Sophie Duncan
Dr Sophie Duncan is Research Fellow and Dean for Welfare at Magdalen College, University of Oxford. As a writer and researcher, she has published extensively on Shakespeare and theatre history; as Dean for Welfare she manages the pastoral care of 600 undergraduate and postgraduate students.
She is the author of three books: Searching for Juliet: The Lives and Deaths of Shakespeare’s First Tragic Heroine (Sceptre, Hachette); Shakespeare’s Props (Routledge); and Shakespeare’s Women and the Fin de Siècle (Oxford University Press). For Bloomsbury, she is the editor of two editions of plays by Henrik Ibsen: A Doll’s House and Hedda Gabler. With Rachael Lennon, she is the author of Women and Power: The Struggle for Suffrage (National Trust Books). With E. Jay Gilbert, she is editor of The Banshee.
For theatre, television, and radio, she consults regularly on historical issues and acts as a rehearsal-room advisor and dramaturg. Companies she has worked with include the BBC, Shakespeare’s Globe, The Kiln, the New Vic, BADA, and the Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company. She is the Literary Manager for Ellie Keel Productions.
Anne Chesher
Sophie was supported in the curation of the exhibition by the College Librarian, Anne Chesher. With her job share, Lucy Gwynn, Anne is responsible for the management of the libraries which are at the heart of the college’s academic life. They also oversee the curation of Magdalen’s exceptionally rich historic collections (its archives, manuscripts, and rare books), and facilitate and advocate for their use in research and public engagement.
Thanks and acknowledgements
The curators would like to thank the lenders for their generous contributions to this exhibition:
Julia Rosenthal
Michael Seeney
Francis Spiteri Paris
Trinity College Dublin
We are also grateful to the many donors who have contributed to the acquisition of the Oscar Wilde Collection in Magdalen College Library, especially Miss Cecil Ward, Justin and Hilarie Huscher, E. H. W. Meyerstein and Mrs Kay Wesley.
The curators would like to thank those who have contributed to the success of the exhibition:
Image credits:
Copyright for all images belongs to the President and Fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford with the exception of the following items, produced with the kind permission of:
Julia Rosenthal: 1, 32, 35
The Board of Trinity College Dublin: 36, 43, 44
Francis Spiteri Paris: 2, 3, 20, 29, 30, 31, 33, 39, 41, PLUS PICTURES
Michael Seeney: 4, 16, 42, 46, 47, 48
Designed and printed by Holywell Press, Oxford, 2025
Artwork by Toucan Tango
Editorial work by Lucy Gwynn, Magdalen College, Oxford