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George R. Sims Collection

Date range: 1858-1976 [bulk 1880s-1920s]

Medium: Archive

George Sims (1847–1922) was a prolific writer for the Victorian stage, specialising in popular melodramas, reflecting contemporary social concerns and gender, class and racial stereotypes.

He frequently collaborated with other writers, including Henry Pettitt, and he also worked with several composers on his musical dramas. Some of his stage works proved very popular and enjoyed notable longevity. Sims is said to have been the first playwright to have four plays running simultaneously in the West End.

The collection primarily consists of printed and manuscript texts and accompanying musical scores for Sims’s dramatic works. It comprises: annotated manuscript, typescript and printed playscripts; typescript playscripts separated into individual acts and actor’s parts; and manuscript and published musical scores. The actor’s parts and acts show evidence of having been loaned out to companies of actors, both during Sims’s lifetime and posthumously. Works also display evidence of being managed by theatrical agents.

Additionally, the Library holds a manuscript (English Manuscript 1565) of the script for The Harbour Lights by George Sims, a 5-act drama which was performed at the Adelphi Theatre in London

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Further information:

Catalogue available online via ELGAR

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