April 28, 2005

University professor earns prestigious Folger Shakespeare Library fellowship

TROY – One Troy University professor will be hitting the books over the summer in Washington , D.C. ’s Folger Shakespeare Library.

English professor Ben Robertson’s course of study: the diaries of Elizabeth Inchbald, one of the English Romantic Period’s most important woman writers.

The project, “The Pocketbook Diaries of Elizabeth Inchbald,” is an editorial endeavor aimed at filling serious gaps in the scholarship associated with Inchbald, who lived between 1752 and 1821. Inchbald was an actor, playwright, romance writer and literary critic, performing in England , Scotland and Ireland in the 1780’s. She played many roles from Shakespeare’s plays and spent much of her acting career at London ’s Covent Garden Theatre. She authored more than 20 dramatic pieces and two romances.

Robertson’s project will result in a compilation of Inchbald’s pocketbook diaries.

“While working on a separate project at the Folger during the summer of 2004, I noticed that the pocketbook pages had become brittle and that the ink was fading,” Robertson said. “If these important documents are to be preserved, they must be transcribed soon. The pocketbooks receive excellent care at the Folger, but even the best of care does no more than delay the inevitable deterioration of these documents.”

The oldest pocketbook dates from 1776 and the newest is from 1820. Robertson said a scholarly edition of the diaries would, for the first time, make Inchbald’s personal notes available to a wide audience of scholars. Currently, the only way to view the pocketbooks is to visit the Folger Library, or view a facsimile copy of just two of the diaries in London ’s British Museum . The pocketbooks are the only surviving personal notes of the playwright, Robertson said.

The Folger has awarded Robertson a three-month fellowship to study the pocketbooks over the summer, and is providing a $6,000 stipend to support the project.

“You should know that the committee had a difficult time this year choosing among a very competitive and attractive pool of candidates,” said Folger director Gail Kern Paster in a letter to Robertson announcing the fellowship. “But they judged your project to have exceptional merit and also to draw importantly on the Folger collections.”