparation for the publication of his 1897 work, Specimens of the pre-Shaksperean drama, with an introd., notes, and a glossary. Each volume includes introductory annotations by Harvard professor, George Lyman Kittredge. Each volume also has a bookplate with text: Child Memorial Library. To Harvard University in memory of Francis James Child first professor of English, and another plate with text: The gift of Prof. John Matthews Manly, University of Chicago. 16 Nov., 1899.
Includes transcript texts for: Macro moralities: Mankind, The salutation and conception, Nice Wanton, Hyckescorner, King Cambises, Gammer Gurtons Needle, Foure PP, and James IV.
Biographical / Historical
Frederick James Furnivall (1825-1910) was an English textual scholar and editor. He married Eleanor Nickel Dalziel (1838?-1937) in 1862, but in 1883 they were legally separated. He never married again, but continued to pursue his open relationship with Mary Lilian ("Teena") Rochfort Smith (1861-1883), a young woman active in several of his literary societies and a transcriber of manuscript works. When she died in 1883 he "managed to surround himself with attractive young women the rest of his life."
These volumes of transcriptions have only been attributed to a "Mrs. Furnivall," but in the foreward to John Matthews Manly's volume Specimens of the pre-Shaksperean drama..., he states that the manuscript transcriptions were made by Mrs. Furnivall, and he names her as Agnes Furnivall. We have been unable to determine who Agnes Furnivall was. As of this date (October 2010) this repository does not know who is responsible for these transcriptions, but we lean toward Teena Smith and await help from readers for confirmation.
Source: William S. Peterson, "Furnivall, Frederick James (1825-1910), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 2004 online edition.
Addendum, January 2017: Based on scholarly evidence, the Agnes Furnivall identified by Manley was most probably the wife of Penn Furnivall, cousin to Frederick James Furnivall. Agnes (née Agnes Parker Ackroyd) married Penn in 1873 and was either widowed or abandoned by him. She supported herself and her two daughters by performing transcription work for Manly and other scholars. See curator’s file for further information.
Source: Molly G. Yarn (Lucy Cavendish College, University of Cambridge), email to Leslie Morris (Houghton Library), 14 August 2017.
Arrangement
Arranged in volume order.
Physical Location
Harvard Depository
Immediate Source of Acquisition
94M-57. Transfered from Widener Library (Child Memorial Library); recataloged from: ChM 1220.9, ChM 1220.9.2, ChM 1220.9.3, ChM 1220.9.4, and ChM 1220.9.5; received: 1965 March 11.
Originally a gift to Harvard College Library from Professor John Matthews Manly, University of Chicago; received: 1899 November 16.
Bibliography
- John Matthews Manly. Specimens of the pre-Shaksperean drama, with an introd., notes, and a glossary. Boston: Ginn, 1897.
- Frederick James Furnivall. Teena Rochfort-Smith : a memoir, with three .... England: 1883.
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
- Furnivall, Agnes, transcriber. Agnes Furnivall transcript copies of old plays, undated: Guide.
- Author
- Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
- Description rules
- dacs
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- hou01595
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.
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