Rosemary Sprague Collection LU-010
Information about the Collection
Rosemary Sprague (1922-1991) was a graduate of Bryn Mawr College and received her master’s degree and doctorate from Case Western Reserve University. She also studied at the Shakespeare Institute, Stratford-on-Avon, and at Oxford University and the University of London. She taught English at Longwood from 1962 until her retirement in 1990. She was promoted to full professorship in 1965, and two years later she became Longwood’s first Board of Visitors Distinguished Professor. She was the author of nine historical novels for young adults, biographies of Robert Browning and George Eliot, and a study of five American poets entitled “Imaginary Gardens.” Additionally she was the author of the Sesquicentennial History of Longwood College. Dr. Sprague was an accomplished actress who loved the theatre her entire life. Prior to teaching at Longwood, she was the Director of Dramatics at Notre Dame College. In 1971, Dr. Sprague established the Victorians Institute in collaboration with two colleagues from the University of North Carolina. The Institute has since developed into an international literary society. During her lifetime, she was involved in teaching, writing, acting, professional organizations, and community-based groups; but today, her legacy lives on in her writings that are still held in libraries throughout the world.
Provenance
Dr. Sprague died in the fall of 1991 as the result of a fire in her Farmville, Virginia home. This archival collection contains materials from both her home and her office, and were transferred to the library by Alumni Relations in the winter of 1991.
Scope and Content
This collection consists of 41 archival boxes of materials related to the life and career of Dr. Rosemary Sprague. Among the collection are correspondence, writings, personal and biographical materials, a collection of photographs, and a collection of miscellaneous materials.
Size
This collection consists of 24.9 linear feet contained in 41 archival boxes and 4 archival photo binders.
Notes
No restrictions to access or use for research purposes with the exception of:
Contents of the Collection
Folders 1-2 – Correspondence with J.B. Lankes, 1986
Folders 3-7 – Correspondence with J.B. Lankes, 1987
Folders 8-9 – Correspondence with J.B. Lankes, 1988
Folders 10-11 – Correspondence with J.B. Lankes, 1989
Folders 1-5 – Correspondence with J.B. Lankes, 1990
Folders 6-8 – Correspondence with J.B. Lankes, 1991
Folder 9 – Personal letters between Rosemary Sprague and J.B. Lankes
Folder 10 – Correspondence between J.B. Lankes and Minnesota Libraries
Folder 11 – Correspondence between J.B. Lankes and Longwood College about Lankes Art Collection, 1990-1994.
Folder 12-14 – Correspondence with Horace Abram Rigg Jr. – 1969
Folder 1 – Correspondence with Horace Abram Rigg Jr. – 1969
Folders 2-3 – Correspondence with Horace Abram Rigg Jr. 1970-1972
Folder 4-5 – Correspondence with Chilton Publishing – 1963-1968
Folders 6-11 – Correspondence with Crowell Publishing – 1964-1976
Folders 12-15 – Correspondence with Toni Strassman
Folders 16-18 – Correspondence with Walck Publishing – 1962-1971
Folder 19 – Correspondence with Every Woman’s Magazine – 1951
Folder 20 – miscellaneous correspondence – 1964-1976
Folders 1-4 – Correspondence related to the publication of “Imaginary Gardens”
Folder 5 – Assorted Coal Industry Papers
Folder 6 – Correspondence with actress Rosalind Ivan
Folder 7 – Correspondence with playwright Charles O’Brien Kennedy
Folder 8 – Correspondence with theater critic Burns Mantle
Folder 9 – Correspondence with Nada Prodauvovie
Folder 10 – Correspondence with the Society of Stoopnocracy
Folder 11 – Letter from members of the Virginia Daughters of the American Revolution
Folder 12 – Letters from Oscar Williams
Folder 13 – miscellaneous business correspondence
Folder 14 – Longwood contracts
Folder 15 – Longwood administration
Folder 16 – Correspondence related to The Victorian Institute
Folder 17 – Letters from students
Folder 1 – Letters from Neville Coghill of Merton College, Oxford (1964-1967)
Folder 2 – Correspondence with Nivvy Erwin (1944)
Folders 3-4 – Letters related to school, scholarships, death of her father, New York (1934-1959)
Folder 5 – Correspondence with immediate family (1940s)
Folders 6-7 – Letters from friends and acquaintances (1960s & 1970s)
Folder 8-9 – Letters from friends and colleagues (1980s & 1990s)
Folder 10 – Correspondence with family and friends (undated)
Folder 11 – Letters of condolence written to Eleanor Sprague after the death of Percy Sprague (1943)
Folder 12 – Letters to Eleanor Sprague from Rosemary Sprague (1940s – 1970s)
Folder 13 – Letters to Eleanor Sprague from other family members (1930s – 1950s)
Folder 14 – Letters to both Eleanor and Rosemary Sprague (1930s – 1950s)
Folder 15 – Collection of cards and printed items from friends.
Folder 16 – Collection of miscellaneous invitations, brochures, and notes
Folder 17 – miscellaneous correspondence
Folders 1-38 – draft, Conquerors of Time
Folders 39-41 – draft #1, Fife and Fandango
Folders 1-2 – draft #1, Fife and Fandango
Folders 3-8 – draft #2, Fife and Fandango
Folders 9-22 – handwritten draft, Forever in Joy
Folders 1-12 – handwritten draft, Forever in Joy
Folders 13-25 – typed draft (with corrections), Forever in Joy
Folders 26-28 – early draft, George Eliot: A Biography
Folders 1-3 – early draft, George Eliot: A Biography
Folders 4-10 – typed draft (with corrections), George Eliot: A Biography
Folders 1-43 – typed draft, Golden Keys
Folders 1-2 – typed draft, Golden Keys
Folders 3-9 – typed draft, Heir of Kiloran
Folders 10-18 – typed draft, Heroes of the White Shield
Folders 19-20 – typed draft, Imaginary Gardens
Folders 1-10 – typed draft, Imaginary Gardens
Folders 11-23 – preliminary research, Imaginary Gardens; Dickinson
Folders 1-17 – preliminary research, Imaginary Gardens; Lowell
Folders 18-49 – preliminary research, Imaginary Gardens; Teasdale
Folders 50-51 – handwritten draft, The Jade Pagoda
Folders 1-8 – handwritten draft, The Jade Pagoda
Folders 9-23 – typed draft (with corrections), The Jade Pagoda
Folders 1-6 – typed draft (with corrections), The Jade Pagoda
Folders 7-16 – handwritten draft, A Kingdom to Win
Folders 17-25 – typed draft #1, Longwood College: A History
Folders 1-10 – typed draft #1, Longwood College: A History
Folders 11-17 – typed draft #2, Longwood College: A History
Folders 18-45 – typed draft #3, Longwood College: A History
Folders 46-55 – typed draft #4, Longwood College: A History
Folders 1-18 – typed draft #4, Longwood College: A History
Folders 19-44 – galley proof, Longwood College: A History
Folder 45-47 – notes and research, Longwood College: A History
Folders 1-5 – notes and research, Longwood College: A History
Folders 6-37 – typed draft, Red Lion and Gold Dragon
Folders 1-31 – typed draft, Red Lion and Gold Dragon
Folders 32-26 – typed draft, Witch of Windsor
Folders 1-19 – typed draft, Witch of Windsor
Folders 1-13 – typed draft, Witch of Windsor
Folder 1 – published short story, One Enchanted Visit, Everywoman’s Magazine, Dec. 1951
Folders 2-10 – play, The Satin Slipper, adaptation performed at Notre Dame.
Folders 11-13 – “A Beau for Aunt Mathilde”
Folder 14-17 – “From Ancient Britain to Tudor England”
Folder 1 – unpublished short story, “The Ballade”
Folders 2-4 – unpublished short story, “The Descendant”
Folder 5 – unpublished short story, “Giving a Tea”
Folder 6 – unpublished short story, “The Door”
Folder 7 – unpublished short story, “The Light”
Folder 8 – unpublished short story, “A History of Thanksgiving”
Folders 9-15 – notes re: Robert Browning
Folders 16-17 – notes re: Robert Burns
Folders 18-22 – Rosemary Sprague, notes and fragments of writings
Folders 1-3 – Notes and research re: Emily Dickinson
Folder 4-11 – Notes and research re: Ellen Glasgow
Folder 12-14 – Notes and research re: Edna St. Vincent Millay
Folders 1-6 – Notes and research re: Edna St. Vincent Millay
Folders 7-8 – Notes and research re: Marianne Moore
Folder 9 – Notebooks containing research for Conquerors of Time
Folders 10-14 – “Andrew Lang” Lecture Series (1954-1955)
Folders 1-13 – “Andrew Lang” Lecture Series (1954-1955)
Folder 14 – autobiographical lecture
Folder 15 – lecture - “Biography, the Other Face of the Coin”
Folder 16 – lecture - “Blush of Shame… or Art is a Beautiful Thing”
Folder 17 – lecture re: Robert Browning
Folder 18 – lecture re: “Camelot”
Folder 19 – lecture re: “Darkness at Noon”
Folder 20 – “The Dean’s Watch” (lecture given for Waterwork Players)
Folder 21 – lecture re: Education in Early America
Folder 22 – lecture re: George Eliot
Folders 1-2 – lecture re: “Golden Key” 1953
Folder 3 – Lecture on Shakespeare’s Hamlet
Folder 4 – lecture re: “Ladies of the Club,” by Helen Santmeyer
Folder 5 – Longwood Commencement Speech, May 1979
Folder 6 – Longwood – writing the history of Longwood College
Folder 7 – Ode to Presentation of Cake for Longwood Celebration
Folders 8-9 – lecture - “The Saint – Sinners” revised and edited
Folder 10 – lecture re: Revolutionary War entitled “Through Rose Colored Glasses”
Folders 11-12 – Shady Ladies Speech
Folder 13 – lecture - “Swinburne: After a Century”
Folder 14 – lecture re: thriller novels/fiction of the 20th century
Folder 15 – lecture - “Two Hundred Years of Commercial Conspiracy”
Folder 16 – lecture re: Tuckman’s “Guns of August”
Folder 17 – lecture re: Victorian Poetic Drama
Folder 18 – lecture - “Vocation of the Theatre”
Folder 19 – lecture on Chaucer entitled “What Women Most Desire”
Folder 20 – Art Institute Lecture, 2/17/1954
Folder 21 – Cleveland Book Fair lecture, November 1953
Folder 22 – Farmville Waterworks lecture (undated)
Folder 23 – Geist Tapping Ceremony, 1/19/1978
Folder 24 – VEA Conference lecture (undated)
Folder 25 – Virginia Federation of Women’s Clubs, lecture, 4/25/1972
Folders 26-29 – unidentified/miscellaneous lectures
Folder 1 – Marriage & Ibsen
Folder 2 – Paradise Lost
Folder 3 – story about Christmas
Folder 4 – Senior Latin final
Folder 5 – notes on Virgil’s Aeneid, 1936-1937
Folder 6 – In Honor of a Lady, 1937
Folder 7 – “O Tempora!” 1937
Folder 8 – Observations on the Idea of the Comic as Appleseed to Drama
Folder 9 – Analysis and Interpretation of The White Devil, 1941
Folder 10 – History of Theater, 1948
Folder 11 – Writings for English 201, 1948
Folder 12 – Notes for English 206, 1948
Folder 13 – Writings for English 206, 1948
Folder 14 – Drama of the Mystic Way, 1948
Folder 15 – Writings for English 401
Folder 16 – Fanny Farmer, 15th Century, 1949
Folders 17-18 – miscellaneous class writings
Folder 19 – miscellaneous class notes
Folder 20 – miscellaneous book jackets
Folder 21 – galley proof, Forever in Joy
Folder 22 – galley proof, Poems of Robert Browning
Folder 1 – galley proof, Poems of Robert Browning
Folders 2-3 – galley proof, Dance for a Diamond Star
Folder 4 – galley proof, George Eliot
Folder 5 – galley proof, Imaginary Gardens
Folder 6 – galley proof, A Kingdom to Win
Folder 7 – galley proof, Red Lion & Gold Dragon
Folder 8 – galley proof, Jade Pagoda
Folder 1 – Life after Hathaway Brown
Folder 2 – Certificate of Baptism and related documents
Folder 3 – College acceptance letters
Folder 4 – Academic transcripts and related documents
Folder 5 – Commencement program, June 1941
Folders 6-7 – Playbills and scripts
Folder 8 – special awards – CHI recognition and AAUW award
Folder 9 – BOV Distinguished Professor Award, 1967
Folder 10 – Miller & Rhoades Book Author Dinner, 1973
Folder 11 – BOV Distinguished Professor Award Dinner
Folder 12 – Parlour Entertainment Information, 1990
Folders 13-14 – “Rosemary’s Christmas Story” by Eleanor Sprague
Folder 15 – Information pertaining to Eleanor Sprague’s funeral service
Folders 16-17 – Information pertaining to Percy Sprague’s death and funeral service
Folders 18-23 – Information related to the Sprague family
Folders 1-2 – newspaper articles about Rosemary Sprague (1935-1986)
Folders 3-13 – reviews of Dr. Sprague’s publications
Folder 14 – reviews written by Rosemary Sprague
Folder 15 – newspaper clippings regarding lectures given by Dr. Sprague
Folder 16 – miscellaneous contracts
Folder 17 – Author’s Guild Agreements
Folder 18 – author published agreements
Folders 19-21 – royalty statements
Folder 22 – bank statements from Walck Royalty
Folder 23 – bank statements from Crowell Royalty
Folder 1 – bank statements on book sales from Chilton Books
Folder 2 – stamp collection
Folder 3 – business cards
Folder 4 – papers written by Dr. Sprague’s students
Folder 5 – paperwork regarding Oscar Williams anthology
Folder 6 – playbills and scripts
Folder 7 – professional stills of Shakespearean plays
Folder 8 – programs of church services
Folder 9 – Manhattan Theatre Colony brochure
Folder 10 – miscellaneous handwritten poetry by Rosemary Sprague, Percy Sprague, Eleanor Sprague
Folder 11 – items given to Dr. Sprague regarding literature and art
Folder 12 – miscellaneous bulletins regarding literature and theater festivals
Folder 13 – notebooks (author unknown)
Folder 14 – Golden Keys book list
Folder 15 – editorial written by Percy Sprague
Folder 1 – English 120, notes
Folder 2 – “Fun with Hamlet”
Folder 3 – “Three Little Pigs”
Folder 4 – Shakespearean definitions
Folders 5-23 – miscellaneous class notes
Folders 1-9 – miscellaneous class notes
Folder 10 – Final exams
Folder 11 – French class notes
Folder 12 – random class notes and writings
Folder 1 – Richmond Shakespeare Lecture notes
Folder 2 – notes on religion
Folder 3 – notes & writing
Folder 4 – notes on Middle Ages
Folder 5 – notes on history
Folders 6-7 – copy of “To Christ I Look”
Folder 8 – copy of paper entitled “16th Century Book of Common Prayers”
Folders 9-10 – poetry clippings
Folder 11 – museum guidebooks
Folder 1 – travel guides
Folder 2 – miscellaneous newspaper clippings
Folder 3 – books on calligraphy
Folder 4 – history magazines
Folder 5 – newspaper clippings regarding theater
Folder 6 – newspaper clippings regarding Farmville, Virginia
Folder 7 – newspaper and magazine clippings regarding art and literature
Folder 8 – miscellaneous maps
Folder 9 – Shakespearean character genealogy table
The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Calendar for 1960 – “A Cloister’s Bestiary”
The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Calendar for 1966 – “A Medieval Treasury”
(2) address books
(2) small Bibles
(1) Book of Common Prayers
(1) handkerchief
(1) embroidered handkerchief that reads “A Soft Answer Turneth Away Wrath”
Longwood College Faculty Colloquium “Distinguished Professor Award” 1984
Longwood College Faculty Colloquium “Distinguished Professor Award” 1989
Miscellaneous note cards
Wooden box with “Tempe Date Gardens” pictured on lid
framed article on retirement of Dr. Stephen Joseph Herben
tin box from England
Unsorted and unprocessed materials mostly related to Rosemary Sprague’s research for her History of Longwood College.
(2) framed photographs of Rosemary Sprague.
(1) framed biography of Rosemary Sprague.
Poem written for Dr. Sprague. Attached to wooden plaque.
(1) wooden key that reads “Dr. Rosemary Sprague, Wynne 105”
(1) wooden box with enclosed medallion. Student Faculty Award, 1977
(1) wooden box that reads “Dr. Rosemary Sprague, For your generous support of Sesquicentennial activities, Longwood College, 1989
010.852 – Rosemary Sprague in evening gown.
010.853 – Rosemary Sprague ~early to mid 40s.
010.854 – Rosemary Sprague’s father, Percy.
010.855 – Rosemary Sprague’s father, Percy.
010.856 – Rosemary Sprague in evening gown.
010.857 – Unknown family photograph.
010.858 – Rosemary Sprague in evening gown, holding bouquet of flowers.
010.859 – Rosemary Sprague in evening gown.
010.860 – Rosemary Sprague’s father, Percy.
010.861 – Rosemary Sprague’s father, Percy.
010.862 – Unknown group of men at banquet.
010.863 – Unknown group of young men.
010.864 – Baseball team. Sewickley High, circa early-1900s.
010.865 – Football team. Sewickley High, 1902.
010.866 – Luise Rainer. Signed.
010.867 – Unknown couple.
010.868 – Irene Tedrow. Signed.
Letter from Tom Wolfe, dated 05/29/1991
Letter from Robert Browning to William Wetmore Story, dated 04/28/1862
Rosemary Sprague childhood photos.
For a detailed inventory of photographs please see the finding aid for this collection.
Rosemary Sprague young adult and adult photos.
Sprague family photos.
Rosemary Sprague travel photos
For a detailed inventory of photographs please see the finding aid for this collection.
Rosemary Sprague travel photos.
Rosemary Sprague postcards
Signed photos from miscellaneous actors and actresses.
For a detailed inventory of photographs please see the finding aid for this collection.
Rosemary Sprague postcards from travels.
For a detailed inventory of photographs please see the finding aid for this collection.
