Earliest materials

Scope and Content

1a. Notebook of Libretto drafts

Notebook containing the libretto for The Turn of the Screw in the hand of Myfanwy Piper and sketches of the stage. The manuscript has annotations, notes, and crossings out throughout, and contains typescript notes by Rosamund Strode interleaved within it. Also includes a handwritten note (author unknown) with details of the notebook's contents, such as early drafts of Act I, proposed prologue and Act III, and suggestions for scenery.

no date [circa 1953-1954]

1 manuscript; 23 pages [3r-44v]. Notebook; Brown ink and pencil; 17.5 x 22.7cm.

1b. Libretto draft

Manuscript containing the Act I libretto in the hand of Myfanwy Piper. It includes crossings out, annotations, and revisions. The manuscript contains typescript notes by Rosamund Strode interleaved within it, explaing that this libretto is incomplete.

no date [circa 1953-1954]

1 manuscript; 19 pages [1r-37r]. Brown ink, blue ink, and pencil; 18.3 x 22.4cm.

1c. Extra Pages (Libretto draft and scenario)

1c.i Libretto draft

Part of the libretto in the hand of Myfanwy Piper which contains crossings out and annotations. Also includes a typescript note by Rosamund Strode suggesting the libretto is for the Governess in the first scene, the Letter Scene, and the final scene.

nd [circa 1953-1954]

1 manuscript; 4 pages [1r-7r]. Blue ink, brown ink, and pencil; 18.6 x 20.9cm.

1c.ii Scenario

Outline of the proposed scenery for each scene in Acts I and II written in the hand of Myfanwy Piper.

nd [circa 1953]

1 manuscript; 1 page [1r]. Pencil; 13.5 x 17.8cm.

Access Information

Open

This material is made available under the standard conditions of the Britten-Pears Foundation. Readers will be required to produce proof of identity and to sign a Reader's Undertaking form.

Subjects