Guide to the Watson Nicholson Papers M0157
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
1999 ; revised 2019
Green Library
557 Escondido Mall
Stanford 94305-6064
specialcollections@stanford.edu
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Title: Watson Nicholson Papers
creator:
Nicholson, Watson
Identifier/Call Number: M0157
Physical Description:
4 Linear Feet
(8 boxes)
Date (inclusive): circa 1903-1921
Scope and Contents
Literary manuscripts, research notes, copies of research material, clips, lectures, essays, printed material. Predominantly
research material and manuscripts of published works on British theatre. Some unpublished material. Other subjects include;
censorship, Victorian era, Thackeray, Defoe's JOURNAL OF THE PLAGUE YEAR, and various English literature topics.
Biographical Note
Missing Title
| 1866, Sept. 23 |
student through junior year at Indiana U. |
| |
born, Pendleton, Ind., son of Abraham and Maria (Davis) Nicholson. |
| 1884 - 1887 |
teacher in Indiana schools |
| 1892 |
A.B., Stanford |
| 1892 - 1894, 1897 - 1901 |
teacher in California schools |
| 1895 |
M.A., Harvard Graduate School |
| 1895 - 1897 |
teacher at Harvard |
| 1897, Sept. 1 |
married Florence Emily Beaver |
| 1903 |
Ph.D., Yale |
| 1903 - 1905 |
engaged in university extension teaching |
| 1905 and 1907 |
traveled and studied in Europe |
| 1905 - 1908 |
instructor, English Literature at Sheffield Scientific School (Yale) |
| 1910 - 1915 |
Clubs: Authors' (London); Stanford, Fortnightly, Harvard, Yale |
| |
Author: A Syllabus of Six Lectures on American Literature with bibliography, 1903; The Struggle for a Free Stage in London,
1906; discovered all the sources of Defoe's famous Journal (1913), previously regarded as fiction, published as Historical
Sources of Defoe's Journal of the Plague Year, 1919; Anthony Aston, Stroller and Adventurer, 1920.
|
| |
worked in British Museum |
| |
Member: Harvard Teachers' Association, A.A.A.S., American Academy of Political and Social Science, Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma Chi. |
| |
Hon. Member: Mark Twain Society |
| 1951, Dec. 2 |
died - last address: Michigan |
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item] Watson Nicholson Papers (M0157), Dept. of Special Collections, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford,
Calif.
Conditions Governing Use
While Special Collections is the owner of the physical and digital items, permission to examine collection materials is not
an authorization to publish. These materials are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. Any transmission
or reproduction beyond that allowed by fair use requires permission from the owners of rights, heir(s) or assigns. See: http://library.stanford.edu/spc/using-collections/permission-publish
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open for research. Note that material is stored off-site and must be requested at least 36 hours in advance
of intended use.
Provenance
Gift of W. Nicholson, ca. 1950.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
England -- Theater
British literature
Nicholson, Watson
box 1, folder 1
Patents, petitions, grants and other documents from the Patent Office and Lord Chamberlain's office and other archives in
London, relating to the theaters, patentees, managers, actors, etc., transcriptions of Vol. I - Tudors and Stuarts
box 1, volume 2 (vol.)
Patents, etc.
1920, 1921, 1810, 1832, 1843, 1843
Scope and Contents
Transcriptions of Vol. II, includes correspondence with and notes for Lucy Drucker, transcriber, and holograph transcriptions
and appendices - chron. list of important facts connected with history of theatrical monopoly, copies of various theatrical
patents and licences, Parliamentary legislation regulating plays and players, copies of plans for proposed new theatres, copies
of petitions and other docs. re: Council proceedings, of for a third theater, copies of docs. illustrative of struggle between
and misc., alphabetical list of minor theaters established in London prior to bibliography
box 1, folder 3
Miscellaneous Notes - The Minor Theaters
box 2, folder 1
Reports of Select Committees
1832, 1853, 1866, 1892, 1909
box 2, folder 2
Miscellany
1844 - 1873, 1921
Scope and Contents
list of Lords Chamberlain and Examiners, bibliography of censored plays, laws regulating theater and drama in England, state
of the London stage at various periods censorship considered by critics, etc., censorship - examples of absurdities, Archer
notes - Shaw's criticism - Cibber notes, censorship in France, 19th century stage in England, Strictures by Zangwill, Filin,
Fortnightly Review, TLS J.M. Stillman
box 2, folder 3
18th Century - Manners, Coronation of George II, Chapter from The Struggle - Little Theater & G.F., Goodman's Field Theater,
Revolt of 1733, censored plays
box 2, folder 4
19th Century - Notes - Lenten controversy, censored plays, clippings, censorship in France
box 3, folder 1
Censored Plays - newspaper clips. and some notes. ALS Frank E. Bryant
1909
box 3, folder 2
The Struggle for a Free Stage in London
Physical Description: 2 ptd., unbound, uncut copies.
box 3, folder 3
The Victorian Era - notes and misc. notes on Thackeray's works. Tennyson, Browning (Lounsbury); Vanity Fair, Pendennis, Yellowplush
Correspondence, Christmas Books, Sketch Books, Esmond, Newcomes
box 3, folder 4
Early Writings of W. Makepeace Thackeray, I and II
box 3, folder 5
Early Writings of W. Makepeace Thackeray, II, III, IV and V. Notes by Watson Nicholson from contemporary sources
box 4, folder 1
Thomas Betterton and His Colleagues, I. A Study of the Restoration and Post-Restoration Stage and Drama. Notes and copies
of - Patent Rolls Docs. from Ld. Chamberlain's Office
(1639 - 1664), (1660 - 1685)
box 4, folder 2
Thomas Betterton and His Colleagues, II. Short study on actors and managers
Physical Description: (typescript)
box 4, folder 3
The Restoration and Post-Restoration Drama, Thomas Betterton and his Colleagues, III - Sheridaniana
Physical Description: (notes)
box 5, folder 1
Historical Sources of Defoe's Journal of the Plague Year and Anthony Aston, Stroller and Adventurer original notes. ALS E.
Carter, A.S. Salley, Jr. TLS Oscar Wegelin
box 5, folder 2
Historical Sources of Defoe's Journal of the Plague Year and Anthony Aston, Stroller and Adventurer original mss
(1919) (1920)
box 5, volume 3 (vol.)
A Diary of the Plague Year
Physical Description: 2 bound copies of earlier version (bound together), typescript with corrections, some mss.
box 5, folder 4
Essays - Literary and otherwise - by Watson Nicholson. Use of the Iliad and Odyssey in Lit. Classes. Aims and methods, aims
and scope of English Lit. in Secondary Schools, Science and Rhetoric, Analysis of Structure of Silas Marner, Critical discussion
of Bulwer's Pelham, Christopher Marlowe, Dryden's Prefaces, Massachusetts New (currency) Emission: An Episode in American
Colonial Finance, Russian Diplomacy as a Factor in the Downfall of Napoleon, Russian Diplomacy vs. Napoleonism in War of 1812
Scope and Contents note
- includes reprints, typescripts (some with ms. corrections).
box 6, folder 1
Nicholsoniana - Unpublished mss. by Watson Nicholson. Who was Thackeray before Vanity Fair?, Early Writings of Wm. Makepeace
Thackeray, Contemporary Estimate of William Makepeace Thackeray, Debit and Credit Account of Jack Wilton, Side Glances at
Dramatic Censorship in England, True History of A Grunenwald Romance, or the Confessions of a Neb (short story), Wm. Lyon
Phelps, An Appreciation
Scope and Contents note
- typescript with ms. corrections, one holograph ms.
box 6, folder 2
Evolution of the Master of the Revels - Notes I, Revels to 1610
Physical Description: - ms. notes, clips.
box 6, folder 3
Evolution of the Master of the Revels - Notes II, (Commonwealth, etc.)
box 7, folder 1
Evolution of the Master of the Revels - Notes III, Restoration
box 7, folder 2
Evolution of the Master of the Revels - Notes IV
1611 - 1640.
box 7, folder 3
Evolution of the Master of the Revels - Notes V, Sir Henry Herbert regime. - Evolution of the Master of the Revels - Mss.,
original mss., unpublished, incomplete. 1st of a planned three vol. History of the Censorship of the English Stage
box 7, folder 4
Evolution of the Masters of the Revels - Chapters I and II, two versions
Physical Description: typescript with ms. corrections.
box 7, folder 5
Evolution of the Masters of the Revels - Chapters III - VI
Physical Description: typescript with ms. corrections.
box 7, folder 6
Evolution of the Masters of the Revels - Chapters VII and VIII, manuscript - holograph. Chapter X, holograph notes (no Chapter
IX)
Physical Description: typescript with ms. corrections,
Scope and Contents note
- TLS [F.R. Lounsbury?].
Box 8, Folder 1
Evolution of the Masters of the Revels - Chapters VII and VIII, manuscript - holograph. Chapter X, holograph notes (no Chapter
IX)
box 8, folder 2
Lincoln Notes and Lecture
box 8, folder 3
Notes for Lectures on English Lit (Yale The 17th century, Poets, Elizabethan Prose Writers)
1901-1908
box 8, folder 4
Miscellaneous Printed Material and Photo - theater programs, syllabus, articles
Physical Description: (2)
box 8, folder 5
Periander, Tyrant of Corinth - bound, unpublished play by Mrs. Nicholson
