Container List
Biographical Materials; Correspondence; Business Papers
Virna Woods--Biographical
Clippings [incl. reviews of "The Amazons" (1891); "A Modern Magdalene" (1894); "Jason Hildreth" (1897); "An Elusive Lover" (1898); "Horatius" (1900-02); "Lord Strathmore" (1902-03); "Charles IX" (1902)]
Clippings scrapbook [apparently kept by Anna Woods; incl. reviews of VW from 1901- ; obituaries of VW & her parents]
Gladstone letter (12-8-92); letter from Tolstoy's daughter (6-10-95) [letters from British Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone and from Tatiana Tolstoy expressing praise and thanks for her work]
Corresp. to VW [1 item] 1889
Corresp. to VW [5 items; incl. letter of appreciation from Edwin Markham] 1891-1892
Corresp. to VW [4 items; original & 3 photostats of letter of appreciation for "The Amazons" from Edmund C. Thomas] 1893
Corresp. to VW [5 items; incl. one letter from Anna Woods] 1897
Corresp. to VW [1 item] 1898
Corresp. to VW [9 items; incl. 6 letters from Anna Woods, 2 letters from Frederick Warde, one of which characterizes "Columbus" as poorly conceived for stage] 1899
Corresp. to VW [3 items] 1900
Virna Woods corresp. to Anna Woods [30 items; written while VW was "on the road" w/ Frederick Warde Co.] 1901
Corresp. to VW [20 items; 8 from Anna Woods; 2 from Frederick Warde; 1 from French Bureau de la presse regarding her French copywrites] 1901
Corresp. to VW [3 items] 1902
Corresp. to VW [5 items] 1903
Corresp. to VW, undated [7 items; 4 from Anna Woods, 1 from Frederick Warde]
Corresp. to Anna Woods: Letters of condolence following VW's death [9 items] 1903
Anna Woods corresp. re VW [12 items] 1904-1913
J. William Harris corresp. re VW [2 items] 1956
VW Business Papers: Corresp. [31 items; chiefly letters from VW publishers; incl. 3 autograph letters from V 1890-1903
VW Business Papers: Contracts, etc. [12 items; incl. contracts for "Jason Hildreth's identity" Lippincott (1896); "An Elusive Lover" Constable (1898) & Houghton-Mifflin (1899); "Horatius" Frederick Warde (1900); "Lord Strathmore" David Traitel (1902); "Charles IX" Arthur F. Warde (1902); also real estate in Los Angeles (1887); 2 certificates of teaching record in Sacramento & El Dorado counties (1889)] 1896-1902
VW Business Papers: Play Receipts Ledger, etc. [4 items; Ledger (1902) shows earnings of "Lord Strathmore" ? by city; incl. loose notes on earnings of "Horatius" (1901?) & "The two orphans"] 1901-1902
VW Business Papers: VW theatre receipts for "Lord Strathmore" [121 items; rcpts. represent theatres from Seattle to Pensacola 1902-1903
VW Business Papers: Copyright forms [20 items ;incl. Library of Congress copyrights for: "Christopher Columbus" (1899);"Horatius" (1899); "King of Northumberland" (1899); "That affair of Brown's (1899); "As it is written" (1900); "Griselda" (1900);"Lalla Rookh" (1900); "A knight errant" (1901); "Charles IX" (1902); "Lord Strathmore" (1902); "The mask of a king" (1902); "Unto the fourth generation" (1902); and French copyright for "A Knight Errant" (1901)] 1899-1902
Poetry
"Flowers of the Foam" [collected poems divided in six sections: "On sea & shore," pp. 1-37; "In the mountains," pp. 38-62; "In the valley," pp. 63-85; "Juvenile," pp. 86-95; "Occasional," pp. 96-120; "Pansies & Rosemary," pp. 121-213; typescript]
Do. [2nd incomplete copy lacks: "In a ruined Mission," "The First Ridge of the Sierras," "A California rain," p.1; "The Lost Dawn" & "Sometimes amid the garish hours of day"]
Do. extra copies of a few poems [typescript]
"The March of the Mothers of Men" from "Flowers of the Foam" [ms. & 2 typescript copies]
Misc. poems in manuscript [those in "Flowers of the Foam" are marked "ff"]
A dead linnet [ff]
A night ride in San Francisco
A woman's songs [ff]
After the rain [ff; 2 copies]
At the grave
At twilight
Combat of Achilles & Penthesilea, The
Happy clime, The
Harvests [selections; ff]
Hidden sorrow, The
In a California canyon [ff]
In Canadian canyons
In Rome [3 pp.]
In San Francisco
In silent halls
In the White City
Legend of Wannemunume, The [2 copies]
Maid of Gerthick...
Margarita: The Mission bells
Memory [2 copies]
Morning by the sea [ff]
Night's secret [ff]
On Puget Sound [ff]
On the shore [ff]
Respite [8 pp.]
Rowing song [ff; 2 copies]
Soul beautiful, The [ff]
Terra Scientiae
Unfaithful lover, The [ff]
Misc. poems NOT in "Flowers of the Foam" [typescript]
Asphodel, The [26 pp.; last page in ms.]
By the Pacific
Dream, The [16 pp.]
House of life, The [3 pp.]
In California hills
In retrospect
In the California desert
In wind & rain
In the ruins of a California mission
Incompletion
Lotus, The
Mariposa lilies [2 pp.]
Night at Echo Mtn. House
North wind, The
On a By-Path
On the Mt. Lowe electric railway
Pilgrimage, The
Quotation
Repetition
To Mt. Shasta [2 copies]
Song Unsung, The
Sunset on Mt. Tamalpais
Terra Scientiae
Two unident. fragments
"The Star," St. Nicholas Magazine (Aug 1899)
"Pansies for thought" [scrapbook containing most of VW's published verse] 1886-1903
The Amazons. Meadville, Pa.: Flood & Vincent, 1891.
Prose Manuscripts & Typescripts
Manuscripts: "The qualifications of a novelist" [essay; 13 pp.]
Manuscripts: "Authors vs. reviewers" [essay; 14 pp.]
Manuscripts: "Rival Suitors" (1897) [novella; 201 pp.]
Manuscripts: "The last look" [short story; 14 pp.]
Manuscripts: "Order of development of literature" [essay; 24 pp.]
Manuscripts: "Beauty" [essay; 24 pp.]
Typescripts: "The hallucination of Gilbert Armstrong" [short story; 28 pp.; 2 copies]
Typescripts: "The Castellina Apollo" [short story; 13 pp.]
Typescripts: "At La Quasina" [2 copies; short story; 11 pp.]
Typescripts: "Dream & shadow" [short story; 15 pp.]
Typescripts: "A fable for idlers" [short story; 2 pp.]
Typescripts: "The dream of Charmides" [short story; 13 pp.]
Typescripts: "The soul of the organ grinder" [short story; 27 pp.]
Typescripts: "My strange experience" [short story; 21 pp.]
Typescripts: "The peculiar case of Mrs. Winthrop" [short story; 20 pp.]
Typescripts: "The Zampogna Player" [short story; 23 pp.]
Typescripts: "A celestial passion" [short story; 29 pp.]
Typescripts: "On Barbary Coast" [novel; ch. 1-10]
Typescripts: "On Barbary Coast" [novel; ch. 11-21]
Typescripts: "On Barbary Coast" [novel; ch. 22-36]
Typescripts: "The King of Northumberland" [novel; ch. 1-8]
Typescripts: "The King of Northumberland" [novel; ch. 9-15]
Typescripts: "At Deadman's Cove" [novel; 233 pp.]
Typescripts: "In El Dorado" [essay; 11 pp.]
Typescripts: "An analysis of Beauty" [essay; 24 pp.]
Prose---Published
"Two loves in a life," Frank Leslie's Illustrated Magazine (Mar 1891).
A modern Magdalene. Boston: Lee & Shepard, 1894.
"The waifs of the white city," New England Magazine (May 1897).
"Jason Hildreth's identity," Lippincott's Monthly Magazine (May 1897).
An elusive lover. London: Constable, 1898.
Drama---Before 1900
"Christopher Columbus, a Drama." [notes, cast, synopsis, dialogue, etc. manuscript, cloth/staplebound notebook, 21 cm.]
"Columbus" fragment [typescript; ca 60 pp.]
"Columbus" fragment [typescript w/ pencil additions; ca. 40 pp.]
"Horatius: A tragedy in 5 acts by Virna Woods" [manuscript; cast & synopsis]
"Horatius: A Tragedy, by Virna Woods, copyright, 1899." [typescript w/ pencil additions & corrections, 92 pp., blk. cover; 2nd carbon copy, 93 pp., loose-bound, brown cover, 29 cm.; 3rd carbon copy with illus. pasted in, 93 pp., loose-bound, brown cover, 29 cm.; 4th carbon copy, loose bound manila cover]
"King of Northumberland, A Historical-Romantic Drama, by Virna Woods, copyright, 1899." [typescript w/ pencil corrections; 89 pp., loose-bound, brown cover, 29 cm.; 2nd carbon copy, loose bound manila cover; 3rd carbon copy, same;
"King of Northumberland" [typescript, incl. synopsis; unbound, 73 pp. + unnumbered synopsis pp.]
"King of Northumberland" [typescript; unbound, 52 pp.]
Drama: "Griselda" & "Lalla Rookh"
"Griselda: The Peasant Duchess, a Romantic Drama, by Virna Woods, copyright 1900." [typescript; black leatherette bound volume, 75 pp., 25 cm.; 2nd copy, loose bound brown cover, 94 pp., 26 cm.]
"Griselda: the Peasant Duchess." [incomplete typescript, ca. 30 pp., unbound]
"Lalla Rookh: A Romantic Comedy In Four Acts." [typescript, bound black leatherette cover, 81 pp., 26 cm.; 2nd copy, typescript, loose bound brown cover, 89 pp., 27 cm.; 3rd copy, typescript, unbound; 4th copy, typescript, loose bound manila covers, 74 pp., 27 cm.; 5th copy, same]
"Lalla Rookh," "Griselda," and "King of Northumberland." [incomplete drafts; pencil manuscript, black & red leather bound notebook, ca. 300 pp., 25 cm.]
Drama: "Un Chevalier errant" (A Knight Errant)
"Un Chevalier Errant" [manuscript in French; unbound, ca. 150 pp., 21 cm.]
"Un Chevalier Errant, Comedie Heroique en Cinq Actes par Virna Woods" [3 copies, Act I only; typescript in French; unbound, 30 pp.; 4th copy loose bound, brown cover, 29 pp., 27 cm.]
"Un Chevalier Errant, Quatrieme Acte" [typescript in French; loose bound, brown cover, 123 pp., 27 cm.]
"A Knight Errant" [manuscript; 3 "Bank Stock Composition Book" notebooks; labelled "Acts I & II," "Act III" & "Acts IV & V"]
7.5 "A Knight Errant, a Heroic Comedy in Five Acts, by Virna Woods, Copyright 1901." [typescript; loose bound, brown cover, 123 pp., 27 cm.; 2nd, 3rd & 4th copies: typescript, loose bound, manila covers]
Drama: Misc. Plays
"Charles IX, A Historical Play, by Virna Woods, copyright, 1902." [typescript w/ pencil corrections; loose-bound, manila cover, 75 pp., 27 cm.]
"Courtier & King, A Historical Romantic Drama in 4 Acts" [synopsis; carbon typescript; unbound, 6 pp.]
"For the Graves of Our Nation" [3 copies; manuscript & 2 typescript; unbound, 9 pp.]
"The Fourth Generation" [2 copies; synopsis; tyepscript; unbound, 7 pp. ea.]
"The Horns of a Dilemma, A Farce" [carbon typescript; unbound, 11 pp.]
"Jephthah: Or, As It Is Written" [typescript; loose bound, brown cover, 81 pp., 27 cm.; 2nd copy typescript; loose bound, manila cover]
"Lord Strathmore" [typescript; loose bound, manila cover, 89 pp., 27 cm.]
"Lord Strathmore" [typescript; unbound, 89 pp.]
"Mask of a King" [synopsis; carbon typescript; unbound, 10 pp.]
"Miriam" [synopsis; carbon typescript; unbound, 7 pp.]
"Roland de France"; "Garin, le Loherain"; "Bertrand de Born"; "Jefte; o, come e scritto" [synopses, lst three in French & last in Italian; 1st two carbon typescript, last two manuscript; loose bound, heavy paper cover, ca. 30 pp.]
Fragments & Notes
"Columbus"; "Surely he is satisfied"; "The peculiar case of Mrs. Winthrop"; "The biography of Phyllis"; "The high places" [pencil manuscript notes & drafts; "Composition" notebook w/ dove on cover]
"At Deadman's Cove" [fragment; typescript; ca. 75 pp.]
"That Affair of Brown's" fragment [typescript + 3 carbons ea. pg.; 6 pp.]
"Lalla Rookh"; "Courtier & King"; Drida, Queen of Mercia" [manuscript synopses; notebook w/ Wm. Morris style design & "Notes" on cover]
"Florine" [pencil manuscript notes & draft; "Bank Stock Composition Book" notebook]
"Horatius"; "Griselda"; "Lalla Rookh"; several pp. addresses in back [pencil manuscript notes & drafts; black leatherette notebook w/ red spine]
"Flora" [pencil manuscript notes & drafts: "Act II"; "Act III" 2 smaller fragments; unbound on lined paper]
"Hallucination of Gilbert Armstrong"---fragment [typescript; 2 pp.]
"A Knight Errant" ---fragment [typescript; ca. 12 pp.]
Misc. Notes [manuscript; "Hale's California Stores" notebook; some loose pp.]
[Untitled essay on virtues of reading]---fragment [pencil manuscript; unbound, pp. 2-13]
[Unident. speech? on American values]---fragment? [pencil manuscript; unbound, pp. 1-11]
Speech given at Crocker Art Gallery to "Legislature ladies" [pencil manuscript; unbound, 3 pp.]
Misc. Notes in French [chiefly drafts of correspondence; 2 items; manuscript]
Memorabilia: Family Papers; Writing by others
Family Papers
Ella, Fred & Elmer to John B. Woods & family, Salt Lake City (3-26-99)
Emma S. Marshall to "Mrs. Woods", Portland OR (3-9-03) [telegram]
Charlie & Lettie to "Mrs. Woods & Miss Anna", Monterey (3-11-03)
Mrs. Woods? to Mr. Gett (11-2-13) [2 pp.]
C.I. Pidgeon & family to Mrs. Woods & Anna, Lees Creek OH (3-20-12) [2 pp.]
Aurora Pidgeon Hazard to J. Wm. Harris, Washington C.H.O. (5-13-56) [3 pp.]
"Citizens' Pledge" [not to drink alcohol] signed by entire Woods family
Henry Blandy to John B. Woods (1874) [Deed to Zanesville property]
John B. Woods et al. to Artemisia Sanders (1899) [Deed to Ohio property]
"Postal Cards" [album, containing ca 200 cards, many of which were sent to family by VW on her 1901 tour w/ "Horatius"; brown, 27 cm.]
Memorabilia miscellany
Zanesville H.S. Report Card, 1877 [Anna Woods]
Zanesville H.S. Reunion admission ticket, 1877
Zanesville H.S. Commencement Program, 1877 [Anna Woods' class]
Do., 1880 [VW class---she read "Terra Scientiae"; 2 copies]
California. State Dept. Public Instruction. Teaching Credential, 1889 [VW]
Unsigned handmade oversize Christmas card from Monterey, 1889
"The Amazons" publishers' flyer, c1891
Lorenzo Waugh. "San Francisco acrostic," 1891 [2 copies]
L.E. Smith & Geo. T. Hesser, C.L.S.C. calling cards, 1892
"Jacksonville, Fla.," 1894 [souvenir booklet of photographs]
Mt. Lowe Railway, 1895 [adv. flyer]
"California Alumni C.L.S.C., 9th Anniversary, Sacramento," 10-25-95
Red Cross Soc., Sacramento. "Artistic Weyler Punch Exhibit," 1898
Reds Cross Soc. pass allowing bearer to visit US Navy vessel, SF, 1898
Mary E. Stackhouse/Frederic H. Patton, wedding announcement, 1899
"Pierce's Memorandum & Account Book," 1900 [unused]
Frederick Warde Co. flyer, 1901-02 season [incl. photos of F.W.]
Frederick Warde Co. flyer, 1901-02 season [incl. photo of Antoinette Ashton]
"Horatius" flyer, n.d. [c1901]
Tulane Theatre, New Orleans 2 advertising cards, "week of Sep 29," c1901
Tulane Theatre, New Orleans 2 programs [incl. "Horatius"], c1901
"The Mountebank" Frederick Warde Co. program, c1901
Do. [different format from preceding]
Queen Victoria Memorial Service, Sacramento, 1901 [booklet]
Wm McKinley Memorial Service Program, Sacramento, 1901 [3 items]
1903 poppy calendar in form of fan
H.Kramer Modes & Gowns, SF flyer, 1905
Tribute to VW by Frederick Warde (1905) [pencil on scrap]
Mr. & Mrs. Albert Boschke Silver Wedding Anniv. announcement, 1906
Otis Skinner in "Sancho Panza," 1906 [adv. flyer]
"The fondest remembrance" [illus. card], c1890
"To my true love" [unsigned valentine card], c1890
VW business card [7]
Hazel Hinnichson to VW, n.d. [greeting card]
"Mills Meetings...I hereby promise to be present as a member of the choir...," n.d.
Anna Woods hand drawn name tag, n.d.
"Virna Woods library inquiries" [list of libraries checked for VW holdings by ?]
stitchery rose w/ sobriquet "Love Anna," n.d.
Kindergarten Review (Jan 1900) [2 copies; contains no writing by VW]
Lillian H. Shuey. "In memory of Virna Woods," c1903 [manuscript, 3 pp.]
Anna Woods? or Mrs. Virginia Woods---Misc. writings [manuscript, ca 10 items; chiefly poems & essays on religious themes]
Poetry by Others [possibly collected by VW; consists of 24 scraps cut from periodicals, incl. several poems by Edwin Markham & by Lillian Shuey + James F. Clarke's "The Shadow" in manuscript ]
Speech (by whom?) regarding Portsmouth Race Commission & settlement of Russo-Japanese War, 1905 [manuscript, 3 pp.]
Rudyard Kipling poetry, copied by Anna Woods?, c1914 [manuscript; 16 items]
Photos: Individual Prints
Virna Woods [11 items; most are portraits taken between 1893 and 1903]
Woods Family
Anna Woods [7]
John B. Woods' father [2 items]
John B. Woods [3]
Virginia Pidgeon Woods [2]
Mrs. Pidgeon [2 items; Virginia's mother?]
Family at Pacific Grove
Family plot, Sacramento [2]
Loose photographs originally in Woods' family album [48 items; virtually all unident. residents of Zanesville OH (ca. 1870-1883)
Joseph D. Harris [2]
Grandma Harrison & Cousin Dakin
Sizzie Langton
Alta Pidgeon
Virna Smith
Identified males
Charles D. Herman
Barry Johnstone [2 items; "Horatius" cast]
Abraham Lincoln
David Traitel [Frederick Warde Co. mgr.]
Identified females
Antoinette Ashton [Frederick Warde Co.]
Mrs. Gavignon
Virginia Trescott [Frederick Warde Co.]
Mrs. Claire Utter
California Women---Unidentified [27 items; chiefly women betw. 20 and 40 taken from 1885-1895]
California Men---Unidentified [33 items; chiefly men betw. 20 and 40 taken from 1885-1895]
Men from Other States---Unidentified [6 items]
Women from Other States---Unidentified [4 items]
Group pictures---Unidentified [4 items; all groups of men, all taken in 20th c.; one street scene, Sacramento ]
California Sierra Scenery [6 cyanotypes, 3 sepia; all alpine scenes in California taken ca. 1900]
Photos: Albums
Black w/ gold lettering "Compliments of Derthick Club/Miss Virna Woods--1902." [14 portraits of women by "Bushnell Fotografer, Sacramento"; 28cm.]
Brown leatherette; front cover w/ oval female portrait, mock pearl studs & metal clasp [20 portraits taken in Zanesville & other Ohio locations, ca. 1870-80; at least two of these are probably portraits of VW as a girl & one other is probably John B. Woods, two other identified individuals are members of Pidgeon family, 14 cm.]
Dark Blue Green velvet w/ metal clasp [ca. 20 portraits, ca. 1870-80; at least two of these are probably portraits of VW as a girl, also portrait of John B. Woods' father & many members of Pidgeon family, 21 cm.]
Brown leatherette w/ metal clasp [16 photos & 2 negs. taken in Zanesville & other Ohio locations, ca. 1850-1880; at least two are probably portraits of VW as a girl; incl. calling card of Anna Woods, photo of business block in Zanesville & engravings of James Garfield & Chester A. Arthur, 14 cm.]
Portrait in leather case [Daguerreotype; unident. male, possibly Virginia Pidgeon Woods' father, 9 cm.]
Double portrait in leather case [Daguerreotype; unident. females, possibly Virginia Pidgeon Woods & her sister as girls, 9 cm.]