The Collected Letters of Ellen Terry
Editor: Katharine Cockin
The Pickering Masters
978 1 85196 145 0: 234x156mm: £100.00/$180.00
978 1 85196 146 7: 234x156mm: £100.00/$180.00
978 1 85196 147 4: 234x156mm: £100.00/$180.00
978 1 85196 148 1: 234x156mm: £100.00/$180.00
978 1 85196 149 8: 234x156mm: £100.00/$180.00
978 1 85196 150 4: 234x156mm: £100.00/$180.00
978 1 85196 151 1: 234x156mm: £100.00/$180.00
978 1 85196 152 8: 234x156mm: £100.00/$180.00
Ellen Terry (1847–1928) was one of the first modern stars of the British stage. She toured America and Australia and was adored by the public, and has become an icon of Victorian womanhood. A transitional figure, Terry straddled both the Victorian and the modern world. But the controversies of Terry’s private life were numerous: elopement, cohabitation, single-motherhood, multiple marriages – two with significant age differences – yet she maintained the reputation of a thoroughly feminine woman of the age.
Terry’s correspondence was both exuberant and extensive. Despite falling victim to selective destruction, the remaining letters provide a fascinating insight into the dynamics of the Victorian theatre, as well as the difficulties of life for a woman maintaining a successful public persona whilst raising two illegitimate children. The collection brings together material from across the world, and includes letters to many famous addressees – Bram Stoker and George Bernard Shaw among them – as well as many lesser- or unknown recipients who often get the best of Terry’s playful prose.
The collection will be of value to those with an interest in Victorian theatre, women’s suffrage, and fin de siècle literature.
- This collection of around 3000 letters has not previously been published
- Gives an insight into the context of nineteenth-century theatre
- The letters are sourced from fifteen archives worldwide
- The letters are transcribed verbatim, retaining all the idiosyncracies of Terry's style and the immediacy of her prose
- Correspondents include many famous figures of the day, including writers, aristocrats, and artists
- Index of addressees, theatres and plays
Sample pages
Reviews
'The presence of Ellen Terry is palpable in these extraordinarily expressive documents...'
– John Stokes, Times Literary Supplement (read the full review here)
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