Edward Rose: Correspondence and papers

The surviving correspondence contains many letters from actors, actresses and theatre managers, about current productions for the London stage, and for tours in the provinces. A few letters mention the production of Rose's plays in the USA. There are letters from hopeful authors offering their novels for dramatization, from people agreeing or declining to lecture to the Playgoers' Club, and from friends wanting theatre tickets. Two owners of stately homes (Lord Barnard and Lord Donington) wrote in connection with Rose's articles in the Illustrated London News. Rose's Fabian interests are shown by letters from Sidney Webb about the scholarships he was endowing. An unexpected correspondent was the African traveller Mary Kingsley, who was evidently a friend of Mrs Rose. The papers also contain a folder of miscellaneous biographical and theatre items. The letters are arranged alphabetically by writer. The addresses are in London unless otherwise noted; some may be theatrical lodgings, rather than the writer's home. A good many letters are not dated, but the bulk of the correspondence seems to be from the 1890s. The signatures are often far from clear, consequently some identifications are less than certain.

Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).

Rose's papers remained with his descendants: some were sold at Sotheby's in New York on 6 May 1981, and some may have been sold or otherwise disposed of previously. There were originally letters from George Bernard Shaw, Max Beerbohm, Arthur Pinero, and his collaborators Stanley Weyman and Anthony Hope Hawkins. The remaining papers were presented to Cambridge University Library in 1998 by Rose's granddaughter Kate M. Field (née Thornycroft).

A catalogue of the collection can be found on ArchiveSearch.