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  • Title
    J C Trewin Papers
  • Reference
    MS 4739
  • Production date
    1896-1990
  • Creator
  • Creator History
    British journalist, writer and critic. Trewin was born in Plymouth, of Cornish heritage. He began working as a journalist on a local newspaper in 1926. He moved to London in 1932 and worked on a number of national newspapers. He published a number of studies of notable dramatists. He was appointed OBE in 1981 for services to theatre.
  • Scope and Content
    The collection contains both personal papers and material collected by Trewin relating to the English stage. The latter includes theatre programmes 1906-1989, theatre posters 1783-1936, photographs (original and reproduction) of productions 1905-1970, issues of theatrical periodicals 1906-1986, albums of press cuttings, and other miscellaneous material. There are also letters collected by Trewin to and from Constance and Frank Benson, and eighteen letters and postcards (three original and fifteen facsimile) from George Bernard Shaw. The personal material includes many letters written to Trewin over the course of his career on theatrical and literary subjects. Major correspondents (with more than ten letters) include Enid Bagnold, Guy Boas, Charles Causley, Christopher Fry, Val Gielgud, Paul Scofield, Robert Speaight and Ben Travers. Other correspondence includes letters of congratulation on the presentation of Trewin's OBE in 1981, and letters of condolence written to Wendy Trewin on the death of her husband. There is also material relating to Trewin's biography of Robert Donat and a legal dispute with the playwright Veronica Haigh which arose from it. The collection contains drafts and typescripts of some of Trewin's work, over fifty notebooks, and drafts of an account by Trewin's father of his early years at sea.
  • Extent
    c.1000 files
  • Language
    English
  • Level of description
    fonds
  • Content person
  • Content Subject
  • System of arrangment
    Correspondence is divided into categories - historical, general, letters of congratulation, letters of condolence - and within those categories is arranged alphabetically by author. Photographs and theatre programmes are arranged chronologically. Theatre posters are also arranged chronologically and have been numbered separately to the main collection. Eleven boxes contain those items which are oversize.
  • Related objects
    MS 2743