IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB 1249 Bonten/MS 6926
Held at: Royal College of Music
Title: BÖNTEN, Augusta (1858-1930)
Date(s): 1882-1930
Level of description: Collection (fonds)
Extent: 1 box, 1 folder
Name of creator(s): Bönten | Augusta | 1858-1930 | daughter of Sir August Manns, composer
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
Born 18 Oct 1858, West Norwood, London, the daughter of August Manns, conductor; educated in Sydenham and Wandsworth, 1864-1874; educated in Stuttgart, Germany, 1874-1876, commenced studies at Stuttgart Conservatoire, 1876; abandoned professional musical studies due to ill-health, 1879; married Frederick Bönten, 1881; lived in London, with numerous visits to Germany; daughter Louise born, 1890; moved to live with her father following the death of her mother, 1893; moved to Bournemouth in 1914, her husband being obliged to move to London due to wartime security restrictions; her husband's business wound up by the Board of Trade, 1917; moved to London, 1919; husband died, 1924; died 8 Jun 1930.
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
Papers of Augusta Bönten, 1882-1907, including two scrapbooks containing cuttings and printed ephemera relating to the musical activities and death of her father Sir August Manns, 1882-1907; her commonplace book, containing mainly late 19th century German poety; her Memoirs, proof copy published posthumously by her daughter Louise Bönten [1930]; Catalogue of the principal instrumental and vocal works performed at the Saturday concerts from 1855 to 1876 (Charles Dickens and Evans, Crystal Palace, 1876), with inscription by Manns, 1877; Catalogue of the principal instrumental and choral works performed at the Crystal Palace Saturday concerts from October 1855 to May 1895 (F M Evans, Crystal Palace, [1895]), two copies, one with numerous annotations [some by Manns]; The Bournemouth Municipal Orchestra, twenty-one years of municipal music, 1893-1914 by Hadley Watkins (Bournemouth, 1914). Letters (8) to Augusta Bönten, 1913-1914, mostly relating to her father's work: correspondents include Dr Frederick G Shinn, in regard to his lecture 'What the Crystal Palace has done for music in England' and Sophie Campbell, in regard to the recent death of her husband Sir Francis Joseph Campbell, former Principal of the Royal Normal College for the Blind.
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: English and German.
System of arrangement:
1 box of papers 1882-1907 (Ref: Bonten); 1 file of correspondence, 1913-1914 (Ref: MS 6926).
Conditions governing access:
Usual conditions of the Library of the Royal College of Music apply. See the RCM website or contact the RCM Library for details.
Conditions governing reproduction:
Photocopying is permitted at the discretion of the Archivist for research purposes only.
Physical characteristics:
Finding aids:
The collection is catalogued in the 'Provisional catalogue of letters in the RCM library' by J Kersey, 1997, vol 1.
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:
Accruals:
Archival history:
Immediate source of acquisition:
Not known
ALLIED MATERIALS
Existence and location of originals:
Existence and location of copies:
Related material:
Royal College of Music holds the autograph letter book of Sir August Manns, which include a few letters addressed to Augusta (Ref: Box 174).
Publication note:
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Note:
Archivist's note: Compiled by Robert Baxter as part of the RSLP AIM25 Project. Sources: Bönten's Memoirs; article on Manns by Keith Horner, Grove Dictionary of Music.
Date(s) of descriptions: Jul 2001