Sir Frank Benson Letters & Ephemera collection
Date Published: 1915 to 1929
Binding: No binding
Sir Francis Robert Benson was an English actor-manager. He founded his own company in 1883 with an emphasis on Shakespeare's plays. From 1886 to 1916 (with a few gaps), he managed the Stratford-on-Avon Shakespearean Festival. He was knighted following a performance of Julius Caesar at Drury Lane Theatre in 1916.
The collection contains 25 items dating from 1915 to 1929, specifically, 20 letters, 1 telegram, 3 photo cards, and 1 theatre program.
19 letters addressed and 1 telegram to G.R. Chadwick, who was a teacher and the leader of a scouts’ troop in Liverpool.
9 Autographed Letters Signed (ALS):
• 2 January 1915,
• 1 August 1916,
• 28 August 1918 from Brynchild Chalmers (Benson’s son) to Chadwick, 28 August 1918. Re sending photos, the Anglo-Celtic Federation, meeting Chadwick, forwarding a copy of A Tale of Two Cities, productions of The Piper, Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Henry V, scout celebrations, talk to Chadwick’s scouts, banner, wartime.
• 12 March 1923,
• 9 September 1925,
• 11 March 1926,
• 6 December 1927,
• 7 March 1929,
• 19 May ?,
• ND.
10 Typeset Letters Signed (TLS):
• 13 March 1912,
• 27 August 1915,
• 22 February 1916,
• 22 March 1924,
• 21 May 1925,
• 10 June 1925,
• 15 March 1928,
• 18 January 1929, and
• N.D.
• A telegram, 3 April 1924.
4 Ephemera:
B&w miniature photo card, Ogden’s Guinea Gold Cigarettes, no. 170 (“F.R. BENSON, Great Shakespearian actor”), n.d.
• B&w photo postcard, London, J. Beagles & Co., n.d.
• Colourzed photo postcard of Mrs. F.R. Benson, the “National” series, n.d.
• The F.R. Benson Company, theatre programme, production of The Rivals, Covent Gardens, n.d.
Collection on consignment with LDRB.
Fair. Item #8321
$750.00 USD
$1,030.21 CAD