Lancaster French Play collection

Collection

Identifier: MS-0320

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The collection (1629-1700) consists of photostats of 28 French plays written or performed in the seventeenth century. The plays are in French and were aquired from libraries in France by Henry Carrington Lancaster, Johns Hopkins professor of French literature, while he was researching and writing A History of French Dramatic Literature in the Seventeenth Century. In the published volumes, Dr. Lancaster notes the locations and the manuscript numbers of the original manuscripts. One other item in the collection is a letter also in French of playwright, Jean Racine. The letter is dated September 5 (no year), and the addressee is not named.

The plays are bound individually and filed in alphabetical order by title. The Container List for Ms. 320 lists the plays, dates, authors, when known, and the volumes and pages for references in A History of French Dramatic Literature in the Seventeenth Century.

Dates

Creation: 1629 - 1700

Conditions Governing Use

Single copies may be made for research purposes. Researchers are responsible for determining any copyright questions. It is not necessary to seek our permission as the owner of the physical work to publish or otherwise use public domain materials that we have made available for use, unless Johns Hopkins University holds the copyright.

Biographical Note

Henry Carrington Lancaster was born in Richmond, Virginia in 1882. He received his B.A. and M.A. from the University of Richmond and his Ph.D. from The Johns Hopkins University in 1907. After teaching at Amherst College, Lancaster returned to Hopkins in 1919 as professor of French Literature and was later appointed chairman of the Romance Language Department. He retired from the University as Professor Emeritus in 1952. Dr. Lancaster was the author of twenty-six books on French literature, language, and drama. His monumental work was A History of French Dramatic Literature in the Seventeenth Century published, in 1929, in nine volumes. Among the honors accorded to Dr. Lancaster was the rank of Chevalier of the Legion of Honor presented by the French government in 1932. Dr. Lancaster contributed to and later served as editor of Modern Language Notes. Henry Carrington Lancaster died in Baltimore, January 30, 1954.

Also in Special Collections is the Henry Carrington Lancaster papers Ms. 83. Included are correspondence, book reviews, research notes, drafts, typescripts, and galleys. Dr. Lancaster's research notes consist of outlines and analyses of seventeenth and eighteenth-century plays with biographical details on many of the dramatists.

Extent

0.94 Cubic Feet (2 legal size document boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Provenance

The collection was given to the University by Henry Carrington Lancaster.

Existence and Location of Originals

Henry Carrington Lancaster cites the locations in France of the original manuscripts in his published volume, "A History of French Dramatic Literature of the Seventeenth Century."