Summary
Overview
Davenport, Fanny, 1850-1898.
Fanny Davenport Collection
3.9 linear feet, 5 archival boxes, 1 half-sized archival box, 2 oversize boxes
Princeton University. Library. Dept. of Rare Books and Special Collections
Manuscripts Division
One Washington Road
Princeton, New Jersey 08544 USA
Abstract
Consists of papers of Fanny Davenport, a popular nineteenth-century American actress and theater manager.
Description
Description
The collection consists of papers of Davenport, an actress and theater manager. Included in the collection is correspondence of Davenport with Frances Aymar Mathews, a playwright, T. Henry French, Elizabeth Marbury, Victorien Sardou, and other actresses, actors, real estate brokers, bankers, theater owners, costume designers, friends, and fans. Theater-related materials include scripts for
Fedora
and
Gismonda
, costume sketches, contracts with the Tremont Theatre and with Frances Aymar Mathews for her to write the play
Warrior
, and reviews of
Fedora
and Sarah Bernhardt. There is a large group of financial papers consisting of a log book of salaries paid to actors in various cities, over 1600 cancelled personal checks (1878-1896), journal pages of expenses for 1888 performances, 26 envelopes of accounts of performances for 1896-1898, and several hundred receipts for personal and company related purchases. Memorabilia includes two small silver-plate souvenir trays, a menu, stationery, notes, and newspaper clippings. There is also an account book (1859-1861) for the Howard Athenaeum kept by Davenport's father, Edward Loomis Davenport, and a framed photograph of him acting in "Blackeyed Susan."
Collection Creator
Biography
Davenport first performed on stage at the age of eight. As an adult she performed in Philadelphia at the Arch Street Theatre, then with Augustin Daly's company at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York, acting in revivals, new plays, Shakespeare, and other plays. Around 1877 Davenport formed her own company with which she toured around the country. From 1883 to 1895 she also appeared in four plays,
Fedora
,
Gismonda
,
Tosca
,and
Cleopatra
, by the French dramatist Victorien Sardou in roles originally performed by Sarah Bernhardt.
Access and Use
Access Restrictions
The collection is open for research.
Use Restrictions
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. No further photoduplication of copies of material in the collection can be made when Princeton University Library does not own the original. Permission to publish material from the collection must be requested from the Associate University Librarian for Rare Books and Special Collections. The library has no information on the status of literary rights in the collection and researchers are responsible for determining any questions of copyright.
Preferred Citation
Fanny Davenport Collection; 1870s-1890s, Manuscripts Division, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Princeton University Library.
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