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Start Over Repository University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts Subject Theater Language English Year 1850 to 1899

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Richard Wilson McCredy scrapbook of Philadelphia and New York City playbills, 1869-1906 (inclusive) 1869-1905 (bulk)

Extent:
0.2 linear_foot (1 volume)
Abstract:
The son of Thomas McCredy and Emma Dolores Wilson, Richard Wilson McCredy (1854-1924) was an iron merchant and alumnus of the University of Pennsylvania (Class of 1874). A gift by McCredy, this scrapbook consists of a collection of about 750 playbills and programs from Philadelphia and New York City, arranged in chronological order and pasted onto a volume of more than 200 pages.

Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts [Contact Us]

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Arthur Bloom research collection on Edwin Forrest, 1829-2018 (inclusive) 2014-2018 (bulk)

Extent:
2 linear feet (2 boxes)
Abstract:
Arthur Bloom (born 1939), an author and scholar of American theater, studied and wrote a book on Edwin Forrest (1806-1872), a prominent Philadelphia-born actor. This collection contains research materials for Bloom's work, Edwin Forrest: A Biography and Performance History (2019). These include some limited original materials by and related to Forrest, extensive printout copies of newspaper articles about Forrest, contemporary scholarly publications related to Forrest and American theater, and other research materials.

Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts [Contact Us]

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Edwin Forrest collection, circa 1815-1931 (inclusive)

Extent:
39 linear feet (76 boxes)
Abstract:
The Edwin Forrest Collection provides some documentation of the business career of Edwin Forrest (nineteenth-century American actor, noted for his Shakespearean roles), focusing in the main on the latter part of his career (the 1860s and 1870s). Though some private personal correspondence is housed in the collection, predominant is correspondence concerning various aspects of Forrest's finances; these are arranged by major investments or interests.

Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts [Contact Us]

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Raymond H. Ferris collection of theater programs, 1881-1901 (inclusive)

Extent:
0.33 linear_foot (1 box)
Abstract:
Raymond H. Ferris (1890-1972), a University of Pennsylvania administrator, collected playbills and programs from Philadelphia theaters, dating from 1881 to 1901. The collection features playbills from the Academy of Music, Arch Street Theatre, Association Hall, Chestnut Street Opera House, Congress Spring Park, Eleventh Street Opera House, Garrick Theatre, Grand Opera House, Haverly's Theatre, McCaull's Opera House, New Arch Street Opera House, New National Theatre, Park Theatre, Philadelphia Lyceum, Temple Theatre, Walnut Street Theatre, and Winter Circus.

Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts [Contact Us]

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Henry Peterson manuscript plays, circa 1870s-1891 (inclusive)

Extent:
.4 linear feet (1 box)
Abstract:
Henry Peterson (1818-1891) was an author, poet, playwright, and the editor of the Saturday Evening Post. This collection consists of six hand-written manuscripts of plays that appear not to have been published.

Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts [Contact Us]

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Robert Montgomery Bird papers, 1799-1946 (inclusive) 1822-1854 (bulk)

Extent:
31 boxes
Abstract:
Comprises personal, business, literary, and family papers. In addition to Bird's own papers, this collection includes papers of his wife Mary E. Bird, his son Frederic Mayer Bird, and his biographer Clement Edgar Foust. The earliest papers (1822) date from Bird's school days at Germantown Academy, and the very latest papers (1946) relate to C. Seymour Thompson's publication of Mary E. Bird's biography of her husband. Correspondents include men and women from Bird's career in medicine; his literary career; his theatrical career (including correspondence with Edwin Forrest, as well as the documentation regarding their legal battle over copyrights and profits); his political career; and his career in publishing and journalism.

Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts [Contact Us]

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Charlotte Cushman Club records, 1818-2000 (inclusive) 1907-1998 (bulk)

Extent:
16.6 linear feet (26 boxes)
Abstract:
Founded in 1907, the Charlotte Cushman Club was originally intended to provide respectable lodgings for actresses appearing in Philadelphia theaters. In the years of World War II the Club ceased to provide residential services, becoming a favorite gathering place of theater lovers as well as of the many actresses and actors visiting the city with their touring companies. The Charlotte Cushman Club Records offer insight into the activities, the administration, and the membership of the Club during the whole life of the organization, until its closure in 1998. The collection also includes part of the holdings of the former Club's museum and library.

Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts [Contact Us]

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H. H. Furness Memorial Library manuscript collection, 1575-1991 (inclusive) 1812-1930 (bulk)

Extent:
10 linear feet (20 boxes and one oversized folder)
Abstract:
The H.H. Furness Memorial Library focuses on the study of Shakespeare and other Tudor and Stuart dramatists. Horace Howard Furness (1833-1912) and his son Horace Howard Furness Jr. (1865-1930) founded and edited the Variorum Shakespeare and their library was donated to the University of Pennsylvania in 1932. This collection contains personal correspondence to and from Rev. William Henry Furness (1802-1896), Horace Howard Furness, and Horace Howard Furness, Jr., largely relating to Shakespearean study and the H.H. Furness Memorial library; notebooks; copies of speeches and articles; and other assorted items relating to Shakespearean scholarship or to the Furness family.

Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts [Contact Us]

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Robert L. Sherman collection of plays, 1853-1920 (inclusive)

Extent:
3 linear feet (8 boxes)
Abstract:
Robert L. Sherman, born in 1866, was a playwright and a theater manager. A prolific author, he began writing plays for Alexander Byers and the Chicago Manuscript Company, a printing business that sold and rented play scripts to theater companies in the United States from 1895 until 1922. Alexander Byers acquired most of the plays he published by pirating them. This collection consists of 139 mimeograph versions of play scripts which were part of the inventory of the Chicago Manuscript Company.

Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts [Contact Us]

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Henrietta Pfaelzer theater and music scrapbook, 1892-1896 (inclusive)

Extent:
0.08 linear feet (1 volume)
Abstract:
Henrietta Pfaelzer (1878-1974) was a Philadelphian who married Horace Stern, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania from 1952 to 1956. This scrapbook, which pre-dates her marriage, dates from 1892 to 1896 and includes playbills, photographs of actors, and newspaper clippings about theater in Philadelphia.

Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts [Contact Us]

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