Correspondence of Osborne Henry Mavor, 1888-1951, playwright as James Bridie

• 3 holograph and 6 typed letters signed by James Bridie to'A B H' 1939-1949, mainly on theatrical topics
• Letter from James Bridie to Henry Ainley mentioning George Bernard Shaw and Noel Coward, 20 October 1940

Osborne Henry Mavor ( 1888-1951 ) studied medicine at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, qualifying in 1913 . He was a consulting physician to the Glasgow Victoria Infirmary and for some time professor of medicine at Anderson's College in Glasgow. He is better known, however, as a playwright. His main pseudonym was James Bridie, but he also wrote as Mary Henderson and A P Kellock. He was a friend of Alfred Wareing (1876-1942) who founded the Glasgow Repertory Theatre. His first public offering was The Sunlight Sonata (1928), written under the pseudonym Mary Henderson, and he had plays performed by the Scottish National Players; but it was The Anatomist which really began his writing career. He wrote 42 plays altogether. In 1943 he was one of the founders of the Glasgow Citizens' Theatre, where many of his plays were performed. He also played a role in the founding of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, and was a member of the Arts Council's Scottish Committee and an adviser to the Edinburgh Festival. He served in both the First and Second World Wars in the Royal Army Medical Corps.

See Ronald Mavor, Dr Mavor and Mr Bridie ( Edinburgh, 1988 )

The arrangement of this material reflects the original order in which it was received

Access is open, however an appointment may be required. Please email Archives and Special Collections for advice: library-asc@glasgow.ac.uk

Duval, Edinburgh : 1963 : ACCN 4130

Purchase : Ifan Kyrle Fletcher, London : 1964 : ACCN 4137

See also University of Glasgow Collections

No known copies

Compiled by David Powell, Hub Project Archivist, March 2003

No alterations made to date

Reproduction subject to usual conditions: educational use and condition of documents. Applications for permission to quote should be sent to Archives and Special Collections, please email: library-asc@glasgow.ac.uk

This material has been appraised in line with standard GB 247 procedures

Unknown

None expected

GB 233 Accs 9987, 11309-10 Papers of James Bridie (National Library of Scotland Manuscripts division)

GB 247 STA Bridie Papers of James Bridie (Scottish Theatre Archive)

For contact details of all repositories with a GB code, see the Archon repository search page

Material in other repositories: no material associated by provenance