Add MS 83151

Eleanor Farjeon Papers. Vol. lxxv (ff. 179); 15 April 1938-18 April 1938, n.d. ‘Mrs Pyett’s Antique Shop’ (ff. 1-38), ‘Brave Old Woman’ (ff. 39-70) and ‘The American Adventure’ (ff. 71-179).

1. ff. 1-38. Three partly [italics]autograph[/italics] drafts, one [italics]incomplete[/italics], of ‘Mrs Pyett’s Antique Shop’; n.d. Describes the antique shop on Hampstead High Street, the 1936 production of ‘The Two Bouquets’ and Eleanor Farjeon’s ‘favourite novel’, [italics]Humming Bird[/italics] (1936), dedicated ‘To Dear Listette Pyatt’, on whom the character Aunt Charlotte Pye was based. The extract ends with the closure of the shop in 1940. Published as ‘No. 23 The High’ in [italics]The Book of Hampstead[/italics], ed. Mavis and Ian Norrie (1960).

2. ff. 39-70. ‘Brave Old Woman’; n.d. Extract corresponding to pp. 248-268 of the published edition (1941). The novel is autobiographical, with the eponymous heroine based on the Farjeon’s governess Miss Newman, al. ‘The Demon’.

3. ff. 71-113. List of stories to be included in ‘The American Adventure’ (f. 71) with partly [italics]autograph[/italics] draft pages (ff. 2-15) and [italics]incomplete[/italics] draft of ‘The American Adventure’ (ff. 86-113); n.d. With daily notes of Eleanor Farjeon’s activities on the verso of the [italics]autograph[/italics] draft pages (ff. 73-74). ‘The American Adventure’ relates to Eleanor Farjeon’s visit to New York City for the production of ‘The Two Bouquets’ in 1938. For correspondence relating to or resulting from Eleanor Farjeon’s 1938 visit to New York City for the production of ‘The Two Bouquets’, see Add. 83144-83145.

4. ff. 114-135. ‘Tony Kraber’;n.d. Two drafts of an account of Eleanor’s friendship with Tony Kraber, an actor she met in America while preparing the production of ‘The Two Bouquets’. For correspondence between Eleanor Farjeon and Tony Kraber, see Add. 83138.

5. ff. 136-139. ‘The Burlap Room’; n.d. Two drafts of an anecdote told by Marc Connelly, the director of ‘The Two Bouquets’, to Florence Williams, an American actress friend of Eleanor Farjeon. For correspondence between Eleanor Farjeon and George Earle and Florence Williams Whitten, see Add. 83142-83143.

6. ff. 140-141. Draft of a poem beginning ‘You are supposed / Not to give anything / To the beggars in the City of New York’ and ‘Mr Snag’, an [italics]incomplete[/italics] account of trying to cross Sixth Avenue; n.d.

7. ff. 142-152. Letters from Eleanor Farjeon to George Chester Earle and Herbert Farjeon placed with the memoirs; 15 April 1938-18 April 1938, n.d.

8. ff. 153-179. Miscellaneous papers relating to Eleanor Farjeon’s visit to New York, including an analysis of the first full rehearsal of ‘The Two Bouquets’ (f. 153), a notebook with notes on alterations to the play (154-174) and a toast in rhyme given by Eleanor Farjeon to the cast and crew(f. 179).