Mark Beeson Archive (EUL MS 488)
Born in Powell River, Canada in 1954, Mark Beeson (1954-2022) spent most of his childhood on a farm in Dartmoor. Mark attended Magdalen College, Oxford, initially to study Classics before changing to Human Sciences, and graduating in 1977. In 1979, his archaeological survey of Widecombe-in-the-Moor was published in collaboration with Michael Masterman for the Devon Sites and Monuments Register. A year later, in 1980, Mark’s poem ‘The Walk’ won a prize in the Arvon Foundation’s first international poetry competition, with Ted Hughes commenting that “both Seamus [Heaney] and myself were very taken by it”. A prolific writer, poet and playwright from a young age, Mark’s first community play, ‘The Badgers’, was performed in 1980. It would be the first of many community plays written by Mark and performed by MED Theatre during his 30-year tenure as Artistic Director. In 1981, after working for years to receive external funding, Mark travelled to the Zomba Plateau in Malawi to complete a self-funded study of the blue monkeys native to the area, and was inspired by the family structures of blue monkeys to found Manaton and East Dartmoor Theatre (later named MED Theatre), a rural community theatre company, in 1989. Several of Mark’s plays were adapted or written for radio and produced by BBC Radio 4, and many took inspiration from the mythology, landscape, and communities of Dartmoor.
This collection documents many of Mark Beeson's activities including his personal life, his poetry and playwriting, his primatology research, his archaeological survey of Widecombe-in-the-Moor, and research and writing related to Dartmoor, including records of The Dart Magazine and MED Theatre. The collection contains correspondence; manuscripts, notebooks, and typescripts for poetry, plays and other writing by Mark Beeson; diaries; photographs; school work, and other personal and literary papers.
Click here to find out more about the archive on the archives catalogue
Bobby George Brown, (1923-2011), was an English teacher at Leyton County High School. He produced and directed many of the school productions including 'The Last of the Incas', a play by G Wilson Knight, in December 1955. Bobby Brown also encouraged one of his students, actor Derek Jacobi to take on a school production of 'Hamlet' that was particularly acclaimed by the critics at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, 1957. Bobby Brown subsequently worked for the British Film Institute. He died in 2011.
George Richard Wilson Knight (1897-1984), Professor of English Literature. His publications, beginning with 'Myth and Miracle' (1929) and the 'Wheel of Fire' (1930) number more than thirty. He produced and acted in a number of theatrical performances, especially Shakespearian, on both sides of the Atlantic. He retired to Exeter, living in his brother's house just off the university campus, until his death in 1984.
This collection (EUL MS 391) comprises papers mainly relating to Bobby Brown's production of the play 'The Last of the Incas' at Leyton Leytonstone County High School in 1955, including actor Derek Jacobi in the role of De Soto. The play, written by George Wilson Knight, was first presented at the Sheffield Little Theatre, by Arnold Freeman, Sheffield Educational Settlement in 1954. The collection includes letters by George Wilson Knight and congratulations letters by other people to Bobby Brown; a programme; photographs; an article by George Wilson Knight about his own play 'The Last of the Incas' and a copy of the memorial for Bobby Brown's funeral with Derek Jacobi's tribute.
Click here to find out more about the archive on the online archives catalogue
Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Mallowan (1890-1976), the novelist known as Agatha Christie, was born in Torquay, In 1920 her first novel 'The Mysterious Affair at Styles' was published by John Lane. More than twenty more novels had appeared by 1938, when this series of files in this collection begins, and a further forty followed, plus short stories and plays. She went on to become the world's biggest-selling author, and the author of by far the longest-running play in London, 'The Mousetrap'.
The archive is the sequence of files from the offices of Hughes Massie and Co. Ltd. relating to Agatha Christie's literary estate prior to her death. For this entire period her agent was Edmund Cork, and these files were created by him to reflect his dealings with publishers, film-makers and other professional persons with an interest in the Christie estate, including Agatha Christie herself, and her husband, Professor Sir Max Mallowan.
The archive includes letters from Agatha Christie relating to her own dramatisations of her works (including 'Towards Zero' and 'Murder at the Vicarage', as well as letters from or relating to other dramatists' adaptations of her works for the stage. Thereare also several letters relating to long-runnig play 'The Mousetrap' (originally a radio play entitled 'Three Blind Mice', written by Agatha Christie for Queen Mary's birthday in 1947).
Click here to find out more about the archive on the online archives catalogue
Ronald Duncan (1914-1982) was a productive West Country author whose literary career encompassed journalism, fiction, poetry, libretti, film scripts and plays. He is best known as the playwright of 'This Way to Tomb' (1946), poet of 'The Horse' (1964) and librettist of 'The Rape of Lucretia' (1946). He was also a farmer, horse breeder and pacifist who lived in Welcombe, Devon for most of his life.
Possible topics of research within the Duncan Collection are extremely wide ranging given the size and breadth of the collection. Some possible areas of interest to early career researchers are listed below, but if you have a particular topic in mind then contact Special Collections to chat about whether this collection would be suitable for your research.
Daphne du Maurier (1907-1989) grew up in Cumberland Terrace, London, and Cannon Hall, Hampstead, but the family developed strong links with Cornwall after buying a riverside house near Fowey, and it was in Cornwall that Daphne settled. She began publishing stories and articles in 1928; her first novel, 'The Loving Spirit', was published in 1931 by Heineman. There followed 'The Progress of Julius' (Heineman, 1933) and 'Gerald, a portrait' (Gollancz, 1934) before her first enduring success, 'Jamaica Inn', which was published by Gollancz in 1936. Two years later she published her most significant and best-loved novel, 'Rebecca'. Besides these she published a number of other novels, short-stories and biographical portraits, blending history and literary art in some, while developing her own unique vision of the macabre in others. She published one volume of autobiography, 'Growing Pains', about her early life in 1977.
In addition to novels, Daphne du Maurier wrote several plays. We look after several Daphne du Maurier archives and collections, which include several items related to her plays. They are listed below;
EUL MS 144/1/1/6 - Pencil manuscript notebook containing latter part of a play [possibly 'September Tide'
EUL MS 144/1/8 - Carbon copy of typescript 'September Tide' (1949), a play in three acts
EUL MS 462/1/4/1 - Manuscript draft script entitled 'Mother' [working title for 'September Tide']
EUL MS 462/1/4/2 - Printed script of 'The Years Between: A Play in Two Acts'
EUL MS 462/1/4/3 - Typescript draft film script entitled '"Au Pair." (outline of story)'
EUL MS 462/1/7 - Assorted items, including partial typescript and manuscript literary drafts
EUL MS 464 - Items relating to 'Rebecca: A Play in Three Parts'
Gerald du Maurier (1873-1934) was an actor and theatrical manager. He also appeared in a small number of films.
The papers relating to Gerald du Maurier (EUL MS 207/4) comprise mainly items regarding to his acting career, including photograph albums, press cutting albums, obituary albums, and a scrapbook realting to the life and career of the actor and playwright David Garrick.
Click here to find out more about these items on the online archives catalogue
Arthur Schnitzler (1862-1931), dramatist, novelist and critic, was one of the principal figures in the Viennese fin de siecle movement. He was born in Vienna to a bourgoisie Jewish household and was the son of Johann Schnitzler. He began his literary career in the 1890s and became known to a wide audience through his play 'Liebelei' which was produced in 1895, building on the reputation of 'Anatol' which was released in 1893. Many of his works, such as 'Reigen' (filmed as 'La Ronde') and 'Leutnant Gustl', provoked controversy. His play 'Professor Bernhardi' could not be shown until 1918, six years after completion, due to censoring. After establishing his career as a dramatist, he turned to fiction with great success, publishing works such as 'Sterben' (1895) and 'Fraeulein Else' (1924).
The collection (EUL MS 214) brings together an extensive body of evidence on the reception of Schnitzler's work and contains mainly press-cuttings (c 23,000) relating to the life and works of Arthur Schnitzler, collected during the period 1891-1937. German-speaking countries are well represented, and articles are also included in English, Danish, Russian, Italian and French, as well as in other major European languages. The sections concerning 'Liebelei' and 'Reigen' are the largest (approx. 1,200 cuttings) in the collection. The collection also includes illustrations, cartoons, offprints, playbills and programmes, as well as cuttings relating to Schnitzler's death in 1931.
Click here to find out more about this collection on the online archives catalogue
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