Overview
Letters by playwright and politician Richard Brinsley Sheridan, along with financial documents, a theater lease, and a manuscript dedication for his Pizarro.
Dates
- Creation: 1776-1815
Language of Materials
Collection materials are in English.
Conditions Governing Access
There are no restrictions on physical access to this material.
Extent
.5 linear feet (1 box)Series I, Letters, consists of ten letters and two postal covers by Sheridan. Most of the letters relate to Sheridan's theatrical career. All but one of the letters were published and annotated in Price's The Letters of Richard Brinsley Sheridan.
Series II, Documents and Manuscripts, consists of four routine financial documents; Sheridan's manuscript dedication of his Pizarro; and a lease from Sheridan to Samuel Hayes for the King's Theatre.
Biographical / Historical
Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751-1816) was born in Dublin, Ireland and raised in 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 into the following series:
- I. Correspondence
- II. Documents and Manuscripts
Physical Location
b (shelved with MS Hyde 84)
Immediate Source of Acquisition
2003JM-58 (part). Bequest of Mary Hyde Eccles, Four Oaks Farm, Somerville, New Jersey; received: 2004.
Bibliography
Processing Information
Processed by: Rick Stattler
- Title
- Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 1751-1816. Richard Brinsley Sheridan papers, 1776-1815: Guide.
- Author
- Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- hou01740
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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