Leverett-Griswold House, circa 1775, renovated 1810-15 and 1995-96. Home of the Elizabethan Club.

Landscaper Kenneth Boroson, 1995-6, Elizabethan Club Garden. Engraved under the bust of Shakespeare: "I know a bank whereon the wild thyme blows, where oxlips and the nodding violet grows, Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine, With sweet musk-roses, and with eglantine..."

The Elizabethan Club is a social club at Yale University named for Queen Elizabeth I and her era. Its profile and members tend toward a literary disposition and conversation is one of the Club's chief purposes. The Lizzie's collection of 16th and 17th Century books and artifacts includes a Shakespearean folio and many Shakespearean quartos, first editions of Milton's Paradise Lost, Spenser's Faerie Queene, and Francis Bacon's Essayes, all locked in the Club's famous vault. The collection is only available for inspection at certain times, or to researchers upon request at Yale's Beinecke Library [1]. Tea is served daily during the semester and members may invite guests on specified days. The Club accepts male and female undergraduates, graduate students, faculty and staff and, also, non-Yale individuals and membership is competitive. The Lizzie is also known for its endowment, which is, by far, the richest of any club or society at Yale, surpassing the next richest by tens of millions of dollars. Its collection is, essentially, priceless. Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 698 × 599 pixelsFull resolution‎ (2,236 × 1,920 pixels, file size: 1. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 698 × 599 pixelsFull resolution‎ (2,236 × 1,920 pixels, file size: 1. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution‎ (2,560 × 1,920 pixels, file size: 1. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution‎ (2,560 × 1,920 pixels, file size: 1. ... Yale redirects here. ... Elizabeth I Queen of England and Ireland Queen of France, nominal title Elizabeth I (September 7, 1533–March 24, 1603) was Queen of England and Queen of Ireland from November 17, 1558 until her death. ... William Shakespeares earliest published plays are referred to as folios or quartos according to the size of the book. ... William Shakespeares earliest published plays are referred to as folios or quartos according to the size of the book. ... For other persons named John Milton, see John Milton (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Paradise Lost (disambiguation). ... Spenser (played by Robert Urich) and his girlfriend Susan Silverman (played by Barbara Stock) on the former television series, Spenser: For Hire. ... Una and the Lion by Briton Rivière The Faerie Queene is a poem by Edmund Spenser, first published in 1590 (the first half) with the more or less complete version being published in 1596. ... For other persons named Francis Bacon, see Francis Bacon (disambiguation). ... Yale Universitys Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library was a 1963 gift of the Beinecke family. ... YALE (Yet Another Learning Environment) is an environment for machine learning experiments and data mining. ...

History

The club began during the literary renaissance at the university between 1909 and 1920, and attracted such book collectors as William Lyon Phelps, Chauncey Brewster Tinker, and John Berdan. Cole Porter, initially rejected as a member, signified his indignation with the satirical song "A Member of the Yale Elizabethan Club", [2] and eventually was admitted. It has a reciprocal relationship with the Signet Society at Harvard, and the two organizations sporadically hold a lawn croquet tournament, for which a handled silver pudding cup in a wooden case serves as the trophy. William Lyon Phelps (2 January 1865 - 21 August 1943) was an American author, critic and scholar. ... Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter from Peru, Indiana. ... The Signet Society of Harvard University was founded in 1870 by members of the class of 1871. ... Harvard University is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, and a member of the Ivy League. ...

The Elizabethan Club's Library was founded in 1911 by a gift of books (and $100,000) from Alexander Smith Cochran, [3] who had graduated in 1896, the "World's Richest Bachelor" in the mid-1920s.[4] A book collector contemporary of Cochran's commented:

"Of late we have heard much of Mr.Huntington's buying this, of Mr.Folger's buying that, and of Mr.Cochran's buying t'other, and of the immense sums they are giving for rare books; but these gentlemen are not spending their money selfishly. Mr. Cochran, we know, buys for that wonderful institution which he has established and maintains--the Elizabethan Club at Yale."[5]

The library now holds some three hundred volumes of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century literature, including the first four folios of Shakespeare, the Huth Shakespeare quartos,[6] and first or early quartos of all the major dramatists.[7] In a back parlor where tea is served, a large portrait of the Virgine Queene herself presides. Elizabeth I Queen of England and Ireland Queen of France, nominal title Elizabeth I (September 7, 1533–March 24, 1603) was Queen of England and Queen of Ireland from November 17, 1558 until her death. ...

Documents relating to the club's organization and activities, including correspondence written in Latin, with the Signet Society at Harvard, are viewable through the online Yale Manuscripts and Archives Collection: [8] The Signet Society of Harvard University was founded in 1870 by members of the class of 1871. ...

Activity

The club is dedicated to conversation, tea, the art of the book, and literature, focused on -- but not exclusively of -- the Elizabethan era. A 1920 observer noted among "certain hopeful signs of the times [t]he establishment of the Elizabethan Club at Yale...in order that there may be a place at that university where an interest in things literary may seem normal and not the eccentricity of a grind"; [9] the 'Lizzie' of today seeks to perform much the same function. Inside the clubhouse, current British and American periodicals are neatly lined up on tables, configurations of other little tables, sofas and chairs provide many nooks for quiet discussion or reading, and upstairs even includes a room dedicated almost entirely to archives of Punch, the former English magazine of humor and satire. Outside, the club has a deep back garden with a pavilion, understated elegant plantings, and featuring a bust of the Bard himself, to facilitate the enjoyments of finger sandwiches, cookies and croquet. Punch was a British weekly magazine of humour and satire published from 1841 to 1992 and from 1996 to 2002. ...

Yale's annual Maynard Mack Lecture, named for the longtime member of the faculty and former chair of the English department (who was also a member of the Scroll and Key secret society, (Yale B.A. 1932, Ph.D. in 1936) is endowed under the auspices of the Elizabethan Club. It brings to campus speakers primarily about performance of the drama of Shakespeare's period. Maynard Mack lecturers have included Sam Waterston, Joanne Akalaitis, John Barton, Tony Church, Lisa Harrow, Michael Kahn, Michael Billington, Mark Lamos and Carey Perloff. [10] The Scroll and Key Society is a secret society established by John Addison Porter and others at Yale University, New Haven, CT, in 1842. ... Samuel Atkinson Waterston (born November 15, 1940) is an Oscar nominated American actor noted particularly for his portrayal of Jack McCoy on the long-running NBC television series Law & Order. ... Theatre director and writer JoAnne Akalaitis is the winner of five Obie Awards for direction (and sustained achievement) and founder of the critically acclaimed Mabou Mines in New York. ... Prof. ... Tony Church (b. ... Lisa Harrow (born 25 August 1943) is a New Zealand-born actress, noted for her various roles in British theatre, films and television. ... Michael Kahn (born in New York, December 8, 1935) is a widely recognized film editor, whether from his work on Hogans Heroes or feature films directed by Steven Spielberg, having won the Academy Award for Film Editing in 1998 (Saving Private Ryan), 1993 (Schindlers List) and 1981 (Raiders... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

The club also has underwritten the production of a small series of books, published by the Yale University Press.[11]. Indeed, publishing specialized works relating to the Club's mission has been a practice dating back to its early years. Examples available through google books include: [12], [13]

Membership

The "Lizzie" accepts about fifteen members from the sophomore, junior, and senior classes, both male and female, yearly. Membership is by a nomination and selection process, and candidates may additionally include Yale graduate students, faculty and administrators, and prominent literary figures. Candidates are invited to apply for membership by a member. Two letters are required from members; one of the two letters must be from a current undergraduate. Dues are $10 for life.

Architecture

• The Elizabethan Club is housed in a landmarked well-preserved Federal building, the Leverett Griswold House, built circa 1775 and renovated between 1810-1815 and 1995-1996. It was previously owned successively by the Leverett Griswold and Wilbur Gilbert families. Pictured at: [14]

• Kenneth Boroson designed the rear garden in 1995-1996.

Architectural historian Patrick Pinnell in his 1999 history of Yale's campus says this "crisp little white house... shows off an early example of a gable fronting the street, rather than being turned parallel to it... predicting the temple-front individuality of Greek Revival..."[15] It provides the only remaining Federal-era aspect on this stretch of College Street, one that Pinnell discusses as having been in the mid 19th century a residential street.[16] Central Pavilion, Tontine Crescent, 1793-1794, by Charles Bulfinch Federal style architecture occurred in the United States between 1780 and 1830, particularly from 1785 to 1815. ... The House of the Seven Gables, Salem, Massachusetts, showing four gables in this view. ... Personal residence of Catherine the Great Greek Revival was a style of classical architecture which became fashionable in Europe in the 18th century, and in the United Kingdom and United States in the early 19th century. ...

The clubhouse, acquired in 1911, bears National Historic, State Historic and City Historic designations. [17]

Trivia

• Variants of the club tie feature a motif of a phoenix.
• In addition to underwriting a sporadic book series, the Lizzie has occasionally revived the old custom of issuing (i.e. striking) bronze medallions commemorating important events in club history.
• The Lizzie informally fosters appreciation for the Art of the Book and of fine printing and typography, befitting a campus with a number of working old fashioned undergraduate presses.
• One corner of the club retains a haphazard grouping of clay smoking pipes, a nod to an earlier 19th and 20th c. era when undergraduate pipesmoking was common (in this vein, Yale seniors at graduation smash clay pipes underfoot to symbolize passage from their 'bright college years').
• The floors creak underfoot (a lot), and the toilet room features custom wallpaper with quotes from Shakespeare, wherein the relevant fixture is an old fashioned pull-chain model.
• Club founder Alexander Smith Cochran, heir to a carpet manufacturer, led an eventful life. Referred to on the eve of his 'secret' marriage to the Polish opera singer Mme. Ganna Walska as "New York's Richest Bachelor" [18], within a short period, he was contesting the marriage (he was her third of six husbands) as illegal, claiming her first husband was still living when Cochran married her, and they separated.[19] Cochran's exploits socially, financially and in sailing (he headed Americas Cup syndicates) were widely covered in newspapers of the day.
• Guests sign in upon entering; consequently, the Lizzie's collection of these guestbooks includes autographs of prominent literary figures who have visited. Among these are Robert Frost, (a frequent visitor) Bertrand Russell, Theodore Roosevelt and, more recently, William Carlos Williams and Kenneth Branagh.
• Cole Porter's "A Member of the Yale Elizabethan Club" was not the only instance of his musical jibes at the institution. In his early composition, "Since We've Met," he satirizes a prudish couple: "We shrink at any oath except a soft 'Beelzebub.' / We're out-Elizabething the Elizabethan Club."[20]
• Artist Joe Reed designed the club's 75th Anniversary medal, in solid bronze, pictured and described at [21]

For other mythic firebirds, see Fire bird (mythology). ... Robert Lee Frost (March 26, 1874 – January 29, 1963) was an American poet. ... Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, OM, FRS, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970), was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, advocate for social reform, and pacifist. ... Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. ... William Carlos Williams Dr. William Carlos Williams (sometimes known as WCW) (September 17, 1883 – March 4, 1963), was an American poet closely associated with modernism and Imagism. ... Kenneth Charles Branagh (born December 10, 1960) is an Emmy Award-winning, Academy Award-nominated Northern Irish-born actor and film director. ...

Noteworthy Members

• Justin Zaremby
• Moira R. Dillon
• Samuel W. Byrne
• Anna Grotberg
• Jordan Corwin
• Jose Minan

References

• Picture of founder Alexander Smith Cochran at: [22]
• Holden, Reuben A., Yale: A Pictorial History, Yale University Press, New Haven and London. 1967.
• Purchase of the Huth Portfolio [23]
• Parks, Stephen, The Elizabethan Club of Yale University and Its Library, New Haven and London, 1986.
• Pinnell, Patrick L., The Campus Guide: Yale University, Princeton University Press, 1999.
• Birnbach, Lisa, ed. The Official Preppy Handbook, Workman Publishing, 1980
• 1968 Yale Daily News article [24]
• Newton, Alfred Edward. A Magnificent Farce: And Other Diversions of a Book-collector. Boston: The Atlantic Monthly Press, 1921. p 125.