Lives of the Shakespearian Actors: Ellen Terry

These volumes chart the careers of three Shakespearian actors through reviews, interviews and reminiscences. Sources are chosen to illustrate individual performances and the contemporary responses to them. Herbert Beerbohm Tree epitomized the late-Victorian and Edwardian actor-manager. Known for his monumental productions of Shakespeare, he was criticized by many as vulgar. Yet his work was popular and his Shakespeare festivals celebrated Shakespeare’s place as a national and imperial figure. Famous for his distinctive mannerisms, Henry Irving’s acting divided critics. Perhaps the best known of all the actor-managers, he often took responsibility for directing, set-design and casting, and re-opened the Lyceum theatre under his own control. In 1895 he was the first actor to be awarded a knighthood. Ellen Terry was considered the greatest Shakespearian actress in Britain. Brought into partnership with Irving, she spent two decades as his leading lady. Substantial volume introductions and extensive notes provide contextual analysis of the source material. This set will be essential to those researching the staging of Shakespeare’s plays, the History of the Theatre and to those teaching performance studies. Contains over 300 rare documents, including reviews, articles and extracts from biographies Focuses on the contemporary response to performance Material is drawn from several periodicals including Era, Blackwood’s Magazine and the Athenaeum Editorial apparatus includes a general introduction, chronology, volume introductions, headnotes and endnotes Consolidated index appears in the final volume Volume 3: Ellen Terry Edited by Katharine Cockin Contents: Charles Dodgson, The Diaries of Lewis Carroll Volume One (1856–8) [excerpts]; Charles Tawse, ‘Charles Kean’s Winter’s Tale', Theatre (1888); 'Drama', Daily News (1858); 'The Theatres', Daily News (1887); Frederick Wedmore, ‘The Merchant of Venice at the Prince of Wales’, Stage, (1875); ‘Theatres’, Graphic (1875); J S, ‘The Merchant of Venice at the Prince of Wales’s Theatre’, Fraser’s Magazine (1875); Henry James, The Scenic Art of Henry James (1949) [excerpts]; 'Art Gossip: Henry Irving as Manager', Aberdeen Journal (1879) [excerpt]; H Savile Clark, 'To Miss Ellen Terry as Ophelia', Examiner (1879); H Savile Clark, 'Hamlet at the Lyceum', Examiner (1879); ‘Theatrical Reform: The Merchant of Venice at the Lyceum’, Blackwood’s Magazine (1879); ‘The Examiner of Plays: The Lyceum’, Examiner (1879); ‘The Examiner of Plays: The Merchant of Venice at the Lyceum', Examiner (1879); ‘Theatres’, Graphic (1879); Anna Lea Merritt, ‘Miss Ellen Terry as Ophelia, Etcher (1879); W Davenport Adams, ‘Ellen Terry as Beatrice', Theatre (1880); ‘Mr Irving and Miss Terry in Glasgow’, Era (1883); ‘Miss Ellen Terry’s Benefit', Era (1887); Edward Dutton Cook, ‘Ellen Terry’, Theatre (1880); [Henry James], ‘The London Theatres’, Scribner’s Monthly (1881); ‘Public Amusements’, Liverpool Mercury (1881); E R R, ‘Ellen Terry as Portia’, Theatre (1880); ‘Helen Faucit and Ellen Terry’, Era (1880); ‘Miss Ellen Terry as Portia’, Illustrated London News (1880); Kate Terry Gielgud, An Autobiography (1953) [excerpt]; Graham Robertson, Time Was: The Reminiscences of W Graham Robertson (1931) [excerpt]; A B W, 'The Drama', Speaker (1898); ‘King Lear at the Lyceum’, The Times (1892); Henry James, The Scenic Art of Henry James (1949) [excerpt]; [G B S], 'Romeo and Juliet', Saturday Review (1895); G B S, ‘Mainly About Shakespeare’, Saturday Review (1897); Marie Corelli, ‘Viola’, Temple Bar (1884); William Archer, ‘Twelfth Night at the Lyceum’, Macmillan’s Magazine (1884); Lewis Carroll, ‘The Stage and the Spirit of Reverence', Theatre (1888); William Winter, Shadows of the Stage (1906); William Archer, ‘Macbeth and Common Sense’, Murray’s Magazine (1889); A G L ,‘Irving’s Macbeth’, Poet-lore (1889); Percy Fitzgerald, 'Macbeth', Theatre (1889); Anon., [review of Macbeth], Morning Post (1888); Edward Gordon Craig, Ellen Terry and Her Secret Self (1931) [excerpt]; Henry James, The Scenic Art of Henry James (1949) [excerpt]; George Bernard Shaw, ‘Blaming the Bard’, Saturday Review (1896); R Warwick Bond, ‘Cymbeline at the Lyceum’, Fortnightly Review (1896); Clement Scott, The Drama Of Yesterday and To-Day (1899) [excerpt]; Bram Stoker, ‘The Art of Ellen Terry’, Playgoer (1901–2); Bernard Partridge, ‘Fifty Years A Queen (An Author’s Tribute)’, Punch (1906); Basil Dean, Seven Ages (1970) [excerpt]; Kate Terry Gielgud, An Autobiography (1953) [excerpt]; 'Miss Ellen Terry’s Jubilee Benefit’, Review of Reviews (1906); ‘The Winter’s Tale Revived at His Majesty’s Theatre’, Illustrated London News (1906); B W Findon, ‘The Play and Its Story’, Play Pictorial (1906); 'Miss Ellen Terry: Recital Programme' (1912); 'Miss Ellen Terry in her Charming Recital' [programme]; Christopher St John, 'Introduction', in Ellen Terry, Four Lectures on Shakespeare (1932); Ellen Terry, Four Lectures on Shakespeare (1932) [excerpt]; Christopher St John, The First Actress (1911) [excerpt]; Cariacature of Ellen Terry as Suffragette; ‘Miss Ellen Terry at the Haymarket’, Academy (1911); ‘Shakespeare’s Heroines by Ellen Terry’, Review of Reviews (1910); Ellen Terry, 'The Women of Shakespeare'; Basil Dean, Seven Ages (1970) [excerpt]; Anon., ‘The Last Rosalind’, Theatre (1885); Oscar Wilde, ‘Shakespeare and Stage Costume’, Nineteenth Century (1885); William Archer, ‘A Well-Graced Actress’, National Review (1886); Henry James, The Scenic Art of Henry James (1949) [excerpt]; Harry How, 'Illustrated Interview No. XVII: Ellen Terry', Strand (1892); Anon., ‘Miss Ellen Terry on Operatic Acting’, Magazine of Music (1893); Joseph Knight et al, ‘Who is the Greatest Living Actress – And Why?', Idler (1895); Clement Scott, ‘The New Dictator’, Theatre (1895); G B S, ‘The Silver Key’, Saturday Review (1897); Austin Brereton, ‘Ellen Terry, Player Queen’, English Illustrated Magazine (1897); T Edgar Pemberton, Ellen Terry and Her Sisters (1902) [excerpt]; Christopher St John, Ellen Terry (1907) [excerpt]; ‘Henry Irving and Ellen Terry’, Bookman (1908); H M Walbrook, ‘Great Acting in Shakespeare’, Pall Mall Magazine (1910); Anon., ‘Kate Douglas Wiggin and Ellen Terry’, Bookman (1911); 'Editorial', Freewoman (1911); Alice Comyns Carr, ‘Ellen Terry: Recollections of a Long Friendship’, Fortnightly Review (1922); Ivor Brown, ‘To the Unknown Goddess’, Saturday Review (1928); Stephen Gwynn, ‘Ebb and Flow’, Fortnightly Review (1928); Edward Gordon Craig, Ellen Terry and Her Secret Self (1931); Virginia Woolf, ‘Ellen Terry’, New Statesman (1941); Graham Robertson, Time Was: The Reminiscences of W Graham Robertson (1931) [excerpt]; Ernest Milton, ‘Heart and Mind’, Edy: Recollections of Edith Craig (1949); Margaret Webster, The Same Only Different: Five Generations of a Great Family (1969) [excerpts]; Rebecca West, 'New Light on Ellen Terry' (1932); Christopher St John, ‘Ellen Terry’s Shrine’, Sackbut (1933); 'The Ellen Terry Memorial' [leaflet]