Item #40211 An early circular letter by Jim Haynes, originally sent to about 800 people, in which he outlines his plans for a “Covent Garden Laboratory Theatre” and solicits funding from potential founder members. The ARTS LAB.
An early circular letter by Jim Haynes, originally sent to about 800 people, in which he outlines his plans for a “Covent Garden Laboratory Theatre” and solicits funding from potential founder members.
An early circular letter by Jim Haynes, originally sent to about 800 people, in which he outlines his plans for a “Covent Garden Laboratory Theatre” and solicits funding from potential founder members.
An early circular letter by Jim Haynes, originally sent to about 800 people, in which he outlines his plans for a “Covent Garden Laboratory Theatre” and solicits funding from potential founder members.

4.

An early circular letter by Jim Haynes, originally sent to about 800 people, in which he outlines his plans for a “Covent Garden Laboratory Theatre” and solicits funding from potential founder members.

No date (c. early 1967). Single quarto sheet, printed on a Gestetner machine, recto only.

Haynes later told Jonathon Green that “Jack [Henry Moore] probably thought up the name”, and that “the letter produced £3000”, with money from “Fred Zinnemann, Peter Brook, Tom Stoppard, and so on” (Days in the Life, p.169).

The letter’s verso bears a holograph note from Haynes intended for publication in International Times (of which he was a founding director). Encapsulating his perennial objective of bringing people together, it reads: “In an attempt to encourage talking/smiling/hello-ing in the streets, tubes & buses of this city and the world, we propose this plan. All who desire to talk & smile should wear the IT-girl badge & when you see a fellow creature with this badge you should acknowledge with appropriate greetings.”

Old central vertical and horizontal folds, with overall creasing, o/w Very Good.

Together with:

i) a small offprint from The Times, dated May 3rd, 1967. 16.5x10.2cm. Headlined “Mr Haynes finds support”, the short article reports that “Jim Haynes’s appeal for funds to open a theatre club in Covent Garden has already raised some £2,5000, much of it in subscriptions of £50 or more from a wide assortment of founder members”. It goes on to name some of them and outlines Haynes’s plans for “an adaptable auditorium, seating around 120, a film production unit, a restaurant and bar, a bookshop, an art gallery and a discotheque in the basement.” Slightly creased;

ii) a circular printed on Arts Laboratory-headed paper, c. September/October 1967, soliciting membership and providing an outline of the project. Its heading lists organisers Jack Henry Moore (later described by Haynes as “one of the incredible characters of our time”), David Curtis (who previously arranged film screenings at UFO), and Sue Miles (who ran the Arts Lab restaurant). Duplicated foolscap sheet, printed recto only. Old central horizontal fold, o/w Very Good.

(3 items).

Sold