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Hide and seek, or natural magic: a farce, 1846 (inclusive)

Extent:

1 volume

Abstract:

Paper volume containing a comedic, one-act play entitled Hide and Seek, or Natural Magic: a Farce written by John Baldwin Buckstone dated 1846.

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

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M. Alice Mason commonplace book, circa 1897 (inclusive)

Extent:

1 volume

Abstract:

A volume comprising excerpts from works regarding exercises of the body to enhance stage performance, acting, expression, and elocution. M. Alice Mason probably compiled the items in the volume around 1890.

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

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Adelaide B. Snyder director's copy of The Beautiful People by William Saroyan, after 1941 (inclusive)

Extent:

0.2 linear feet (1 box)

Abstract:

Adelaide B. Snyder (1881-1962) was a director and producer in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who worked most notably at the Little Theatre of Philadelphia, now known as the Plays and Players Theatre. This collection contains her director's copy of The Beautiful People, a play written by William Saroyan and published in 1941. This copy is heavily annotated and includes extensive stage directions and other director's notes.

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

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Thompson Westcott scrapbooks of Charles Durang's history of Philadelphia theater between the years 1749 and 1855, 1868 (inclusive)

Extent:

2 linear feet (6 volumes)

Abstract:

A native of Philadelphia, Thompson Westcott (1820-1888) was one of the city's leading journalists and historians of his generation. Westcott's scrapbooks consist of the complete series of the 267 chapters of Charles Durang's history of theater in Philadelphia between the years 1749 and 1855, published as weekly installments in the Sunday Dispatch from 1854 to 1863. Including page numbers, indexes, and lists of illustrations, the six volumes (available to be viewed online) are interleaved with images of theaters and portraits of famous actors and artists, as well as with personal correspondence, playbills, and additional clippings on theatrical subject.

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

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Clyde Fitch typescripts and letters, circa 1890-1925 (inclusive)

Extent:

1 linear_foot (2 boxes)

Abstract:

William Clyde Fitch (better known as Clyde Fitch, 1865-1909) is considered one of the most successful American playwrights of his time, and the first to be produced abroad on a regular basis. This collection consists of typescripts of ten unpublished plays and four autograph letters written by Fitch.

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

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Kathryn Hansen collection of Nautanki chapbooks, circa 1936-2001 (bulk: 1977-1982) (inclusive)

Extent:

5.4 linear feet (6 boxes)

Abstract:

Kathryn Hansen is a professor emerita in the Department of Asian studies at the University of Texas at Austin who specializes in South Asian languages and literatures (Hindi, Urdu, and Sanskrit); literary, cultural, and historical studies of South Asia; folk and classical performance of music and dance; history of theatrical practices in North India; early Indian film history; gender studies and feminist theory; and diaspora and ethnicity studies. This collection is comprised of chapbooks, studies and anthologies, and recordings related to Indian folk dramas and tales.

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

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Colonel T. Allston Brown history of the American stage notebooks, circa 1905 (inclusive)

Extent:

0.6 linear feet (5 volumes)

Abstract:

T. Allston Brown, was a theater critic, newspaper editor, talent agent and theater historian who lived from 1836 to 1918. Brown spent the majority of his adult life in Philadelphia, PA and published extensively on the history of American theater. The collection includes five bound volumes containing handwritten notes and newspaper clippings concerning the history of the American stage from 1749 to 1905. The volumes are organized by geographic location. The first three volumes are respectively focused on Boston, Philadelphia, and New York City. The fourth volume includes information on Ohio, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, greater Pennsylvania, New Jersey, greater New York, and Rhode Island. The fifth volume includes information on Brooklyn.

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

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Gerald Clifford Weales writings, circa 1956-1985 (inclusive)

Extent:

3 linear feet (6 boxes)

Abstract:

Gerald Clifford Weales was a professor of English and Drama who taught for about 30 years the University of Pennsylvania, until 1987. This collection of writings includes the drafts and galley proofs of several books, both fiction and non-fiction, as well as the typescript of four unpublished plays.

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

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Joseph Francis Ambrose Jackson manuscripts and notes, 1906, undated (inclusive)

Extent:

0.2 linear_foot (1 box)

Abstract:

Joseph Francis Ambrose Jackson (1867-1946) was a historian, lecturer, artist, journalist, and writer active in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This collection offers insight into Jackson's intellectual activity as a theater historian. It includes a manuscript of an unpublished essay on the history of American dramatic literature, an alphabetical listing of American playwrights, a collection of portraits of 18th-century actors, and handwritten notes on the theatrical history of pre-and post-revolutionary Philadelphia.

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

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Charles Zuber papers on the history of theater in Cincinnati, circa 1937 (inclusive)

Extent:

0.5 linear feet (1 box)

Abstract:

Charles Zuber (1872-1938) was a sports writer for the Cincinnati Times-Star from 1895 to 1910 who intended to write a definitive history of early Cincinnati theater events. This collection includes a heavily annotated typescript draft of his articles on the history of theater in Cincinnati; notes from his research on the topic; and a more polished typescript, possibly a finished version designed to become a complete history.

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