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John C. Wilson Theater Collection on Noel Coward

 Collection
Call Number: GEN MSS 608

Scope and Contents

The collection, including playscripts, production files, and printed materials, documents the professional collaboration between American producer and director John C. Wilson and British playwright Noel Coward from 1931 to 1955. The collection features scripts for several plays, including Design for Living, Point Valaine, Time Remembered, Blithe Spirit, Present Laughter, Private Lives, Relative Values, Island Fling, and Quadrille. Accompanying production files include correspondence, cast lists, financial records, photographs, and other material. The correspondence, which includes fan mail to Coward, consists chiefly of letters between Wilson and others relating to production. Printed materials include clippings (reviews) and playbills, most for productions in the eastern United States.

Dates

  • 1931 - 1955

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

The materials are open for research.

Restricted Fragile papers in box 5 may be consulted only with permission of the appropriate curator. Preservation photocopies or photographic prints for reference use have been substituted in the main files.

Conditions Governing Use

The John C. Wilson Theater Collection on Noel Coward is the physical property of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. For further information, consult the appropriate curator.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Purchased from Glenn Horowitz Bookseller, Inc. on the Frederick W. Hilles Fund, 2008.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged alphabetically by title.

Extent

2.92 Linear Feet (5 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Catalog Record

A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog

Persistent URL

https://hdl.handle.net/10079/fa/beinecke.coward

Abstract

Collection, including playscripts, production files, and printed materials, documenting the professional collaboration between American theater producer and director John C. Wilson and British playwright Noel Coward.

John C. Wilson (1899-1961)

Born in Trenton, New Jersey and educated at Phillips Academy and Yale University, John C. Wilson worked briefly for C. D. Barney & Co. on Wall Street before becoming a producer and director. From the early 1930s to mid 1950s Wilson served as Noel Coward's personal manager and, in 1934, with Coward, Lynn Fontanne, and Alfred Lunt, he established Transatlantic Productions, with exclusive production rights to Coward's plays in the United States. Wilson also served as co-director of the Westport Country Playhouse from the early 1940s to mid 1950s.

Title
Guide to the John C. Wilson Theater Collection on Noel Coward
Author
by Michael L. Forstrom
Date
October 23, 2008
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description note
Finding aid written in English.

Part of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library Repository

Contact:
P. O. Box 208330
New Haven CT 06520-8330 US
(203) 432-2977

Location

121 Wall Street
New Haven, CT 06511

Opening Hours

Access Information

The Beinecke Library is open to all Yale University students and faculty, and visiting researchers whose work requires use of its special collections. You will need to bring appropriate photo ID the first time you register. Beinecke is a non-circulating, closed stack library. Paging is done by library staff during business hours. You can request collection material online at least two business days in advance of your visit, using the request links in Archives at Yale. For more information, please see Planning Your Research Visit and consult the Reading Room Policies prior to visiting the library.