London. Richardson, Osborne, et al. No date. Ca. 1750. Two copper plate engravings on single sheet of laid paper 14 ¾ x 9 ¼ depicting two architectural monuments from the age of Augustus-his Mausoleum and his Theatre Erected in Honour of Marcellus. Print signed "I. Bafire Sculp." Excellent clean condition. More
New York. Martin Beck. 1912. String-bound Theatre Program for Sarah Bernhardt’s 1912/1913 US vaudeville tour featuring scenes from her Greatest Hits, including Phaedra, Tosca, and Camille, performed in French. Cover features a colorful and wholly invented National Emblem of France. Program features numerous black and white photos of the star... More
Port Arthur, Texas. Holton Theatres. 1919. An 8 pp brochure (including covers) 3 3/4 x 6 3/4 inches advertising coming attractions for the first week of the New Year (1920) at two Holton Theatres (the Pearce and the Peoples), both located in Port Arthur, Texas. Staple bound with 1 1/2... More
New York. New York Theatre Program Corporation. 1923. "Maxine Elliot's Theatre" program for the original production of "Rain," based on W. Somerset Maugham’s short story "Miss Thompson" and starring Jeanne Eagels. Program is 48 pp in length and features considerable period advertising, including a color Djer-Kiss ad and a Murad... More
London, England. Carreras Ltd., No date. Ca. Mid- 1930s. Rectangular album, 8 ½ x 5 ¼ inches, 14 photo illustrated pages featuring actual black and white photos of film stars of the era, depicted in oval format. Only one space is devoid of a photo: the oval calling for the... More
New York. Playbill Incorporated. 1949. Alvin Theatre program for the original Broadway production (which ran for almost three years) of "Mr. Roberts," based on Thomas Heggen’s 1946 novel, directed by Joshua Logan, and starring Henry Fonda. Also in the cast of more than two dozen were Henry Hull, Eli Wallach... More
(Camden) London, England. John Cumberland. No date. Ca. 1830s - 1840s. Collection of five 18th and 19th century British dramas ("printed from the acting copy, etc.) to which is added Colman’s "The Iron Chest" dated 1796. Frontispieces to the first five dramas by either Wageman or Cruikshank. The five are..... More
London. Swan Sonnenschein & Co., 1892. Hardback volume, 6 ½ x 4 ¼ inches, xii+194 pp., spine very slightly cocked. Text initially "delivered in the form of lectures at the Royal Institution, the Society of Arts, and the Royal Institute, Hull." Frontispiece portrait of the famous 19th century French actor... More
San Francisco. A. Roman Co., 1886. Hardcover volume, 8 x 5 ½ inches, xv+406 pages decorative cloth-covered boards. Spotting to lower front cover, ex-libris plate on front paste-down, good or better condition overall; an engaging volume discussing the triumphs (few) and perils of the acting profession in mid-19th century America... More
London. Longman, Hurst, Rees & Orme. 1809. Two pages of engravings, 8 ¼ x 10 ¼ inches, depicting state-of-the-art mechanisms for producing scenic effects in theatres of the late 18th century. One sheet depicts the "wheel and chariot" device for moving scenic flats from the wings to the stage proper;... More
New York. Samuel French. No date. Ca. 1890. Play script in paper wraps, 7 ½ x 4 ½ inches, 56 pp. Title page states "a tragedy in five acts with Stage Directions, Cast of Characters, Costumes, &c. as played at the Park Theatre by Mr. and Mrs. Chas. Kean. Taken... More
Boston. F. Gleason. 04-03- 1852. Single issue of the illustrated newspaper 15 1/4 x 11 1/2 inches; pp. 211-224 (16 pp); chipping to spine and light toning along bottom edge, short tear on bottom edge. Newspaper features a black and white full page wood engraving of actor G. V. Brooke... More
Cairo, Illinois. Commercial Distributing Company. 1903. Black and white plates, 128 pp., 6 ½ x 4 inches, decorative cloth-covered boards. Discoloration or toning to 3 or 4 pages. Light soiled spot to rear cover, good condition overall. The book contains 13 short "sketches" originally published in the Chicago Tribune and... More
Philadelphia. Gebbie & Co., 1887. Four photogravure images of famous actors: Junius Brutus Booth as Richard III; Edmund Kean as Richard III; Henry Irving as Hamlet; Joseph Jefferson as Rip Van Winkle. Image size 10 1/4 x 6 3/4 on sheet size 17 x 11 1/2 inches. Light foxing in... More
London. Illustrated London News. 02-10- 1894. Cover illustration, size 16 x 11 inches, of Sarah Bernhardt at a moment of high drama in the play "Izeyl," written especially for her by Armand Sylvestre and Eugene Morand. "Izeyl" was a major success and was part of Bernhardt's 1896 tour of the... More
Lane, Theodore (drawn and engraved by).
London. C. S. Arnold. 1825. Aquatint with hand-colored detail, 9 1/2 x 6 inches depicting, in comic form, the life of an actor as he progresses from "Poverty" at the bottom of the print to "Mediocrity" at the center, finally climbing the ladder through... More
Boston. M. M. Ballou. 09-22- 1855. Weekly newspaper, September 22, 1855, pp 177 to 192. Front page features and extensive illustrated article devoted to the French Actress Mademoiselle Rachel, with the illustration depicting her in the role of Racine’s "Phèdre." Small discolored spot in the image, overall good clean condition... More
Illustrated program for the touring production of the Broadway hit Anna Lucasta which, with an African-American cast, ran for over 950 performances on Broadway between August 1944 and November 1946. The program is 12 x 9 inches and contains 16 (unnumbered) pages plus a laid-in sheet with details and photos... More
Clay, John Cecil (illus).
Indianapolis, Indiana. Bobbs-Merrill Company. 1904. Heavy cardboard portfolio 18 ¾ x 14 ½ inches with slightly smaller illustrated paste-down sheet featuring color image of Mrs. Leslie Carter and text identifying publisher and the subjects of the 6 color portraits within. Portfolio is battered, string clasp torn... More
New York. The Theatre Magazine Company. 1909. Twelve issues of the monthly magazine bound as a single (heavy) volume, 13 ¾ by 10 ½ inches. While tightly bound, the volume lacks front and back covers and spine. In addition, unfortunately, the magazines have been bound without the color front covers... More
06- 1886. Half page wood-engraving, image 5 3/4 x 8 1/2 inches on full sheet size 15 3/4 x 11 inches, from Scientific American, Architects and Builders Edition of June 1886. Relating text article in upper and lower margins. Very good condition with a few foxed spots in lower margin... More
Chicago. Field Museum of Natural History. 1923. Booklet, black and white photo illustrations (several fold-out), 59pp, 7 3/4 x 5 1/2 inches, paper wraps (softbound). Covers worn with some small chips to edges; small bookshop label on verso of frontispiece, some short edge tears, small dampstain to upper right corner... More
New York. Illustrated American Publishing Co., 04-11- 1891. Illustrated magazine, 13 x 9 ¾ inches, pp. 361 to 416 plus several pages of advertising. Magazine features numerous articles of contemporary interest. Two with enduring interest are the "Life Work In Behalf of the Drama," a profile of actor Lawrence Barrett... More
New York. Meyer Brothers & Company. 11- 1901. Single issue of The Theatre magazine, 12 ½ x 9 ¼ inches. 28 pp. plus color covers. Articles featuring current New York theatricals and leading players of the day are a hallmark of the magazine (see below). Text block loose in covers... More
Mullock, Dorothy (illus).
London. Cecil Palmer. No date. Ca. 1928. Play script in paper wraps 9.5 x 7.5 inches; 22 pp. plus one page of advertising. Four silkscreen prints by Welsh-born artist Dorothy Mullock. Light foxing to a number of pages, heaviest on title page and the page preceeding, light... More
