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West Audley Street, (London).—Sends accounts of Davie and Edwards for 1746 and 1747.

(Franked by Firebrace.)

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Transcript

S[i]r

The first paper I saw when I opend the drawer was the inclosd Acc[oun]ts of Davie & Edwards for the years 1746 & 1747. & therefore take the earliest opportunity. to send ’em, & a Line to notifie their being come safe to hand will very much oblige

S[i]r
Y[ou]r Humble Serv[an]t
C. Firebrace

W Audley Street
Feb the 21st 1750

[Superscription:] To | Mr Goodchild Clark† | Attorney at Law | in Ipswich | Suffolk [At the foot:] Free | C. Firebrace

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Postmarked 21 February and ‘AC’. Dawson Turner has added at the foot in pencil, ‘M P for Ipswich’ in pencil alongside the signature. There are a few irregular spellings. Letters missing from words abbreviated by superscript letters have been supplied in square brackets.

† Sic.

Death of Grace Helen Lee, illness of Frances Bickersteth, family dog

(This play is described in a later annotation as ‘A very old attempt at a 1-act play in the style of about 1900!’ and has therefore been assigned to the period about that year, though its true date is probably a little later. Note the use of the words ‘motor’ for ‘motor-car’ and ‘Chesterfield’ for a sofa, of which the OED’s earliest examples are from 1899 and 1900 respectively.)

Thanks Shaffer for books.

Baker, Rooke & Co. Chartered Accountants, 2/3 and Canada House, Norfolk Street, London, W.C.2. - Receipt for Peter Shaffer Ltd. cheque.

Is working as a ballet accompanist, asks if he is still teaching in England, is in touch with Joseph Chaikin, who is still busy despite the stroke that impaired his speech.

He misses Peter, and describes his experience of heat as a tactile experience and as close as he'll get to communion; wonders if most Catholic countries are hot and if the weather explains Scottish Presbyterianism; discusses the effects of budget restrictions, the need to define mental illness and ethical guidelines for behavior modification treatments; discusses 'No Man's Land', admires John Gielgud and Ralph Richardson; Elizabeth [Cavendish?] is back and rested, and he deems regular breaks necessary for her; reacts to Peter's story of a group therapy session.

Letters tipped into a paper-bound notebook labelled ‘Letters Book I’ on front:
Undated, ‘My dear Peter. What a pleasant surprise!’ 4 sheets. A lengthy narrative describes how Peter's gift reminds him of climbing Moricelli in Italy and finding shells there in a pool, similar to those Peter has sent; writes at length about his own story about an anchorite.
[1 Aug. 1944?], ‘Well Peter; here in London and finding it most exciting too’ 2 sheets. Life in London during bombing [Doodlebug Summer], and the attitude to death and reaction to bombing raids, lunchtime bombing of Kensington High St. Disagrees that modern war is not romantic.
Undated, ‘Saturday 1944’ 4 sheets. He meant Peter to understand that he was parodying Peter's style in his last letter, and is disappointed that Peter did not see this; has seen Ernest Milton in Macbeth, and discusses Wolfit in 3 Shakespeare plays; finds it is easy to be Shylockian; is disappointed in his (Denis') story, thinks he is too young yet, will put it away until he is older.
Envelope dated 23 Mar. 1945
Undated, Friday: 11th: 1944 1 sheet. Sends a volume of Italian short stories.
Undated, ‘Thursday. I feel very vicious this morning’ 1 sheet, with two pen-and-ink drawing of himself looking irate on verso. Asks him to write.
Undated, ‘Yes you are right!’ 5 sheets. Reflections on a quarrel they've had; has also been called up, asks for information on his medical, and hopes they can get assigned to the same camp.
11 Nov. 1944 79 Brook Green, London, W.6. 2 sheets, with pen-and-ink drawing at top and tail of letter. Has nothing to write, encloses a book by Forester which will teach Peter to write economically; praises Richard Goolden and Helen Pollack [Ellen Pollock?] in "To True To Be Good".
Rest blank

Includes profiles about both Peter and Anthony Shaffer, and Shaffer's article, "My three years in this grim and disgusting family business..." in the Evening Standard dated 14 Jan. 1972. There is also an entire issue of The Daily Mail for 9 June 1981, the Times 2 section of The Times for 18 May 2001, an entire issue of Theatregoer Magazine from 2001, and a letter from Derrick F. Mead of Peat Marwick dated 27 Feb. 1985 forwarding an article from The Sunday Telegraph magazine.

Thanks her for her letter. Thinks that his illness was due to something he ate. Declares that he enjoyed his visit to [London], and sent an account of the visit to [ ]. Reports that Mr Wheatley [his godfather] was very kind to the. Declares that he would like to see Miss Green [his former governess] if his mother can induce her to stay until he [and his brother William] come home. Refers to his mother's advice about his chess playing and assures her that he has not played more that five games 'since the beginning of the quarter...' Asks her to buy something for [his friend] Harry James out of his money. Explains how they were 'got into the 2nd class in German', and in relation to the play declares that they do not have to translate it themselves. Sends his love to all at home, 'including Elizabeth [Cooper]'.

Apologises for not answering; enjoyed reading 'The Syllabub Saloon' but has previous plans and so cannot accept the part.

A group of unpaginated typescripts heavily revised in Shaffer's hand, representing several drafts and left as found. Accompanied by a note in Shaffer's literary agent Dennis Aspland's hand identifying the typescript.

The National Theatre - Ken [?] tells him the typed script might reach him by the end of the week, is 'quite peaky with hunger for it' as it has been talked about for so long; has been asking colleagues about their opinion of a new Shaffer play, at the moment Paul Scofield, who won't answer until he has more information.

Typescript, much revised in Shaffer's hand with folder labelled 'Yonadab Original MSS Sept. 24 : 84 - Feb 24 : 85" at top.

Three green ring bound Pukka Pad notebooks containing drafts of Shaffer's memoir written in the form of a play, with a few other miscellaneous scenes from plays which may be related. Notebook I also contains drafts of a letter to a critic about an article on Benjamin Britten, notebook 2 has the most writing of the three and contains material for act II, with possible additional material for 'Amadeus' and 'The Syllabub Saloon.'

Carbon typescript draft.

Photographs of Peter Shaffer, Peter Firth, and Anthony Hopkins.

Early typescript fragments with emendations in Shaffer's hand. Title from Peter Shaffer's notes on folder cover.

Death of Isabella Grote (forwarded to George Grote)

Writes on the death of Henry Sidgwick, and expresses his, Lady Acton's and others' sympathies on her 'dreadful loss'. Declares that he has lost 'the best of friends and colleagues...' Refers to the sympathy and admiration he felt for Henry in relation the manner in which he bore his illness. Reports that [Andrew?] Forsyth spent an hour discussing things with Sidgwick at Jebb's, 'and had no idea till long after that anything was wrong.' States that they were not aware of the gravity of the situation until three weeks earlier, when he met Nora with Arthur J. Balfour.

Viability of sending missionaries to Cape Town.

Enquires whether Robert knows of the Hulsean scholarships for sons of Cheshire clergy, advice on expenditure

List of books - accounts, exit and redit books etc - with Wren Library reference numbers assigned to each. MS pencil note at top, '(Most) 1932 now in Muniment Room (behind Clock)'. Pencil annotations state which books remain in the Library, with the initials 'AH' [Arthur Halcrow?]. MS pencil note at bottom: 'Most of these volumes are stored in the Tower muniment room (behind clock). Nov. 1932 C.B.H. [Cecil Baldwin Hurry]'.