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The Archive at the College contains rare printed books and diverse collections of manuscripts. The most important are probably the Henslowe and Alleyn papers relating to the Elizabethan and Stuart theatres. Philip Henslowe was Edward Alleyn’s father-in-law; together they ran the Fortune,Rose andHopeTheatres and the Bear Gardens and the Paris Gardens (also for bear baiting). They employed Christopher Marlowe and Ben Jonson to write plays for the Admiral’s Men, the playing company in which they were shareholders. All their business and family papers were passed to the College on Edward Alleyn’s death in 1626 and have been preserved by the College ever since.They are a unique collection unrivalled anywhere else in the world. The Archive also houses the Fellow’s Library which contains among other treasures: an early Book of Hours, a copy of Shakespeare’s First Folio, a Nuremberg Chronicle, 1493, a Mercator’s Atlas and tracts from the English Civil War. We also own the Reading collection of manuscript music of the eighteenth century, Court Rolls from 1314, the papers of the Dulwich College Estate from 1619 until recent times, and manuscripts and letters of P.G.Wodehouse.There are also materials connected with the history of the College, Sir Ernest Shackleton and other famous Old Alleynians. It is a growing collection and the most recent literary donation was Nigel Hinton’s archive last year. The contents of the Archive are used throughout the College as a learning resource. The obvious areas are English and Drama lessons. This year for example the archives have been used by Year 7 boys studying Josh Lacey’s Bearkeeper and Year 11 boys studying Macbeth . The archives also form the basis of exhibitions and displays in the College, most recently Letters and Diaries which was opened by Simon Brett, editor of The Faber Book of Diaries . One of the letters exhibited was the letter of support from Evelyn Waugh to P.G. Wodehouse. Calista M Lucy, Keeper of the Archive
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