TABLE OF CONTENTS
Guide to the Robert Edmond Jones Papers, 1916-1963
Special Collections and ArchivesOlin Library
Wesleyan University
252 Church Street
Middletown, CT 06457 USA
(860) 685-3864
(860) 685-2661
Email: sca@wesleyan.edu
URL: http://www.wesleyan.edu/libr/schome/
Descriptive Summary |
|
| Repository | Special Collections & Archives, Wesleyan University |
| Creator | Jones, Robert Edmond, 1887-1954. |
| Title | Robert Edmond Jones Papers |
| Dates | 1916 - 1963 |
| Linear Feet | 7.5 |
| Archival Boxes | 8, 1 oversize drawer |
| Abstract | Robert Edmond Jones was born in 1887, and spent his career as a theater set designer. He also worked on the production of early Technicolor films as a color consultant. As a stage designer, Jones is best known for his simplified sets that complemented the action of a production and his dramatic use of color in costuming and lighting. |
| Contains correspondence, manuscript writings, drawings and design materials, photographs, and printed materials. The papers document Jones's work in theater as a set designer in the United States during the early twentieth century and his involvement in motion picture-making during the 1930s. | |
| Call Number | 1000-165 |
| Location | For current information on the location of these materials, please consult Special Collections & Archives staff. |
| Language of Material | Material in English |
Biographical Note
Born in Milton, New Hampshire in 1887, Robert Edmond Jones graduated from Harvard University in 1910. Jones spent his career as a stage designer and rose to national prominence working with the Washington Square Players, Kenneth Macgowan and the Greenwich Village Theatre, Eugene O'Neill and the Provincetown Players, and the Theatre Guild, Inc. As a stage designer, Jones is best known for his simplified sets that complemented the action of a production and his dramatic use of color in costuming and lighting. In the 1930s, Jones was hired as a color consultant and designer by RKO studios, and worked on some of the first films to use the three-strip Technicolor process, Becky Sharp, La Cucaracha, and The Dancing Pirate. Jones published a number of articles on stagecraft, and authored Drawings for the Theatre (1925), The Dramatic Imagination (1941), and, with Kenneth Macgowan, Continental Stagecraft (1922).
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Collection Overview
The Robert Edmond Jones Papers contains Jones's correspondence, both incoming and outgoing, his manuscript writings, drawings and design materials, photographs, and printed materials including clippings related to the many plays and films on which he worked during his long career as a stage designer and color consultant. The papers document Jones's work in theater as a set designer in the United States during the early twentieth century and his involvement in motion picture making during the 1930s.
Correspondence - Contains incoming and outgoing correspondence from 1934 to 1950.
Writings - Contains manuscript writings by Robert Edmond Jones on topics related to theater and stagecraft, acting and actors, and motion pictures. Included in the manuscript writings are four folders of Jones's recorded dreams from 1944 to 1945. Also contains writings of others about Robert Edmond Jones from 1916 to 1954.
Design - Contains materials used and created by Robert Edmond Jones in his stage design work. Includes sketches and drawings, printed material, and photographs.
Printed Materials - Contains clippings of reviews and articles relating to Jones's work in theater and film from 1916 to 1950, programs from 1919-1957. Within the Printed Materials series, a note from Jones to his mother, dated 1930 is included in the clippings for Symphony Hall. Also within Printed Materials is a note by Kenneth Macgowan, which is located in the folder of programs for Three Plays by Ridgley Torrence. Series also includes a scrapbook containing clippings related to Jones's work as a color consultant from 1933 to 1935.
Audio Recordings - Contains audio recordings of Robert Edmond Jones's lectures, dated 1955 and 1963.
Oversize Material - Contains photographs of set designs, materials related to costume design, and large drawings for set design.
Collection Arrangement
The collection is organized into six series: Correspondence, Writings, Design, Printed Materials, Audio Recordings, and Oversize Materials. Correspondence is further divided into two categories, incoming and outgoing, and is arranged alphabetically. Writings are arranged alphabetically by title or subject. Many of the writings remain unidentified, and have been kept with the materials with which they were originally filed. These unidentified manuscripts may be parts or fragments of other manuscript drafts or notes written by Jones. The Design series contains materials created or used by Jones in his design work. The materials are arranged by form. Additional drawings and design materials are located in the Oversize Materials series. Printed Materials consist of clippings, programs, and ephemera related to Jones's work in theater and film. Oversize materials consist mainly of large drawings and other design related materials and are arranged in alphabetical order by title of the play and drawing number.
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Restrictions
Access Restrictions
No restrictions.
Copyright Notice
Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
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Related Material
Jones, Robert Edmond, 1887-1954. Papers. Houghton Library, Harvard College Library. Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138.
Jones, Robert Edmond, 1887-1954. Additional papers, 1933-1952. Houghton Library, Harvard College Library. Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138.
Robert Edmond Jones (1887-1954) Photographs. University of New Hampshire Library, 18 Library Way, Durham, NH 03824.
Ralph Pendleton Papers, Special Collections & Archives, Wesleyan University.
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Online Catalog Headings
These and related materials may be found under the following headings in online catalogs.
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Administrative Information
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Robert Edmond Jones Papers, Collection #1000-165, Special Collections & Archives, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT, USA.
Acquisitions Information
Given by Ralph G. Pendleton to the Wesleyan Theatre Department in the 1970s. Transferred to Special Collections & Archives in 1999.
Processing Information
Processed by Andrea Benefiel, November 2008
Encoded by Andrea Benefiel, November 2008
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Detailed Description of the Collection
| Series 1: Correspondence | ||||||||||||
| Incoming | ||||||||||||
| Box | Folder | |||||||||||
| 1 | 1 | Aherne, Brian, undated | ||||||||||
| 2 | American Academy of Arts and Letters, 1950 March | |||||||||||
| 3 | Atkinson, Brooks, undated | |||||||||||
| 4 | Carey, Eleanor, undated | |||||||||||
| 5 | Cohen, Mark M., 1934 July 5 | |||||||||||
| Includes clippings about La Cucaracha. | ||||||||||||
| 6 | Edwin Booth Dramatic Club, 1949 May 9 | |||||||||||
| 7 | Houghton, Norris, 1941 May 6 | |||||||||||
| 8 | Jeliffe, Belinda, undated | |||||||||||
| 9 | Jones, Fred P., Mrs., undated | |||||||||||
| 10 | Lovejoy, A., undated | |||||||||||
| 11 | The Players, Roy Day, 1941 May 20 | |||||||||||
| 12 | Reed, Joseph Verner, 1941 May 28 | |||||||||||
| 13 | Seldes, Gilbert, 1941 July 8 | |||||||||||
| 14 | Sisk, Robert, undated | |||||||||||
| 15 | Sloan, Samuel, 1941 | |||||||||||
| 16 | Vanity Fair, 1934-1941 | |||||||||||
| 17 | Wickes, Frances, undated | |||||||||||
| 18 | Wurzburg, Francis L., 1941 September | |||||||||||
| 19 | Young, Stark, undated | |||||||||||
| 20 | Unidentified, 1935-1949 | |||||||||||
| Outgoing | ||||||||||||
| Box | Folder | |||||||||||
| 1 | 21 | Bing, Rudolf, 1950 June 8 | ||||||||||
| 22 | Jones, F. P. (Mrs.), 1936 May 19 | |||||||||||
| 23 | New York Tribune, undated | |||||||||||
| 24 | Unidentified, undated | |||||||||||
| Series II: Writings | ||||||||||||
| Box | Folder | |||||||||||
| 1 | 25 | "About Ignorant Criticism," holograph and typescript drafts, undated | ||||||||||
| 26 | "Around the Dawn," typescript fragment, undated | |||||||||||
| 27-28 | Color, holograph and typescript notes, undated | |||||||||||
| 29 | "Curious and Profitable," pamphlet, undated | |||||||||||
| 30 | "The Drama of the Future," typescript draft, undated | |||||||||||
| 31-34 | Dreams, holograph and typescript drafts, 1944-1945 | |||||||||||
| 35 | Epigrams, holograph and typescript drafts, undated | |||||||||||
| 36 | "Full-Color Motion Pictures to Revolutionize Industry," typescript draft, corrected, undated | |||||||||||
| 37 | "Illumination, Some Thoughts on Stage Lighting," holograph and typescript draft, undated | |||||||||||
| 38 | Lecture notes, holograph and typescript, undated | |||||||||||
| 39 | Lectures, holograph and typescript drafts, undated | |||||||||||
| Box | Folder | |||||||||||
| 2 | 1 | "Les Roses de la Vie," holograph and typescript drafts and notes, undated | ||||||||||
| 2 | "Lines to a Critic," typescript draft, undated | |||||||||||
| 3 | "Mid the Cool Olives of the Academe Fair Harvard," holograph draft, undated | |||||||||||
| 4 | Motion pictures, typescript notes, undated | |||||||||||
| 5 | "Motion Pictures and the Theatre," typescript draft, undated | |||||||||||
| 6 | "Movies and the Theatre," typescript draft, undated | |||||||||||
| 7 | "My Hollywood," typescript of published article from Vanity Fair, 1934 | |||||||||||
| 8 | "Note on Isadora Duncan", undated | |||||||||||
| 9 | "Notes about Playwrights," holograph and typescript drafts and notes, undated | |||||||||||
| 10 | "Notes and Lectures Regarding the Theatre," holograph and typescript notes, undated | |||||||||||
| 11 | "Notes for a Talk about Stage Settings," typescript notes, undated | |||||||||||
| 12 | "Notes for the New Ed." holograph and typescript notes, undated | |||||||||||
| 13 | "Notes on John Barrymore," holograph and typescript notes, undated | |||||||||||
| 14 | "Notes on Vaslav Nijinsky," holograph and typescript notes, undated | |||||||||||
| 15 | On Reference Point, by Arthur Hopkins, typescript and holograph drafts, undated | |||||||||||
| 16 | "Reminiscences," holograph and typescript notes, undated | |||||||||||
| 17 | Review of Father Brown, by Chesterton, holograph draft, undated | |||||||||||
| 18 | Review of Scene, by Gordon Craig, holograph and typescript draft, corrected, undated | |||||||||||
| 19 | Review of Vogues of 1938, by Walter Wanger, holograph draft, undated | |||||||||||
| 20 | Sarah Bernhardt, holograph and typescript notes, undated | |||||||||||
| 21 | Setting, holograph and typescript notes, undated | |||||||||||
| 22 | "Some Thoughts on Stage Design," typescript draft, undated | |||||||||||
| 23 | "Stage Settings," typescript draft, undated | |||||||||||
| 24 | "The Question of Color," typescript drafts, undated | |||||||||||
| 25 | "Toward a New Theatre in America," typescript draft, 1950 December 31 | |||||||||||
| 26-27 | Working notes, holograph and typescript notes, undated | |||||||||||
| Box | Folder | |||||||||||
| 3 | 1-17 | Unidentified manuscripts, notes, drafts and fragments, undated | ||||||||||
| Writings of Others | ||||||||||||
| Box | Folder | |||||||||||
| 3 | 18 | "Memorial Meeting for Robert Edmond Jones," transcript of event, 1954 December 12 | ||||||||||
| 19 | Moderwell, Hiram Kelly. "The Art of Robert Edmond Jones," transcribed from Theatre Arts Magazine, 1917 February | |||||||||||
| 20 | Moderwell, Hiram Kelly. "Robert Edmond Jones: Young Leader of American Decorators for the Theatre," transcribed from Boston Evening Transcript, 1916 October 7 | |||||||||||
| 21 | Rodriquez, Jose. "Color at Last," typescript, undated | |||||||||||
| 22 | Seldes, George. "Robert Edmond Jones Profile," transcribed from The New Yorker, 1931 May 9 | |||||||||||
| 23 | Young, Stark. "Note on Nijinsky and Robert Edmond Jones," typescript, undated | |||||||||||
| Series III: Design | ||||||||||||
| Drawings and Designs | ||||||||||||
| Additional designs and drawings located in Oversize | ||||||||||||
| Box | Folder | |||||||||||
| 4 | 1 | [Medea?]. Small sketches, printed material, etc. undated | ||||||||||
| 2 | Opera, sketches, notes, and printed material, undated | |||||||||||
| 3 | Original "Famous Artist Print" by Robert Edmond Jones. Fabric sample, undated | |||||||||||
| 4 | Drawings, Redemption, undated | |||||||||||
| Printed Material | ||||||||||||
| Box | Folder | |||||||||||
| 4 | 6 | Exhibition Catalogs, undated | ||||||||||
| 7 | Redemption, undated | |||||||||||
| 8-9 | Richard III, undated | |||||||||||
| Photographs | ||||||||||||
| Box | Folder | |||||||||||
| 4 | 10 | Jones, Robert Edmond. Inscribed to "Mother" and autographed, 1934 | ||||||||||
| 11-13 | Egyptian art and architecture, undated | |||||||||||
| Series IV: Printed Materials | ||||||||||||
| Clippings | ||||||||||||
| Box | Folder | |||||||||||
| 4 | 14-16 | Becky Sharp (film), 1935 | ||||||||||
| 17 | Becky Sharp (play), undated | |||||||||||
| 18 | The Birthday of the Infanta, 1919 | |||||||||||
| 19 | Biographical, 1916-1955 | |||||||||||
| Box | Folder | |||||||||||
| 5 | 1 | Caliban, by the Yellow Sands, 1916 | ||||||||||
| 2 | Cherokee Night, 1930 | |||||||||||
| 3 | Color filmmaking, 1935-1936 | |||||||||||
| 4 | La Cucaracha, 1936 | |||||||||||
| 5 | Daddy's Gone A-Hunting, undated | |||||||||||
| 6-8 | The Dancing Pirate, 1936 | |||||||||||
| 9 | The Dramatic Imagination, 1941 | |||||||||||
| 10 | The Enchanted, 1950 | |||||||||||
| 11 | Exhibitions, undated | |||||||||||
| 12 | Faust, undated | |||||||||||
| 13 | Garden of Paradise, undated | |||||||||||
| 14 | Die Glueckliche Hand, 1930 | |||||||||||
| 15 | Green Pastures, 1930 | |||||||||||
| 16 | The Hairy Ape, 1922 | |||||||||||
| 17 | Hamlet, 1923 | |||||||||||
| 18 | Helen Goes to Troy, 1944 | |||||||||||
| 19 | Holiday, 1928 | |||||||||||
| 20 | Hopkins, Arthur, 1950 | |||||||||||
| 21 | The Jest, 1919 | |||||||||||
| 22 | Ladies Leave, 1929 | |||||||||||
| 23 | The Living Mask, 1924 | |||||||||||
| 24 | Lucrece, 1932 | |||||||||||
| 25 | Lute Songs, 1946-1947 | |||||||||||
| 26 | Macbeth, 1930 | |||||||||||
| 27 | Machinal, undated | |||||||||||
| 28 | Martine, 1928 | |||||||||||
| 29 | Mary of Scotland, 1933 | |||||||||||
| 30 | A Moon for the Misbegotten, undated | |||||||||||
| 31 | Mr. Moneypenny, 1928 | |||||||||||
| 32 | The Mountain Man, undated | |||||||||||
| 33 | Obituaries, undated, | |||||||||||
| 34 | O'Neill, Eugene, 1953, undated | |||||||||||
| 35 | Othello, 1943 | |||||||||||
| Box | Folder | |||||||||||
| 6 | 1 | The Philadelphia Story, 1939 | ||||||||||
| 2 | Pierrot Lunaire, 1933 | |||||||||||
| 3 | Radio City Music Hall, 1932 | |||||||||||
| 4 | Redemption, 1918 | |||||||||||
| 5 | The Rescuing Angel, 1917 | |||||||||||
| 6 | Richard III, 1920 | |||||||||||
| 7 | The Saint, 1924 | |||||||||||
| 8 | Serena Blandish, 1929 | |||||||||||
| 9 | Skyscrapers, 1926 | |||||||||||
| 10 | Symphony Hall. Includes note from REJ to Mother., 1930 | |||||||||||
| 11 | These Days, undated | |||||||||||
| 12 | Tyl Eulenspiegel, 1916 | |||||||||||
| 13 | Wozzeck, 1931 | |||||||||||
| 14 | Yolanda of Cyprus, 1929-1930 | |||||||||||
| Programs | ||||||||||||
| Box | Folder | |||||||||||
| 6 | 15-16 | Central City, 1932-1941 | ||||||||||
| 17 | Die Glueckliche Hand, 1930 | |||||||||||
| 18 | Hamlet, 1923 | |||||||||||
| 19 | Helen Goes to Troy, 1944 | |||||||||||
| 20 | Out of Dust, 1949 | |||||||||||
| 21 | Three Plays by Ridgley Torrence. Includes note by Kenneth Macgowan., circa 1919, 1957 | |||||||||||
| Other Printed Material | ||||||||||||
| Box | Folder | |||||||||||
| 6 | 21 | Chrysalis: Robert Edmond Jones, pamphlet, 1955 | ||||||||||
| 22 | Miscellaneous material, undated | |||||||||||
| 23 | Scrapbook, 1933-1935 | |||||||||||
| Contains clippings related to Jones's work as a color consultant in early Technicolor filmmaking. | ||||||||||||
| Series V: Audio Recordings | |||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| 7 | Jones, Robert Edmond, and Frederick C. Packard. Towards a New Theatre [Sound Recording] / Robert Edmond Jones. (2 LP disks), 1955 | ||||||||||
| Jones, Robert Edmond. Towards a New Theatre, Also Curious and Profitable Lectures to Drama Students. Brunswick, Me: Vocarium Records, Inc. Reel-to-reel, 1963 | |||||||||||
| Series VI: Oversize Material | ||||||||||||
| Box | Folder | |||||||||||
| 8 | 1 | Various large photographs of scene designs undated | ||||||||||
| 2 | Green Pastures. Costume design boards, photographs, and printed material | |||||||||||
| 3 | The Jew of Malta, costume design. Paintings and printed material undated | |||||||||||
| Scrapbook containing photographs of Jones's stage designs, undated | ||||||||||||
| Oversize Drawings and Designs | ||||||||||||
| Box | ||||||||||||
| Oversize Drawer | A Touch of the Poet, 1946 | |||||||||||
| [69-C11] Side Elevation of Beams | ||||||||||||
| [69-C13] Corner Cabinet | ||||||||||||
| [69-C17] Plan | ||||||||||||
| [69-C20] 4 Sliding Shutters | ||||||||||||
| Enchanted, 1949 | ||||||||||||
| Act I, Act II: Detail of Trees | ||||||||||||
| Act I, Act II: Revised Plan | ||||||||||||
| Act III Ground Plan | ||||||||||||
| Green Pastures, 1949 | ||||||||||||
| Act II, Scene VII: Outside a Temple | ||||||||||||
| Ark | ||||||||||||
| Throne Room | ||||||||||||
| Woodwings and Foliage Borders | ||||||||||||
| Fish-fry Tree Trunk | ||||||||||||
| Office | ||||||||||||
| Sunday School | ||||||||||||
| The Joyous Season, Curtains for Bay Window, undated | ||||||||||||
| Lute Song, 1945 | ||||||||||||
| Rock in Pavillion | ||||||||||||
| Scene I | ||||||||||||
| Sliding Screens | ||||||||||||
| A Place of Light and Flowers | ||||||||||||
| Front Curtain 1 | ||||||||||||
| Front Curtain 2 | ||||||||||||
| Shrine | ||||||||||||
| Temple: Buddha and Pedestal | ||||||||||||
| Untitled (4 designs) | ||||||||||||
| Othello, 1943 | ||||||||||||
| [64-C2] First Inner Proscenium - Ground Plan | ||||||||||||
| [64-C2] Second Inner Proscenium - Ground Plan | ||||||||||||
| [64-C3] Set #1 Ground Plan | ||||||||||||
| [64-C4] Set #1 Elevation | ||||||||||||
| [64-C5] Act I, Scene I: A Street - Ground Plan | ||||||||||||
| [64-C6] Act I, Scene II: Senate Chamber - Ground Plan | ||||||||||||
| [64-C8] Act I, Sc. II: Plaque to cover window opening | ||||||||||||
| [64-C9] Act ---, Scene ---: Arrival in Cyprus - Ground Plan | ||||||||||||
| [64-C10] Act II, Scene ---: A Wharf - Ground Plan | ||||||||||||
| [64-C11] Act ---, Scene ---: Courtyard - Ground Plan | ||||||||||||
| [64-C13] Set # 2 Ground Plan | ||||||||||||
| [64-C14] Set #2 Elevation | ||||||||||||
| [64-C16] Set #3 Backings | ||||||||||||
| [64-C17] Final Scene - Bed, Headboard, Backing | ||||||||||||
| [64-C18] Final Scene - Detail of Headboard of Bed | ||||||||||||
| [64-C19] 2 Transparent Muslin Drops | ||||||||||||
| [64-C21] Permanent Ground Row | ||||||||||||
| Out of Dust, 1949 | ||||||||||||
| Act I, Scene I (2 sheets) | ||||||||||||
| Act I, Scene II | ||||||||||||
| Act I, Scene III | ||||||||||||
| Act II, Scene I (2 sheets) | ||||||||||||
| Act II, Scene II (2 sheets) | ||||||||||||
| Covered Wagon | ||||||||||||
| Frame for Drops | ||||||||||||
| Method of Hanging Drops for "Out of Dust" | ||||||||||||
| Portal (1 drawing, 3 blueprint copies) | ||||||||||||
| Working Drawings for Deserted Shack for "Out of Dust" | ||||||||||||
| Unidentified drawings, undated | ||||||||||||