THE BEERBOHM TREE COLLECTION

Part 4: Correspondence, Business and Production Records

"The Beerbohm Tree Collection is one of the most important accessions to the University of Bristol Theatre Collection. . It is especially rich in prompt books, the most important of which are those for his elaborate Shakespearean productions .. Also of enormous interest are the ledgers and account books which give details of production costs, actors' and technicians' salaries, box-office takings, advertising and general running costs."
Christopher Robinson, former Keeper of the Theatre Collection

This is one of the single most important resources for anyone wishing to understand how Victorian and Edwardian theatre operated. Through prompt books, cash books, ledgers and press cuttings, we can see how plays were put on, how they were received critically and commercially, and how the whole enterprise was managed.

Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree (1853-1917) was one of the great actor-managers of his day. He emulated his great rival, Sir Henry Irving (1838-1905) in mounting elaborate productions of Shakespearean drama and in introducing the audience to new plays. Like Irving, he also took control of the theatres in which he acted - managing the Comedy Theatre (1887), the Haymarket (1887-1896), and Her (or His) Majesty's (1897-1915), which was built at Tree's expense and to his specifications.

Tree's greatest successes were as Falstaff in The Merry Wives of Windsor (1889); as Hamlet (1892); as Svengali in George Du Maurier's Trilby (1895); and as Professor Higgins in the premiere of Shaw's Pygmalion (1914). He also starred in and directed eighteen of Shakespeare's plays between 1888 and 1914, introduced audiences to works by Henry Arthur Jones, Stephen Phillips, Clyde Fitch, and David Belasco, and hosted the premiere of Wilde's A Woman of No Importance (1893).

In 1904 Tree founded what was to become the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) on the premises of His Majesty's Theatre. He lectured on acting and directing and wrote three books on the subject. In 1909 he was knighted for services to the theatre. He was also one of the first actors to realize the potential of cinema and his scene from King John was the first Shakespeare to appear on film.

The Beerbohm Tree Collection covers all aspects of his life in the theatre. It comprises:

- 253 boxes of prompt books featuring many of the major productions which he directed including: An African Millionaire, Antony & Cleopatra, Barabbas, Beethoven, Business is Business, Carnac Sahib, The Dancing Girl, Darling of the Gods, David Copperfield, Edwin Drood, An Enemy of the People, The Eternal City, Faust, The God of War, Hamlet, Henry IV, Herod, The House of Bondage, Julius Caesar, Katherine & Petruchio, King John, The Man Who Was, A Man's Shadow, Merchant of Venice, The Merry Wives of Windsor, A Modern Eve, Much Ado About Nothing, Nero, Oliver Twist, Othello, Peril, The Red Lamp, Richard II, The School for Scandal, The Seats of the Mighty, The Tempest, Trilby, Twelfth Night, Ulysses, The Winter's Tale, and A Woman of No Importance.

- Nearly 1,000 photographs of productions, capturing the quintessential nature of 'great Victorian theatre'.

- Eight boxes of designs for productions, arranged alphabetically by play.

- Agreements and licenses covering the plays.

- 64 volumes of press-cuttings dating from February 1885 to May 1917. Quite a part from their importance as a body of critical appreciation, these cuttings are a mine of information about the theatre, leading actors and developments in stagecraft. They provide extensive documentation of his first and second American tours, 1895-1897.

- Business and general personal correspondence.

- Ledgers, Accounts Books, Directors' Minutes dealing with all aspects of the commercial side of productions, 1887-1922 (but especially strong for the period 1904-1921).

Taken together these archives enable scholars to explore in detail Beerbohm Tree's twenty year spell as manger, director and actor at Her (His) Majesty's Theatre. This was a period in which his reputation and fortunes reached their zenith, although it ended with the challenge of a new simplified style of theatre challenging his own preference for spectacular and extravagant shows.

(Formerly published by Emmett publishing: now available exclusively from Adam Matthew Publications)