LaMar, Virginia A., 1922-1968

<p>Virginia LaMar married William Freund in 1948 but divorced some years later. (page 136)</p>
<p>Wright and LaMar shared royalties on the General Reader's Shakespeare editions fifty-fifty. Wright considered her a joint editor. (page 137)</p>

Press release regarding LaMar's death: "Miss Virginia LaMar, executive secretary of the Folger Shakespeare Library, editor of the Folger publications, and co-editor of the Folger Library General Reader's Shakespeare, died last night, January 8, at 10:00 o'clock at the Washington Hospital Center of pneumonia. Miss LaMar had been ill since the Christmas holidays when she contracted influenza...Miss LaMar joined the Folger staff in May, 1946. For the past ten years she had served not only as executive secretary but as chief editor of all Folger Library publications. 'Her skill was remarkable and her knowledge of Tudor and Stuart literature and history was phenomenal,' Louis B. Wright, director of the Folger Library, asserted today. 'She will be virtually irreplaceable. Miss LaMar modestly and quietly did the work of three people with seeming ease. She had acquired immense learning by her own efforts, and she was able to summon that knowledge when any editorial problem required it.' Miss LaMar received her education in private schools. During World War II she served from 1941-1946 as secretary in the British Admiralty Delegation in Washington, D.C., and in 1945 she received the King's Medal for her services. During the past decade, as research assistant to the director of the Folger Library, she collaborated with Louis B. Wright in editing afresh all 37 of Shakespeare's plays. All have now been published except two, which are in press. Miss LaMar was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on November 29, 1922. She is survived by three brothers: Robert LaMar of Manassas, Virginia; Thomas LaMar of Washington, D.C.; and William LaMar of Buffalo, New York...She had made her home for several years at 4712 Wisconsin Avenue."

Virginia LaMar, daughter of Bruce and Mary LaMar, resided at 65 Montgomery Street Hempstead, Nassau, New York.

Virginia A. LaMar, Assistant Editor. A member of the staff of the Folger Shakespeare Library from 1946 until her death in 1968, Miss LaMar served as research assistant to the Director and as Executive Secretary. Prior to 1946 Miss LaMar had been a secretary in the British Admiralty Delegation in Washington, D.C., receiving the King's Medal in 1945 for her services. She was coeditor of the <i>Historie of Travell into Virginia Britania</i> by William Strachey, published by the Hakluyt Society in 1953, and author of <i> English Dress in the Age of Shakespeare</i> and <i> Travel and Roads in England</i> in the "Folger Booklets on Tudor and Stuart Civilization" series.

Virginia Ann LaMar (age 25) married William Freund on July 25, 1948.