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COLLECTION Identifier: MS Thr 666

Joan Jefferson Farjeon papers

Overview

Correspondence and ephemera relating to British set and costume designer, Joan Jefferson Farjeon and her family.

Dates

  • Creation: 1860-1992
  • Creation: Majority of material found within 1950-1992

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 (1 box)

Includes: letters written by various British actors to Joan Jefferson Farjeon; photographs of her sets and a portrait photograph of her aunt, Eleanor Farjeon; programs from various productions and theaters including the Chanticleer Theatre at the Webber Douglas School of Dramatic Arts; clippings sorted by subject; and other material.

Biographical / Historical

Joan Frances Farjeon was born in 1913 in London. As an adolescent she attended the Lindores School in Bexhill-on-Sea and the Westminster School of Art. In 1939 she illustrated a collection of plays called Granny Gray, for her aunt, Eleanor Farjeon. She also designed the sets and costumes for all the plays by her friend, Nicholas Stuart Gray throughout her career. In the 1950s she designed sets and costumes at the Arts Theatre in Cambridge (England), the Pitlochry Festival and did many set designs in London including Agatha Christie's The Hollow (Fortune, 1951) and Verdict (Strand, 1958), Vernon Sylvaine's comedy starring Robertson Hare, Will Any Gentleman? (Strand, 1950), and Lock Up Your Daughters! (Mermaid, 1959). Sometime after 1955, she acted as amanuensis, officially titled "manager", for the TV cooks Johnnie and Fanny Cradock, suffered severe shock and burns when there was an explosion on the Cradocks' boat in Monte Carlo. In 1968 she became resident designer at the Webber Douglas School of Dramatic Art, creating memorable sets for productions in the tiny Chanticleer Theatre into the 1990s.She died in Northwood, Middlesex on 2006 August 8.

Arrangement

Arranged into the following series:

  1. I. Correspondence
  2. ___A. Letters to Joan Jefferson Farjeon from various persons, 1945-1963
  3. ___B. Letters from Joan Jefferson Farjeon to various persons, 1965 and undated
  4. ___C. Other correspondence, 1925 and undated
  5. ___D. Envelopes
  6. II. Photographs
  7. III. Programs
  8. IV. Clippings
  9. V. Other material

Physical Location

Harvard Depository

Immediate Source of Acquisition

2005MT-37. Purchase with the F. E. Chase fund; received: 2005 October 12.

Separated Materials

Lend-a-hand Dramatic Club photograph album removed to MS Thr 677.

Bibliography

Harvey, Anne. "Joan Jefferson Farjeon: Inventive scenic designer." The Independent. August 14 2006.
  • Harvey, Anne. "Joan Jefferson Farjeon: Inventive scenic designer." The Independent. August 14 2006.

General note

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

Processing Information

Processed by: Krista Ferrante

Title
Farjeon, Joan Jefferson. Joan Jefferson Farjeon papers, 1860-1992: Guide.
Author
Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
Description rules
dacs
Language of description
und
EAD ID
hou02152

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:
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