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Register of the Virna Woods Collection, 1870-1956
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Table of contents What's This?

Container List

Box 1

Biographical Materials; Correspondence; Business Papers

Folder 1

Virna Woods--Biographical

Folder 2

Clippings [incl. reviews of "The Amazons" (1891); "A Modern Magdalene" (1894); "Jason Hildreth" (1897); "An Elusive Lover" (1898); "Horatius" (1900-02); "Lord Strathmore" (1902-03); "Charles IX" (1902)]

Folder 3

Clippings scrapbook [apparently kept by Anna Woods; incl. reviews of VW from 1901- ; obituaries of VW & her parents]

Folder 4

Gladstone letter (12-8-92); letter from Tolstoy's daughter (6-10-95) [letters from British Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone and from Tatiana Tolstoy expressing praise and thanks for her work]

Folder 5

Corresp. to VW [1 item] 1889

Folder 6

Corresp. to VW [5 items; incl. letter of appreciation from Edwin Markham] 1891-1892

Folder 7

Corresp. to VW [4 items; original & 3 photostats of letter of appreciation for "The Amazons" from Edmund C. Thomas] 1893

Folder  8

Corresp. to VW [5 items; incl. one letter from Anna Woods] 1897

Folder  9

Corresp. to VW [1 item] 1898

Folder  10

Corresp. to VW [9 items; incl. 6 letters from Anna Woods, 2 letters from Frederick Warde, one of which characterizes "Columbus" as poorly conceived for stage] 1899

Folder  11

Corresp. to VW [3 items] 1900

Folder 12

Virna Woods corresp. to Anna Woods [30 items; written while VW was "on the road" w/ Frederick Warde Co.] 1901

Folder 13

Corresp. to VW [20 items; 8 from Anna Woods; 2 from Frederick Warde; 1 from French Bureau de la presse regarding her French copywrites] 1901

Folder 14

Corresp. to VW [3 items] 1902

Folder 15

Corresp. to VW [5 items] 1903

Folder 16

Corresp. to VW, undated [7 items; 4 from Anna Woods, 1 from Frederick Warde]

Folder 17

Corresp. to Anna Woods: Letters of condolence following VW's death [9 items] 1903

Folder  18

Anna Woods corresp. re VW [12 items] 1904-1913

Folder 19

J. William Harris corresp. re VW [2 items] 1956

Folder 20

VW Business Papers: Corresp. [31 items; chiefly letters from VW publishers; incl. 3 autograph letters from V 1890-1903

Folder 21

VW Business Papers: Contracts, etc. [12 items; incl. contracts for "Jason Hildreth's identity" Lippincott (1896); "An Elusive Lover" Constable (1898) & Houghton-Mifflin (1899); "Horatius" Frederick Warde (1900); "Lord Strathmore" David Traitel (1902); "Charles IX" Arthur F. Warde (1902); also real estate in Los Angeles (1887); 2 certificates of teaching record in Sacramento & El Dorado counties (1889)] 1896-1902

Folder 22

VW Business Papers: Play Receipts Ledger, etc. [4 items; Ledger (1902) shows earnings of "Lord Strathmore" ? by city; incl. loose notes on earnings of "Horatius" (1901?) & "The two orphans"] 1901-1902

Folder 23

VW Business Papers: VW theatre receipts for "Lord Strathmore" [121 items; rcpts. represent theatres from Seattle to Pensacola 1902-1903

Folder 24

VW Business Papers: Copyright forms [20 items ;incl. Library of Congress copyrights for: "Christopher Columbus" (1899);"Horatius" (1899); "King of Northumberland" (1899); "That affair of Brown's (1899); "As it is written" (1900); "Griselda" (1900);"Lalla Rookh" (1900); "A knight errant" (1901); "Charles IX" (1902); "Lord Strathmore" (1902); "The mask of a king" (1902); "Unto the fourth generation" (1902); and French copyright for "A Knight Errant" (1901)] 1899-1902

Box 2

Poetry

Folder 1

"Flowers of the Foam" [collected poems divided in six sections: "On sea & shore," pp. 1-37; "In the mountains," pp. 38-62; "In the valley," pp. 63-85; "Juvenile," pp. 86-95; "Occasional," pp. 96-120; "Pansies & Rosemary," pp. 121-213; typescript]

Folder 2

Do. [2nd incomplete copy lacks: "In a ruined Mission," "The First Ridge of the Sierras," "A California rain," p.1; "The Lost Dawn" & "Sometimes amid the garish hours of day"]

Folder 3

Do. extra copies of a few poems [typescript]

Folder 4

"The March of the Mothers of Men" from "Flowers of the Foam" [ms. & 2 typescript copies]

Folder 5

Misc. poems in manuscript [those in "Flowers of the Foam" are marked "ff"]

 

A dead linnet [ff]

 

A night ride in San Francisco

 

A woman's songs [ff]

 

After the rain [ff; 2 copies]

 

At the grave

 

At twilight

 

Combat of Achilles & Penthesilea, The

 

Happy clime, The

 

Harvests [selections; ff]

 

Hidden sorrow, The

 

In a California canyon [ff]

 

In Canadian canyons

 

In Rome [3 pp.]

 

In San Francisco

 

In silent halls

 

In the White City

 

Legend of Wannemunume, The [2 copies]

 

Maid of Gerthick...

 

Margarita: The Mission bells

 

Memory [2 copies]

 

Morning by the sea [ff]

 

Night's secret [ff]

 

On Puget Sound [ff]

 

On the shore [ff]

 

Respite [8 pp.]

 

Rowing song [ff; 2 copies]

 

Soul beautiful, The [ff]

 

Terra Scientiae

 

Unfaithful lover, The [ff]

Folder 6

Misc. poems NOT in "Flowers of the Foam" [typescript]

 

Asphodel, The [26 pp.; last page in ms.]

 

By the Pacific

 

Dream, The [16 pp.]

 

House of life, The [3 pp.]

 

In California hills

 

In retrospect

 

In the California desert

 

In wind & rain

 

In the ruins of a California mission

 

Incompletion

 

Lotus, The

 

Mariposa lilies [2 pp.]

 

Night at Echo Mtn. House

 

North wind, The

 

On a By-Path

 

On the Mt. Lowe electric railway

 

Pilgrimage, The

 

Quotation

 

Repetition

 

To Mt. Shasta [2 copies]

 

Song Unsung, The

 

Sunset on Mt. Tamalpais

 

Terra Scientiae

 

Two unident. fragments

Folder 7

"The Star," St. Nicholas Magazine (Aug 1899)

Folder 8

"Pansies for thought" [scrapbook containing most of VW's published verse] 1886-1903

Folder 9

The Amazons. Meadville, Pa.: Flood & Vincent, 1891.

Box 3

Prose Manuscripts & Typescripts

Folder 1

Manuscripts: "The qualifications of a novelist" [essay; 13 pp.]

Folder 2

Manuscripts: "Authors vs. reviewers" [essay; 14 pp.]

Folder 3

Manuscripts: "Rival Suitors" (1897) [novella; 201 pp.]

Folder 4

Manuscripts: "The last look" [short story; 14 pp.]

Folder 5

Manuscripts: "Order of development of literature" [essay; 24 pp.]

Folder 6

Manuscripts: "Beauty" [essay; 24 pp.]

Folder 7

Typescripts: "The hallucination of Gilbert Armstrong" [short story; 28 pp.; 2 copies]

Folder 8

Typescripts: "The Castellina Apollo" [short story; 13 pp.]

Folder 9

Typescripts: "At La Quasina" [2 copies; short story; 11 pp.]

Folder 10

Typescripts: "Dream & shadow" [short story; 15 pp.]

Folder 11

Typescripts: "A fable for idlers" [short story; 2 pp.]

Folder 12

Typescripts: "The dream of Charmides" [short story; 13 pp.]

Folder 13

Typescripts: "The soul of the organ grinder" [short story; 27 pp.]

Folder 14

Typescripts: "My strange experience" [short story; 21 pp.]

Folder 15

Typescripts: "The peculiar case of Mrs. Winthrop" [short story; 20 pp.]

Folder 16

Typescripts: "The Zampogna Player" [short story; 23 pp.]

Folder 17

Typescripts: "A celestial passion" [short story; 29 pp.]

Folder 18

Typescripts: "On Barbary Coast" [novel; ch. 1-10]

Folder 19

Typescripts: "On Barbary Coast" [novel; ch. 11-21]

Folder 20

Typescripts: "On Barbary Coast" [novel; ch. 22-36]

Folder 21

Typescripts: "The King of Northumberland" [novel; ch. 1-8]

Folder 22

Typescripts: "The King of Northumberland" [novel; ch. 9-15]

Folder 23

Typescripts: "At Deadman's Cove" [novel; 233 pp.]

Folder 24

Typescripts: "In El Dorado" [essay; 11 pp.]

Folder 25

Typescripts: "An analysis of Beauty" [essay; 24 pp.]

Box 4

Prose---Published

Folder 1

"Two loves in a life," Frank Leslie's Illustrated Magazine (Mar 1891).

Folder 2

A modern Magdalene. Boston: Lee & Shepard, 1894.

Folder 3

"The waifs of the white city," New England Magazine (May 1897).

Folder 4

"Jason Hildreth's identity," Lippincott's Monthly Magazine (May 1897).

Folder 5

An elusive lover. London: Constable, 1898.

Box 5

Drama---Before 1900

Folder 1

"Christopher Columbus, a Drama." [notes, cast, synopsis, dialogue, etc. manuscript, cloth/staplebound notebook, 21 cm.]

Folder 2

"Columbus" fragment [typescript; ca 60 pp.]

Folder 3

"Columbus" fragment [typescript w/ pencil additions; ca. 40 pp.]

Folder 4

"Horatius: A tragedy in 5 acts by Virna Woods" [manuscript; cast & synopsis]

Folder 5

"Horatius: A Tragedy, by Virna Woods, copyright, 1899." [typescript w/ pencil additions & corrections, 92 pp., blk. cover; 2nd carbon copy, 93 pp., loose-bound, brown cover, 29 cm.; 3rd carbon copy with illus. pasted in, 93 pp., loose-bound, brown cover, 29 cm.; 4th carbon copy, loose bound manila cover]

Folder 6

"King of Northumberland, A Historical-Romantic Drama, by Virna Woods, copyright, 1899." [typescript w/ pencil corrections; 89 pp., loose-bound, brown cover, 29 cm.; 2nd carbon copy, loose bound manila cover; 3rd carbon copy, same;

Folder 7

"King of Northumberland" [typescript, incl. synopsis; unbound, 73 pp. + unnumbered synopsis pp.]

Folder 8

"King of Northumberland" [typescript; unbound, 52 pp.]

Box 6

Drama: "Griselda" & "Lalla Rookh"

Folder 1

"Griselda: The Peasant Duchess, a Romantic Drama, by Virna Woods, copyright 1900." [typescript; black leatherette bound volume, 75 pp., 25 cm.; 2nd copy, loose bound brown cover, 94 pp., 26 cm.]

Folder 2

"Griselda: the Peasant Duchess." [incomplete typescript, ca. 30 pp., unbound]

Folder 3

"Lalla Rookh: A Romantic Comedy In Four Acts." [typescript, bound black leatherette cover, 81 pp., 26 cm.; 2nd copy, typescript, loose bound brown cover, 89 pp., 27 cm.; 3rd copy, typescript, unbound; 4th copy, typescript, loose bound manila covers, 74 pp., 27 cm.; 5th copy, same]

Folder 4

"Lalla Rookh," "Griselda," and "King of Northumberland." [incomplete drafts; pencil manuscript, black & red leather bound notebook, ca. 300 pp., 25 cm.]

Box 7

Drama: "Un Chevalier errant" (A Knight Errant)

Folder 1

"Un Chevalier Errant" [manuscript in French; unbound, ca. 150 pp., 21 cm.]

Folder 2

"Un Chevalier Errant, Comedie Heroique en Cinq Actes par Virna Woods" [3 copies, Act I only; typescript in French; unbound, 30 pp.; 4th copy loose bound, brown cover, 29 pp., 27 cm.]

Folder 3

"Un Chevalier Errant, Quatrieme Acte" [typescript in French; loose bound, brown cover, 123 pp., 27 cm.]

Folder 4

"A Knight Errant" [manuscript; 3 "Bank Stock Composition Book" notebooks; labelled "Acts I & II," "Act III" & "Acts IV & V"]

Folder 5

7.5 "A Knight Errant, a Heroic Comedy in Five Acts, by Virna Woods, Copyright 1901." [typescript; loose bound, brown cover, 123 pp., 27 cm.; 2nd, 3rd & 4th copies: typescript, loose bound, manila covers]

Box 8

Drama: Misc. Plays

Folder 1

"Charles IX, A Historical Play, by Virna Woods, copyright, 1902." [typescript w/ pencil corrections; loose-bound, manila cover, 75 pp., 27 cm.]

Folder 2

"Courtier & King, A Historical Romantic Drama in 4 Acts" [synopsis; carbon typescript; unbound, 6 pp.]

Folder 3

"For the Graves of Our Nation" [3 copies; manuscript & 2 typescript; unbound, 9 pp.]

Folder 4

"The Fourth Generation" [2 copies; synopsis; tyepscript; unbound, 7 pp. ea.]

Folder 5

"The Horns of a Dilemma, A Farce" [carbon typescript; unbound, 11 pp.]

Folder 6

"Jephthah: Or, As It Is Written" [typescript; loose bound, brown cover, 81 pp., 27 cm.; 2nd copy typescript; loose bound, manila cover]

Folder 7

"Lord Strathmore" [typescript; loose bound, manila cover, 89 pp., 27 cm.]

Folder 8

"Lord Strathmore" [typescript; unbound, 89 pp.]

Folder 9

"Mask of a King" [synopsis; carbon typescript; unbound, 10 pp.]

Folder 10

"Miriam" [synopsis; carbon typescript; unbound, 7 pp.]

Folder 11

"Roland de France"; "Garin, le Loherain"; "Bertrand de Born"; "Jefte; o, come e scritto" [synopses, lst three in French & last in Italian; 1st two carbon typescript, last two manuscript; loose bound, heavy paper cover, ca. 30 pp.]

Box 9

Fragments & Notes

Folder 1

"Columbus"; "Surely he is satisfied"; "The peculiar case of Mrs. Winthrop"; "The biography of Phyllis"; "The high places" [pencil manuscript notes & drafts; "Composition" notebook w/ dove on cover]

Folder 2

"At Deadman's Cove" [fragment; typescript; ca. 75 pp.]

Folder 3

"That Affair of Brown's" fragment [typescript + 3 carbons ea. pg.; 6 pp.]

Folder 4

"Lalla Rookh"; "Courtier & King"; Drida, Queen of Mercia" [manuscript synopses; notebook w/ Wm. Morris style design & "Notes" on cover]

Folder 5

"Florine" [pencil manuscript notes & draft; "Bank Stock Composition Book" notebook]

Folder 6

"Horatius"; "Griselda"; "Lalla Rookh"; several pp. addresses in back [pencil manuscript notes & drafts; black leatherette notebook w/ red spine]

Folder 7

"Flora" [pencil manuscript notes & drafts: "Act II"; "Act III" 2 smaller fragments; unbound on lined paper]

Folder 8

"Hallucination of Gilbert Armstrong"---fragment [typescript; 2 pp.]

Folder 9

"A Knight Errant" ---fragment [typescript; ca. 12 pp.]

Folder 10

Misc. Notes [manuscript; "Hale's California Stores" notebook; some loose pp.]

Folder 11

[Untitled essay on virtues of reading]---fragment [pencil manuscript; unbound, pp. 2-13]

Folder 12

[Unident. speech? on American values]---fragment? [pencil manuscript; unbound, pp. 1-11]

Folder 13

Speech given at Crocker Art Gallery to "Legislature ladies" [pencil manuscript; unbound, 3 pp.]

Folder 14

Misc. Notes in French [chiefly drafts of correspondence; 2 items; manuscript]

Box 10

Memorabilia: Family Papers; Writing by others

Folder 1

Family Papers

 

Ella, Fred & Elmer to John B. Woods & family, Salt Lake City (3-26-99)

 

Emma S. Marshall to "Mrs. Woods", Portland OR (3-9-03) [telegram]

 

Charlie & Lettie to "Mrs. Woods & Miss Anna", Monterey (3-11-03)

 

Mrs. Woods? to Mr. Gett (11-2-13) [2 pp.]

 

C.I. Pidgeon & family to Mrs. Woods & Anna, Lees Creek OH (3-20-12) [2 pp.]

 

Aurora Pidgeon Hazard to J. Wm. Harris, Washington C.H.O. (5-13-56) [3 pp.]

 

"Citizens' Pledge" [not to drink alcohol] signed by entire Woods family

 

Henry Blandy to John B. Woods (1874) [Deed to Zanesville property]

 

John B. Woods et al. to Artemisia Sanders (1899) [Deed to Ohio property]

Folder 2

"Postal Cards" [album, containing ca 200 cards, many of which were sent to family by VW on her 1901 tour w/ "Horatius"; brown, 27 cm.]

Folder 3

Memorabilia miscellany

 

Zanesville H.S. Report Card, 1877 [Anna Woods]

 

Zanesville H.S. Reunion admission ticket, 1877

 

Zanesville H.S. Commencement Program, 1877 [Anna Woods' class]

 

Do., 1880 [VW class---she read "Terra Scientiae"; 2 copies]

 

California. State Dept. Public Instruction. Teaching Credential, 1889 [VW]

 

Unsigned handmade oversize Christmas card from Monterey, 1889

 

"The Amazons" publishers' flyer, c1891

 

Lorenzo Waugh. "San Francisco acrostic," 1891 [2 copies]

 

L.E. Smith & Geo. T. Hesser, C.L.S.C. calling cards, 1892

 

"Jacksonville, Fla.," 1894 [souvenir booklet of photographs]

 

Mt. Lowe Railway, 1895 [adv. flyer]

 

"California Alumni C.L.S.C., 9th Anniversary, Sacramento," 10-25-95

 

Red Cross Soc., Sacramento. "Artistic Weyler Punch Exhibit," 1898

 

Reds Cross Soc. pass allowing bearer to visit US Navy vessel, SF, 1898

 

Mary E. Stackhouse/Frederic H. Patton, wedding announcement, 1899

 

"Pierce's Memorandum & Account Book," 1900 [unused]

 

Frederick Warde Co. flyer, 1901-02 season [incl. photos of F.W.]

 

Frederick Warde Co. flyer, 1901-02 season [incl. photo of Antoinette Ashton]

 

"Horatius" flyer, n.d. [c1901]

 

Tulane Theatre, New Orleans 2 advertising cards, "week of Sep 29," c1901

 

Tulane Theatre, New Orleans 2 programs [incl. "Horatius"], c1901

 

"The Mountebank" Frederick Warde Co. program, c1901

 

Do. [different format from preceding]

 

Queen Victoria Memorial Service, Sacramento, 1901 [booklet]

 

Wm McKinley Memorial Service Program, Sacramento, 1901 [3 items]

 

1903 poppy calendar in form of fan

 

H.Kramer Modes & Gowns, SF flyer, 1905

 

Tribute to VW by Frederick Warde (1905) [pencil on scrap]

 

Mr. & Mrs. Albert Boschke Silver Wedding Anniv. announcement, 1906

 

Otis Skinner in "Sancho Panza," 1906 [adv. flyer]

 

"The fondest remembrance" [illus. card], c1890

 

"To my true love" [unsigned valentine card], c1890

 

VW business card [7]

 

Hazel Hinnichson to VW, n.d. [greeting card]

 

"Mills Meetings...I hereby promise to be present as a member of the choir...," n.d.

 

Anna Woods hand drawn name tag, n.d.

 

"Virna Woods library inquiries" [list of libraries checked for VW holdings by ?]

 

stitchery rose w/ sobriquet "Love Anna," n.d.

Folder 4

Kindergarten Review (Jan 1900) [2 copies; contains no writing by VW]

Folder 5

Lillian H. Shuey. "In memory of Virna Woods," c1903 [manuscript, 3 pp.]

Folder 6

Anna Woods? or Mrs. Virginia Woods---Misc. writings [manuscript, ca 10 items; chiefly poems & essays on religious themes]

Folder 7

Poetry by Others [possibly collected by VW; consists of 24 scraps cut from periodicals, incl. several poems by Edwin Markham & by Lillian Shuey + James F. Clarke's "The Shadow" in manuscript ]

Folder 8

Speech (by whom?) regarding Portsmouth Race Commission & settlement of Russo-Japanese War, 1905 [manuscript, 3 pp.]

Folder 9

Rudyard Kipling poetry, copied by Anna Woods?, c1914 [manuscript; 16 items]

Box 11

Photos: Individual Prints

Folder 1

Virna Woods [11 items; most are portraits taken between 1893 and 1903]

Folder 2

Woods Family

 

Anna Woods [7]

 

John B. Woods' father [2 items]

 

John B. Woods [3]

 

Virginia Pidgeon Woods [2]

 

Mrs. Pidgeon [2 items; Virginia's mother?]

 

Family at Pacific Grove

 

Family plot, Sacramento [2]

Folder 3

Loose photographs originally in Woods' family album [48 items; virtually all unident. residents of Zanesville OH (ca. 1870-1883)

 

Joseph D. Harris [2]

 

Grandma Harrison & Cousin Dakin

 

Sizzie Langton

 

Alta Pidgeon

 

Virna Smith

Folder 4

Identified males

 

Charles D. Herman

 

Barry Johnstone [2 items; "Horatius" cast]

 

Abraham Lincoln

 

David Traitel [Frederick Warde Co. mgr.]

Folder 5

Identified females

 

Antoinette Ashton [Frederick Warde Co.]

 

Mrs. Gavignon

 

Virginia Trescott [Frederick Warde Co.]

 

Mrs. Claire Utter

Folder 6

California Women---Unidentified [27 items; chiefly women betw. 20 and 40 taken from 1885-1895]

Folder 7

California Men---Unidentified [33 items; chiefly men betw. 20 and 40 taken from 1885-1895]

Folder 8

Men from Other States---Unidentified [6 items]

Folder 9

Women from Other States---Unidentified [4 items]

Folder 10

Group pictures---Unidentified [4 items; all groups of men, all taken in 20th c.; one street scene, Sacramento ]

Folder 11

California Sierra Scenery [6 cyanotypes, 3 sepia; all alpine scenes in California taken ca. 1900]

Box 12

Photos: Albums

Folder 1

Black w/ gold lettering "Compliments of Derthick Club/Miss Virna Woods--1902." [14 portraits of women by "Bushnell Fotografer, Sacramento"; 28cm.]

Folder 2

Brown leatherette; front cover w/ oval female portrait, mock pearl studs & metal clasp [20 portraits taken in Zanesville & other Ohio locations, ca. 1870-80; at least two of these are probably portraits of VW as a girl & one other is probably John B. Woods, two other identified individuals are members of Pidgeon family, 14 cm.]

Folder 3

Dark Blue Green velvet w/ metal clasp [ca. 20 portraits, ca. 1870-80; at least two of these are probably portraits of VW as a girl, also portrait of John B. Woods' father & many members of Pidgeon family, 21 cm.]

Folder 4

Brown leatherette w/ metal clasp [16 photos & 2 negs. taken in Zanesville & other Ohio locations, ca. 1850-1880; at least two are probably portraits of VW as a girl; incl. calling card of Anna Woods, photo of business block in Zanesville & engravings of James Garfield & Chester A. Arthur, 14 cm.]

Folder 5

Portrait in leather case [Daguerreotype; unident. male, possibly Virginia Pidgeon Woods' father, 9 cm.]

Folder 6

Double portrait in leather case [Daguerreotype; unident. females, possibly Virginia Pidgeon Woods & her sister as girls, 9 cm.]