Langdon Mitchell letters to Dorothy Thomas

1917-1935

Langdon Elwyn Mitchell (1862-1935), American poet and playwright, used the pseudonym John Philip Varley. His best-known plays were Becky Sharp (1899) and The New York Idea (1906). He taught playwriting at the University of Pennsylvania from 1928 to 1930. His father was S. Weir Mitchell, neurologist and author. Approximately forty letters, 1917-1935, from Langdon Mitchell to Dorothy Thomas, a daughter of a family friend who became his lover when he was 55 and she 22. Most of the collection consists of love letters expressing his longing and devotion. The letters also contain a few mentions of his writing, and his encouragement of her own literary efforts. The original letters are supplemented by typed transcripts made by Thomas. A transcript of a letter from Charles Hanson Towne to Mitchell with comments on Thomas' writing is also present.