Scope and Content Note
The papers of Elisabeth Dupuy (1859-1932), poet, dramatist, and short story writer, span 1892-1922 and include correspondence, plays, poems, short stories, and miscellaneous material. Correspondence consists of letters from Wilson Barrett, Richard Mansfield, and Beatrice Cameron Mansfield and contains their comments on plays submitted to them by Dupuy for possible production. The plays in the collection range from drawing room comedy to romantic tragedies. Some plays appear in multiple drafts showing the author's manuscript revisions and content development. There are also short stories, some in verse, and evocative mood pieces.
The largest number of writings in the collection are Dupuy's poems. Usually romantic in tone, they include songs, sonnets, and ballads, and contain her observations on nature, love, and beauty. Several of the poems appear in multiple copies, sometimes with revised versions reflecting changes in content or length, often with revised or varied titles, or untitled.
Many of the poems were published in her River of Dreams (1919) and a few appeared in her other published collections, The Dragon Yoke (1890) and The Queen's Quire (1892).
Miscellaneous material includes two notebooks, the first, marked "DuPuy," containing mounted clippings of press notices for The Queen's Quire. The second contains addresses and a brief record of manuscripts submitted to publishers and magazines. Also among the miscellaneous material is an unidentified photograph of a woman.