Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1805-[?late 20 cent.] (Creation)
Level of description
File
Extent and medium
(i) 29 ff.; (ii) 14 ff.; (iii) 34 ff.; (iv) 17 ff.; (v) 16 pp.; (vi) 62 ff.; (vii) 3 ff.
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Name of creator
Biographical history
Archival history
The letters are said to have been given to the seller by a Mrs Edward Hall (see Bellmans auction catalogue); this however cannot plausibly be Hester Hall the wife of Patti's correspondent, who died in 1915.
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Bellmans Auctioneers & Valuers; Billingshurst; Purchased at auction, lot 609; 17 July 2018; 99880632802419.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Correspondence and other papers, 1805-[?late 20 cent.], relating to the soprano Adelina Patti and to her friend Edward Hall, Box Office Manager at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden.
The papers comprise: (i) Some eight letters (one an envelope only), 1893-1898, from Adelina Patti, at Craig-y-Nos Castle, Nice and Paris, to Edward Hall, London (ff. 3-5, 9-25), together with one letter to Hall from [?Pittman], Ystalyfera, 10 August 1883 (ff. 1-2), and a letter from Patti, in Indianapolis, 1 January 1894, to [?W. E.] Gladstone (ff. 6-8); (ii) typescript transcripts of the Adelina Patti letters, [?late 20 cent.] (11 ff.); (iii) some twenty-seven newspaper cuttings, December 1893-February 1894, relating to Patti's tour of America, apparently sent to Edward Hall from Toronto, possibly by Patti herself; (iv) photographs, postcards and ephemera relating to Patti, 1889-1984; (v) an insert book for the EMI long play record 'Adelina Patti' (RLS 711), 1973; (vi) copies of five newspapers, 1805-1809, containing news relating to the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, together with a few other printed items, 1875, 1925, concerning the Theatre and Edward Hall; and (vii) largely unrelated items, comprising photographs of Nellie Melba, [?1911], Queen Elizabeth [the Queen Mother], [?1940s], and a 'Souvenir Programme of the Visit of… the Duke and Duchess of York to Cardiff... and Blaina', [1932].
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Arranged at NLW as follows: letters (arranged chronologically); transcripts; newspaper cuttings (arranged chronologically); Patti ephemera; insert book; Covent Garden papers; miscellaneous.
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Readers consulting modern papers in the National Library of Wales are required to abide by the conditions set out in information provided when applying for their Readers' Tickets, whereby the reader shall become responsible for compliance with the Data Protection Act 1998 in relation to any processing by them of personal data obtained from modern records held at the Library.
Conditions governing reproduction
Usual copyright laws apply
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Language and script notes
English.
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Note
Title based on contents.
Alternative identifier(s)
Alma system control number
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Patti, Adelina, 1843-1919 -- Correspondence (Subject)
- Hall, Edward, -1921 -- Correspondence (Subject)
- Royal Opera House (London, England) (Subject)
- Patti, Adelina, 1843-1919 -- Photographs (Subject)
- Melba, Nellie, Dame, 1861-1931 -- Photographs (Subject)
- Elizabeth, Queen, consort of George VI, King of Great Britain, 1900-2002 -- Photographs. (Subject)
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Description follows NLW guidelines based on ISAD(G) 2nd ed.; AACR2; and LCSH
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
September 2018
Language(s)
Script(s)
Sources
Archivist's note
Description compiled by Rhys M. Jones.