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Start Over Repository University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts Subject Theater Language English Year 1861

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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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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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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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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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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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Bartholomew family theatrical scrapbooks, 1852-1948 (inclusive)

Extent:
0.6 linear feet (2 boxes)
Abstract:
The Bartholomew family scrapbook collection consists of five volumes compiled by Ethel C. Bartholomew (born 1889), William H. Bartholomew (born 1832), and Sallie Apt Bartholomew (1863-1934). These scrapbooks document the theatrical careers of the Bartholomews from the early 1870s to the late 1940s and include photographs of the Bartholomew family and unnamed people, notices and reviews of performances, newspaper clippings, correspondence, and notes.

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

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Felix E. Schelling papers, 1856-1945 (inclusive)

Extent:
7.25 linear feet (13 boxes)
Abstract:
Felix E. Schelling (1858-1945) was a professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania, an expert on Shakespeare, and an author of scholarly works on Shakespeare and Elizabethan literature. This collection documents Schelling's life as a student, a professor, a scholar, and an author. It also documents the University of Pennsylvania through the eyes of an individual who was a student and a faculty member over a period of more than fifty years.

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

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"Theatricals in Philadelphia" scrapbooks, 1838-1936 (inclusive) 1838-1897 (bulk)

Extent:
6 linear feet (22 volumes)
Abstract:
The "Theatricals in Philadelphia" scrapbooks consists of a set of 15 scrapbooks on theatrical subjects and contains programs, playbills, newspaper clippings, images, and portraits of artists of the stage, dating from the second half of the 19th century. These materials mostly relate to theaters and other performing venues located in Philadelphia, although there are also some items from New York, Boston, and other U.S. cities. Because of its extent (about 3,500 pages), its chronological and geographical focus, the richness of its materials, and the breadth of theatrical genres covered in the scrapbooks, this collection represents a unique and invaluable resource for anyone interested in the theatrical and cultural history of Philadelphia in the second half of the 19th century.

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

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Philip H. Ward collection of theatrical images, 1859-1910 (inclusive)

Extent:
3.5 linear feet (15 volumes)
Abstract:
Philip Henry Ward, Jr. was an electrical engineer who collected photographs and autographs of actors and actresses, as well as stamps and coins. This collection consists of photographs, drawings, and engravings of more than 100 identified actors, actresses, and other performing artists. The actors and actresses include names such as Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1923), Joseph Jefferson (1829-1905), Adelina Patti (1843-1919), Ada Rehan (1857-1916), and Ellen Terry (1847-1928). Photographers include Aimé Dupont (1841-1900), Nadar (1820-1910), Napoleon Sarony (1821-1926), and W. & D. Downey, to name only a few. These images are available online.

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

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