Sturge Moore family papers

Thomas Sturge Moore was a poet, art and literature critic, book designer, illustrator, editor, stage-designer and wood engraver. He was born on 4 March 1870 and was educated at The Croydon Art School and Lambeth Art School. Sturge Moore was a prolific poet and his subjects included, morality, art and the spirit. His first pamphlet, Two Poems, was printed privately in 1893 and his first book of verse, The Vinedresser, was published in 1899. His love for poetry lead him to become an active member of the Poetry Recital Society. His first (of 31) plays to be produced was Aphrodite against Artemis (1906), staged by the Literary Theatre Club of which he became a member in 1908. He received a civil list pension in 1920 in recognition for his contribution to literature and in 1930 he was nominated as one of seven candidates for the position of Poet Laureate. He died on 18 July 1944.

Riette Sturge Moore was the daughter of Thomas Sturge Moore and his wife, Marie Appia. She trained as an interior decorator but, by the 1930s, had begun to work as a theatre designer. She designed sets for productions at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon such as Marlowe's Dr Faustus in 1946 and Twelth Night in 1947. She taught design at Dartington, Corsham and the Old Viv and combined this with continued work as a theatre designer. She was responsible, for instance, for the costumes in the celebrated production of Corialanus in 1959.