ARCHIVE: Manuscripts.
MANUSCRIPT ARCHIVE
Ellse, Sophia Harriet [née Heartley]. Manuscript Archive, including: The Great King Artaxerxes; The
Temple of the Gods; The Giant’s Island; A True Gost [sic] Story; and related correspondence and
documents. Derbyshire: ca; 1930s.
Manuscript archive of Sophia Harriet Ellse (1866-1965), native of Whitwell in Derbyshire; as follows:
1. Manuscript (circa 1910?) of children’s story The Giant’s Island, thirty-nine leaves (four loose) in
octavo school exercise book, with a few emendations.
2. Printed version of item one (by Sir W. C. Leng & Co., “Fine Art & General Printers” of
Sheffield). 4to.; 38 pp.; purple printed wrappers, detached. Docketed in Ellse’s hand.
COPAC lists only one copy of this item, in the British Library.
3. Memorandum (8vo., one leaf, one page) of copyright registration, 22 November 1910.
4-6. Manuscript and two typescripts (one quarto, one folio) of the play The Great King Artaxerxes.
Quarto manuscript and folio typescript with interpolations and deletions, with parts cut out and
leaves inserted. The quarto typescript is a professional effort by Arthur H. Stockwell Ltd of
London.
7-11. Various documents from the Copyright Registry, Stationer’s Hall, relating to The Great King
Artaxerxes. (7) is the printed application (two pages, folio, 4 April 1912), filled in in Ellse’s hand,
in which she states under the heading Time and Place of First Representation or Performance,
“2nd of April 1912 | Mrs Heartley’s drawing room High Street Whitwell Derbyshire.” (8) and (9)
unsigned manuscript letters from the Copyright Registry (18 October 1911 and 16 April 1912,
both two pages, 12mo.) on the question of whether the performance was a private one and
therefore not able to be registered. (9) reads, “The Act of Parliament does not define a Public
Performance but if the Performance which you have given was to the Inhabitants of the Village
generally i.e. if the Performance was free to anyone who cared to attend and was not limited to
private friends then doubtless it could be described as a public one.’ (10) Memorandum (one
page, 12mo, 23 April 1912) of copyright registration of the play. (11) (12mo., one leaf, one page,
March 18, 1919) relates to re-registration in the U.S.A.
12. Unsigned draft of letter of 8 September 1930 to ‘Messrs The Rockett Film Corporation, | 6372
Hollywood Boulevard, | Los Angeles, |California, | U.S.A.’ Two leaves, two pages. Opens, “In
the year 1920 Mr. A. E. Lee of Dorchester Mass sent you one of my scripts with the hope of
selling it to you.” As she has taken their advice and has “tried to study something of Photoplay
technique and to persist until rewards come,” she represents the script and asks them to reconsider
their refusal.
13-14. Two Typed Letters Signed (each one leaf, one page, June 2 and June 24, 1936) from
Arthur H. Stockwell, relating to Ellse’s novel The Journey North, published by his company in
1936.
15-17. Two manuscripts (one a draft with emendations and the other a fair copy) and a
typescript of Ellse’s play The Temple of the Gods. The typescript is by Stockwell Ltd, and
accompanied by a typewritten letter (18) June 11, 1940, one leaf, one page) stating, “we
enclose the type written version with which you will be well pleased.” The title is given in the
typescript as The Temples of the Gods.
19. Untitled manuscript of a novel, with emendations; 63 pp.
20. Undated, unsigned manuscript, A True Gost Story [sic]; 20 pp. Clearly an early effort, it is
incomplete, ending mid-sentence.
21. A small bundle of disparate manuscripts.
(#4657398)
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