Rose given to George Bernard Shaw by Millicent “Cynthia” Stephens

Item — Box: MSE/IR Doc CC-1

Identifier: MSE/IR 1011

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

An envelope containing the dried petals of a red rose. The envelope bears a notation from George Bernard Shaw "A red rose given to me by Mrs. Jas. Stephens... Mch. 7/25."

Dates

Creation: 1925-03-07

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright status for collection materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.

Biographical / Historical

Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) likely made the acquaintance of writer James Stephens (1880?-1950) between 1907 and 1916. Both were prominent within Irish literary circles in this period, with Shaw associated with the Abbey Theatre and Stephens with both the Theatre of Ireland and the Irish Review.

In 1907 Stephens began a relationship with his married landlady, Millicent Josephine Gardner Kavanagh. Together they raised her daughter Iris Kavanagh (b. 1907) and had one son, James Naoise Stephens (1909-1937). Kavanagh would eventually marry Stephens in May 1919, following the death of her long estranged husband, Harry Kavanagh.

In 1925 the Stephens family relocated from Dublin to Kingsbury, a suburb of London, where James would remain active in literary life. George Bernard Shaw was himself a fixture amongst both the Dublin and London literati at the time.

Extent

0.5 Cubic Feet (1 Folder)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Related Materials

MSE/IR 1010, George Bernard Shaw Letter to Gene Tunney, 1946 December 4 : typescript copy, signed with annotations; MSE/IR 1012, James Stephens Letter and Poem.