The University of Chicago Library > The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center > Finding Aids > Guide to the Claud Lovat Fraser Collection 1896-1972
© 2007 University of Chicago Library
| Title: | Fraser, Claud Lovat. Collection |
|---|---|
| Dates: | 1896-1972 |
| Size: | 4 linear feet (5 boxes) |
| Repository: |
Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center |
| Abstract: | Claud Lovat Fraser (1890-1921) was an artist known primarily for his work in illustration and theater design. This collection consists primarily of printed material produced by Fraser, or featuring his artwork. Items in the collection include prints, chapbooks, periodicals, advertisements, greeting cards, visiting cards, stationery, dust jackets, theatre and concert handbills, posters, postcards, and musical scores. |
Open for research. No restrictions.
When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: Fraser, Claud Lovat. Collection, [Box #, Folder #], Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library
Born in London on May 15, 1890, Claud Lovat Fraser (1890-1921) was an artist who worked in the fields of illustration and theater design. He was first trained in legal studies and worked in his father’s law firm. His love for art caused him, in 1911, to leave his father's firm to pursue art full-time. During World War I, Fraser enlisted in the light infantry despite his poor health. After a series of medical reviews and periods of sick leave, he joined the War Office on visual propaganda and later the Army Record Office until his discharge in March 1919.
In August 1916, Fraser met the American-born actress Grace Inez Crawford. They were married on February 6, 1917 and had one daughter. After the war, Fraser continued to make designs and illustrations for various books, chapbooks, bookplates, stationery, greeting cards, and commercial advertisements. He became particularly famous for his innovative set and costume designs for several plays and ballets. His history of ill health, however, plagued him continually, and he died on June 18, 1921, after a sudden illness.
The collection contains mainly printed material produced by Fraser, or featuring his artwork. Items in the collection include individual prints, chapbooks, periodicals, advertisements, greeting cards, visiting cards, stationery, dust jackets, theatre and concert handbills, posters, postcards, musical scores. Publications and clippings related to Fraser's work are also found. Box 4 contains material printed by At the Sign of the Flying Fame, a small press founded by Fraser with the poet Ralph Hodgson and the writer Holbrook Jackson.
Box 3 contains one folder of apparently unrelated material on the forgery of Aubrey Beardsley's work.
Playbills and Programs. Collection
| Box 1 | Kenneth Hare, Three Poems, London, A.T. Stevens, chapbooks, 1916 |
| Box 2 Folder 1-3 | Richard Corbet, The Fairies' Farewell, London, A.T. Stevens, chapbooks, 1916 |
| Box 2 Folder 4 | Postcards, bookplates, and dust jackets, ca. 1910s |
| Box 2 Folder 5 | "Captain MacHeath," London, A.T. Stevens, broadsides, 1913 |
| Box 2 Folder 6 | Chapbooks, theatre programs, type samples and articles, 1913- 1922 |
| Box 2 Folder 7 | Voices, Theatre Craft, and Drama, periodicals, 1920 |
| Box 3 Folder 1 | Handbills, greeting cards, and concert tickets, ca. 1920 |
| Box 3 Folder 2 | Hymns and prayers, 1917-1920 |
| Box 3 Folder 3 | Periodicals on theatre, and music, 1917-1921 |
| Box 3 Folder 4 | Theatre publications, periodicals, and concert song book, ca. 1926- 1958 |
| Box 3 Folder 5 | The Portraits of Three Old Gentlemen, proofs and artwork, 1916 |
| Box 3 Folder 6 | Aubrey Beardsley forgeries, correspondence, prints and photographs, 1896-1925 |
| Box 4 Folder 1 | At the Sign of the Flying Fame, broadsides, stationery, chapbooks and lists of publications, ca. 1913 |
| Box 4 Folder 2 | Chapbooks, ca. 1916
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| Box 4 Folder 3 | Proofs, dust jacket and broadside, ca. 1915
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| Box 4 Folder 4 | Dust jackets, chapbooks and title page proofs, ca. 1922 |
| Box 4 Folder 5 | Endpaper designs and proofs, ca. 1920 |
| Box 4 Folder 6 | Envelopes, stationery and calendars, ca. 1922-1923 |
| Box 4 Folder 7 | Caricatures, individual prints and periodical covers, ca. 1911 |
| Box 4 Folder 8 | Prints, ca. 1916 |
| Box 4 Folder 9 | Postcards, theatre publications and ephemera, prints of costumes and set designs, ca. 1910s-1920s |
| Box 4 Folder 10 | Handbills, theatre tickets, bookplates, prayer and hymn books, Grace Lovat Fraser's greeting cards, visiting cards and marriage souvenirs, ca. 1917-1930 |
| Box 4 Folder 11 | Colored advertisements, proofs, publications and ephemera, ca. 1920-1921 |
| Box 5 Folder 1 | Periodicals, Art Chronicle, 1911-1913 |
| Box 5 Folder 2 | Periodicals, 1912-1922 |
| Box 5 Folder 3 | Periodicals, 1919-1920 |
| Box 5 Folder 4 | Periodicals, The Chapbook, 1921 |
| Box 5 Folder 5 | Periodicals, The Chapbook, Chapbooks. 1922 |
| Box 5 Folder 6 | Periodicals, ca. 1911-1921 |
| Box 5 Folder 7 | Periodicals, 1919-1921 |
| Box 5 Folder 8 | Periodicals, articles and catalogues, 1913-1972 |
| Box 5 Folder 9 | Periodicals and articles, 1921-1925 |