]> http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.rbc/eadrbc.rb999001 King Lear Archive Preparatory Materials for an Illustrated Edition of King Lear Finding Aid Prepared by Meredith Shedd-Driskel Rare Book and Special Collections DivisionLibrary of Congress
Washington, D.C.
1999

Contact information: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.rbc/rbc.contact

 Finding aid encoded by Special Materials Cataloging Division, Library of Congress 1999 Finding aid written in English. 2005-05-12 converted from EAD 1.0 to EAD 2002 Collection Summary King Lear Archive,1984-1986 Z232.J36 K56 1984 Van Vliet, Claire. ca. 965 items Collection material in English Rare Book and Special Collections Division Library of Congress
Washington, D.C.
Preparatory materials for an edition of Shakespeare's King Lear published by Theodore Press with illustrations printed at the Janus Press. Selected Search Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Library's online catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically therein.

 People Alpert, Michael. Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616. King Lear. 1986. Van Vliet, Claire, collector. Organizations Janus Press. Janus Press. King Lear Archive (Library of Congress) DLC Theodore Press. Subjects Book design--United States--History--20th century--Sources. Lear, King (Legendary character)--Drama. Form/Genre Artists' proofs. Book designers' mock-ups (Publishing) Corrected proofs (Printing) Wood blocks. Woodcuts. Occupations Book designers--Vermont. Administrative Information Provenance

Purchase from Joshua Heller Rare Books, 31 Jan. 1991.

 Access and Restrictions

The records of the King Lear Archive are open to research. Researchers are advised to contact the Rare Book and Special Collections Division reading room prior to visiting. Many collections are stored off-site and advance notice is needed to retrieve these items for research use.

 Preferred Citation

Cite as: King Lear Archive, Rare Book and Special Materials Division, Library of Congress.

 Scope and Content Note

The collection consists of woodcuts, drawings, correspondence, proofs, book designers' mockups, and woodblocks for an edition of Shakespeare's The Tragedie of King Lear published by Theodore Press in 1986 with illustrations by Claire Van Vliet. The publication is based on the 1623 first folio text of the play, and was produced in a limited edition of 160 copies, each signed by Claire Van Vliet. The woodcuts include several proofs of each illustration, most of which are images of characters in the drama. The collection also includes preliminary pencil drawings for each of the woodcuts, as well as a complete set of the original wood blocks. Correspondence relating to all aspects of the project during 1985 and 1986 is chiefly by Claire Van Vliet, founder of Janus Press, and Michael Alpert, owner of Theodore Press. The collection was assembled and arranged by Claire Van Vliet.

 Organization of the Papers

Organized in 13 containers: 1-5. Woodcuts; 6. Drawings; 7. Letters; 8. Trial proofs; 9. Dummies; 10. Corrected proofs; 11. Paste-up; 12. Mock-up;13. Wood blocks.

 Container List Woodcuts 1 1 Gonerill (6 items) 2 Regan (11 items) 3 Cordelia (19 items) 4 Lear (35 items) 5 Gonerill & Regan (14 items) 6 Edmund (12 items) 7 Fool (12 items) 8 Lear Enraged (8 items) 2 9 Gloucester angry (6 items) 10 Gloucester grief (21 items) 11 Kent in stocks (2 items) 12 Lear commanding Gloucester (22 items) 13 Lear "How is that?" (6 items) 14 Cruel Gonerill (15 items) 15 Cruel Regan (19 items) 16 Lear in the Storm (14 items) 3 17 Poor Tom (11 items) 18 The Storm (4 items) 19 Gloucester seized (5 items) 20 Gloucester blinded (3 items) 21 Edgar finds blind Gloucester (25 items) 22 Curran and Gonerill (9 items) 23 Cordelia searching for Lear (29 items) 24 Curran and Regan (7 items) 4 25 Dover (18 items) 26 Mad Lear (7 items) 27 Lear recognizes Gloucester (13 items) 28 Cordelia kisses sleeping Lear (23 items) 29 Lear awakens (19 items) 30 Edmund (6 items) 5 31 Lear takes Cordelia to prison (17 items) 32 The Sisters (2 items) 33 Gonerill and Regan dead (5 items) 34 Edmund repents (3 items) 35 Cordelia and Lear (15 items) 36 Lear dying (9 items) 6 Drawings

One bound volume with preliminary graphite drawings for 39 woodcuts (41 drawings, including 3 double-page spreads)

 7 Correspondence, 1984-1986, n.d. 1 Alpert, Michael, 1984-1986 (53 items) 2 Burman, Lorene, 1985-1986 (5 items) 3 Conant, Judi, 1985 (3 items) 4 MacGregor, Katie, 1985 (17 items) 5 Van Vliet, Claire, 1984-1986 (53 items) 6 W. Thomas Taylor (Firm), 1985-1986 (9 items) 7 "A-Z" miscellany, 1985, n.d. (7 items) 8 Trial Proofs (95 items) Xeroxed copy of Nonesuch edition of King Lear, with annotations in pencil and ink (51 items) Xeroxed copy of Norton facsimile of First Folio edition of King Lear with annotations in pencil (27 items) Trial proofs (17 items) 9 Dummies (32 items) 2 sheets of paper folded into 72 rectangles with text and illustrations indicated (1 item) Sample sheet of "Joanna Western Buckram" (1 item) Two reduced xeroxed paste-ups with preliminary pencil sketches for illustrations, in paper chemises, one with 12 numbered signatures; the second with 12 numbered and 3 unnumbered signatures (27 items) Miniature flat mock-up of binding (birch board and pigskin) (1) (1 item) Two full-size samples of birch binding boards, one decorated and one plain (2) (1 item) 10 Corrected proofs (86 items) Proofs (68 items) Notes from Lorene Burman (proofreader) to Michael Alpert with pages (6 items) Letters written by Lorene Burman to Michael Alpert (12 items) 11 Paste-up

Bound volume with 39 woodcuts pasted in

 12 Mock-up

Miniature mock-up of bound volume in case

 13 Wood blocks (42 items) Bibliography Fine, Ruth.The Janus Press, 1981-1990: Catalogue Raisonné. Burlington, Vt.: University of Vermont Libraries, 1992. Shakespeare, William.The Tragedie of King Lear. Bangor: Theodore Press, 1986. Taylor, W. Thomas. "Claire Van Vliet's Janus Press," American Craft 47 (February/March 1987): 52-59.