CONTEMPORARY ANGLO-AMERICAN LITERATURE - Christopher Fry (Bristola, 1907 - Chichester, 2005) - An important collection of autographs

Christopher Fry (Bristola, 1907 - Chichester, 2005)

86 autograph letters signed; 20 illustrated greetings cards with autograph dedication signed; 4 photographs (3 with autograph dedication signed; 5 autograph extracts signed of theatre works and poems; 1 typed draft of a dialogue with many autograph additions and corrections; complete typed script (64pp.) of the play Venus Observed with autograph dedication signed; 2 typed letters signed by the English author and playwright. His most notable work, The Lady’s not for Burning has led him to be considered one of the most important British playwright of the 1940s and 1950s. His scripts, beginning with The Lady’s not for Burning to The Bible: In the Beginning (1966) have been adapted for TV series or movies. Included 2 autograph letters signed by Phyllis Fry; 1 autograph letter signed by Jean Wadsworth.

Thirty-six autograph letters signed covering a period of 40 years, addressed to various friends and personalities, mainly pertaining work, family, theatre performances, publications and fans. We report here a list of the letters, giving more space and focus to the more significant in terms of content. All letters are in fine condition.



1949 - 1958

May 23. 1949. To Mab. About the reissue of The Boy with a Cart (1938): "I think you’ll have to get the publisher’s permission to reprint the extract. And perhaps you would drop a line to my agent (Actac Ltd. 33 Haymarket) to tell him I’ve given you permission and he’s not to ask for a fee!". 1 p. ½.

November 19. 1951. To Mr. G.H.B Holland Esq. About a portrait the addressee wants to make of him when in London. 1 p. ½. Envelope included.

October 23. 1954. To Mr. Browning. About books he sent him of a remarkable unpublished writer named "Butler": "I admired the poems extremely [have any of them been published in England?]. The play is powerful, but hasn’t, for me, the quality of the poems. – I agree with you that Mr. Butler should be better known here". 1 p. on the author’s letterhead.

January 2 1958. To Kit [stage actress Katharine Cornell] and Guthrie [McClintic, theatre director]. Sending thanks for a book the friends sent him and adds: "The Dark goes into television rehearsal here tomorrow: I’ve made one or two minor changes to the last act..". 1 p.

March 7. 1958. To Kit. The author writes to the actress, thanking her for having him and his wife to stay in New York the week after. He mentions a play the actress is rehearsing, presumably The Firstborn written by Fry. 1 p.

April 23 1958. To Katharine Cornell. After a visit in New York, he sends an affectionate letter to his actress friend. 1 p.

April 23 1958. To Nancy Hamilton. He sends a sweet letter to his friend thanking her for her hospitality in New York. 1 p.



1960-1965

not dated, To Diana. Fry wishes Diana a quick recovery and says he cannot make it to visit her as he is "surrounded by Italian film producers […] who are standing by while I try to write the script!". 1 p.

August 16. 1960. To Diana. Sends condolences for her father’s death. 1p.

October 20. 1962. To Cloggie, about the staging of the Curtmantle at the Aldwych Theatre in London from 6 October 1962, and Jean-Louis Barrault’s production The Dark is Light Enough: "Things seem to be going pretty well with the play for the moment: the press is in a schizophrenic state of disagreement about it... (...) I’ve just got back from Paris where I went to a few rehearsals of Jean-Louis Barrault’s production (...) trying to understand a word they were saying as they expected me to make enlightened comments! I rewrote the last scene while I was there (...) I return there on Tuesday for the dress-rehearsal". 2 pp., on the author’s letterhead.

December 15. 1964. To Kit and Nancy. On personal matters. 1 p.

December 16. 1964. To Maurice, giving advice on his play Orpheus and Eurydices: "What I wish you would do is to re write the little first scene of the meeting at the café table, which the students improvised. As it stood, it was suddenly 'poetic' and too ornate for them to cope with". 2 pp., on the author’s letterhead.

January 28. 1965. To Maurice, commenting on the changes to his play Orpheus and

Eurydices: "I don’t think you’ve got them right yet. Shouldn’t you take more time to consider, and work over the lines? Bits are so good, and other bits not (...) I’d say that the scene between O and E – their meeting – is now too long and suffers from the clash of the two extremes of style". 2 pp., on the author’s letterhead.

1973-1979

September 15. 1973. To Colin Huggett. Sends a page of the Curtmantle. 1 p. Envelope included.

October 7. 1973. To Diana. Sends an extract of an article that came out in the Daily Telegraph on Anne Brontë’s Impressions in the Life of an Individual. 1 p.

November 16. 1973. To Diana. Sends his best wishes to Diana who had been hospitalized again. 1 p.

December 7. 1974. To Nancy Hamilton. Regretting not having met her during her trip to England. 1 p. Envelope included.

December 22.1974. To Diana. Mentioning the work he is doing for the Paradise Lost (1976-1978) opera-libretto composed by Krysztof Penderecki: "In between village affairs, I’ve been making an opera libretto out of Paradise Lost for a Polish composer called Penderecki". 2 pp.

July 25. 1976. To Mr. Lemon. Answers to thank his correspondent for proof reading. 1 p.

July 20.1977. Envelope included. To James Wassmuth. Answers a letter of appreciation. 1 p. ½.

October 30. 1978. To Mr. Fawkes. Answers a letter of appreciation. 1 p.

August 31. 1978. To Dan Robb. Answering a question on his professional life: "I suppose there is no single thing I could call my 'first real break' – one thing led to another – directing a couple of plays for the Arts Theatre Club in 1946-1947 led to my becoming Staff-Dramatist there, which led to writing The Lady’s not for Burning. Perhaps the most significant 'break' was when John England decided to produce that play, after its first production at the Arts Theatre Club, in the West End". 1 p. ½. Envelope included.

November 3. 1978. To Derek Stanford, author of Christopher Fry: An Appreciation (1951); commenting some passages of the volume: "I was glad you mentioned the stretch of the family history, within the framework of world history, in your last sentence – I think that’s the case of the book, with the little threads linking the generations together (...) when you say 'his mother now reverted her to her maiden name of Fry' – where did you imagine that up from? Two mistakes: she remained Mrs. Harris all her life, and her maiden name was Hammond (...) It’s encouraging that for once all the critics seem to be united in a friendly response, of the ten I’ve seen so far. Perhaps I should have spent my life writing biographies instead of plays!". 2 pp.

May 11. 1979. To Derek Stanford; thanking his correspondent for the script he sent him and he lists the news of the company: "Very many thanks for your letter and for letting me read the broadcast script. Falkland is certainly a tempting subject, if I’ve got the energy now to tackle such a sizeable play. I shall at any rate pursue him further (...) The Chichester company took a double-bill of Phoenix & Sleep of Prisoners to the Hong Kong Festival and came back in good spirits. The Penderecki opera has had three productions so far – at Chicago: La Scala, Milan, and Stuttgart, and is due to be done in Berlin, Düsseldorf and Vienna: but Covent Garden evidently hasn’t the money to mount it". 1 p. ¼. Envelope included.

March 10. 1979. To Siv Lind, sending some material for her exhibition on contemporary authors at the Helsinki University. 2 pp. Envelope included.



1983-1986

December 10.1983. To Peter Vogel: "Do you, as well as collecting autographs, also read the work of the people whose autographs you collect?". 1 p.

May 29. 1984. To Mr. Dawson; sending details on how to reach Rugby for an event on September 20th. 1 p.

June 4 1984. To Lisa Stevens. Sending her material and indications for an upcoming event in September which he will be attending. 2 pp.

June 10 1984. To Julie Russell. In order to summarize a talk he had, he clips a typed poem, clearly inspired by the nursery rhyme "What Are Little Boys Made Of?". 1 p.

January 14. 1985. To Elliot Kraemer. Answers a letter of appreciation. 1 p. Envelope included.

July 25. 1985. To Richard Davie. Providing advice on being a writer. 1 p.

January 20. 1986. To Jane Chappell. Providing examples of translated titles of his plays. 1 p.

March 24. 1986. To John Davie: "The answer to two of your questions (is any of the work autobiographical and which poems did I enjoy reading as a child) you will find in the book I wrote about my family and my childhood, called 'Can You Find Me'". 1 p.

August 6. 1986. To Tuula Wikander, about his translations and his most performed works: "I don’t think that any of the work has been translated into Russian, and some of the translations have been made for performance in the theatre, but perhaps not published: the Serbo-Croat translation, for instance, and one play at least in Albanian (...) Frequently performed, I think – A Phoenix Too Frequent, The Boy with a Cart, and A Sleep of Prisoners. I have just finished a new play [One Thing More, or Caedmon Construed] which will be produced in Chelmsford Cathedral early in November". 2 pp. Envelope included.

November 18. 1986. To Miss Chappell. He comments and retraces some aspects of his recently performed play One Thing More, or Caedmon Construed: "I had to invent most of the 'life' of Caedmon, since, as you know, Bede tells us so little. I started writing it on March 4th and finished towards the end of July". 2 pp.

December 14, 1986. To Miss Chappell. The author agrees to sign her copy of the play. ½ p.



Fifty autograph letters signed, addressed to Roland Pieraccini

Extensive and interesting correspondence of 50 autograph letters signed between the author and Rolando Pieraccini. Covering a period of 12 years (1984-1989; 1991-1996), the correspondence traces the publication process of the series of Signed Limited Editions of the plays A Phoenix Too Frequent (1946) and The Lady’s not for Burning, published by Eurographica in 1985 and 1986.

November 12. 1984 – 2 pp.

- November 30. 1984 – 1 p.

- January 3. 1985 – 2 pp. ¼.

- January 24. 1985 – 1 p. ¼.

- February 26. 1985 – 1 p.

- April 15. 1985 – 1 p. ¼.

- May 4. 1985 – 2 pp.

- June 5. 1985 – 1 p.

- June 28. 1985 – 1 p.

- July 26. 1985 – 2 pp.

December 2. 1985 – 3 pp.

- May 27, 1986 – 2 pp.

- July 30. 1986 – 1 p.

- August 12. 1986 – 1 p.

- August 23, 1986 – 1 p.

- September 16. 1986 – 1 p. ¼.

September 29 1986 – 1 p.

- October 13. 1986 – 1 p. ¼.

- October 16.1986 – 1 p.

- October 18. 1986 – 1 p. ¼.

November 13. 1986 – 1 p. ¼. Two typed receipts included.

December 28. 1986 – 2 pp.

- January 11. 1987 – 2 pp.

- March 23. 1987 – 2 pp.

- June 11. 1987 – 3 pp.

- July 22. 1987 – 3 pp.

- August 19. 1987 – 1 p.

- Sept. 4 1987 – 2 pp.

- Sept. 18 1987 – 1 p.

November 13. 1987 – 2 pp.

November 20. 1987 – 3 pp.

Dec. 13 1987 – 1 p. on greetings cardboard.

- March 12. 1988 – 1 p.

- July 27. 1988 – 2 pp.

- October 17. 1988 – 1 p.

- December 30. 1988 – 1 p. ½.

- January 10. 1989 – 2 pp.

- January 26. 1989 – 1 p. ½.

January 7. 1991 – 2 pp.

- February 13. 1991 – 1 p. ½.

- May 21. 1991 – 1 p.

- August 5. 1991 – 1 p. ½.

- February 24. 1991 – 1 p.

- January 8. 1996 – 1 p.

February 3. 1996 – 1 p.

March 28th 1996 – 1 p. on cardboard

- April 16. 1996 – 1 p.

- June 28 1996 – 1 p.

- June 23. 1997 – 2 pp.

- n.d. – 1 p.

The correspondence moves forward revealing many different aspects of the author’s life, such as revivals of his plays Ring Round the Moon, A Phoenix Too Frequent and One Thing More and his relationship with the theatre and film director Peter Brook (1925). The publication of the new version of his play Venus Observed is very touching, as the author was writing and staging a new version of his play in 1992 and was willing to publish the first edition of the new version with Eurographica, a publication that will never take place. The author mentions some offprint collection of verses, written on purpose and printed privately by John Bell, editor at Oxford University Press. The author’s idea was to use it as an example for a possible anthology of verse publications with Eurographica. All letters are in fine condition, most of them with envelope with autograph address.

Twenty illustrated greetings cards, postcards with signature and autograph dedication signed addresser and various friends.

Autograph letter signed of Jean Wadsworth on greetings cardboard with printed quotation by Christopher Fry.

Five autograph extracts signed of theatre works and poems

Poem "For Any threatened city". 1 p.

Extract from "The Dark is Light Enough", Act III. 1 p.

Extract from "A Phoenix Too Frequent". 1 p.

Extract of the last scene from "A Phoenix Too Frequent". 3 pp.

Extract from "The Lady’s not for Burning". 1 p.

Three photographic portraits, two with autograph dedication signed. One photograph is dated July 26 1985. Mark of the photographer “© Duncan Fraser 1982” and “Photo Nico Jesse [Holland]” on the back. x2 (20 x 20.5 cm); (20 x 20.5 cm).

Two autograph letters signed by Phyllis Fry written from Rome.

May 1st 1958. To Katharine Cornell. Mrs. Fry writes a tender letter to her friend, thanking her for the kindness with which she and her husband Guthrie McClintic hosted them in New York. She then talks of her staying in Rome with her husband for the Ben Hur movie set: "This is strictly film business and yesterday after arrival the night before, Kit was driven to the studios and shown the suite specially decorated for him in blue, black and white (...) Also his name painted on the door. Also the sets with floors of real marble the 86 horses from Czecho Slovakia, the 100 cowboys from USA to look after them". 2 pp.

June 29th 1958. To Mr. Kohn. Mrs. Fry answers to Mr. Kohn who asked Mr. Fry to write "an introduction to Dr. Nico Jesse’s book". Mrs. Fry kindly refuses: "He is so very sorry to have to refuse, because, alas, he isn’t in Rome for a holiday – he is working very hard on the script of the film Ben Hur and has to be at the studios every day from 9 until 6". 1 p. ½.

Two typed letters signed December 29th,1951. To Mr. St. John. Commenting on an article about the Author’s World Peace Appeal against the Cold War that appeared on the Sunday Pictorial in 1951: "I’m sure that the Author’s Peace Appeal isn’t there to remonstrate every time someone doesn’t see eye to eye with us. The Pendennis paragraph was rather different as it was much more like a direct challenge. I found out, by the way that what alarmed the signatory quoted by Pendennis was the plan for a concert including readings from Hiroshima in the spring". 1 p.

3 June, 1958. To Nico Jesse (1911-1976), about photographs for a book: "I am returning to you one I have selected to be included in your book PEOPLE IN LONDON". ½ p.

One typed draft of a dialogue with many autograph additions and corrections. The draft, not titled, may be an excerpt from the play "A Sleep of Prisoners" (1951).

Complete typed script (64 pp.) of the play "Venus Observed" with autograph dedication, signed and dated two times April 5 1994 (on first and last page).