Rare Books
The Devonshire-house theatricals
Image not available
You might also be interested in
Image not available
Devonshire
Visual Materials
The Theodore G. and Eleanor S. Congdon Maritime Collection contains 190 items that pertain to commercial, naval, and recreational maritime-related activities primarily in the United States and the United Kingdom. Materials date from approximately 1700 to 1990, with the bulk dating from 1800-1935. The collection consists of prints (engravings, etchings, aquatints, and lithographs), photographs, manuscript materials, publications, portfolios and bound volumes, and a single painting. The items deal primarily with whaling, yachting, and naval battles, and the vessels and people involved in these activities. The collection contains materials as diverse as early 18th-century engravings of whaling expeditions, letters from sailors working on whaling vessels during the 19th century, photographs of yachts competing for the America's Cup in the early 20th century, 19th-century lithographs of naval ships engaged in battle, and letters of marque and safe conduct signed by presidents of the United States, from George Washington to James Buchanan. Includes some letters and bills of sale of William Hathaway Jr. of New Bedford, Massachusetts. These items offer a wealth of information regarding the vessels that operated throughout three centuries, as well as the fishermen, sailors, and sportsmen who manned them.
priTEC 0041
Image not available
Duke of Devonshire Library
Manuscripts
The collection consists of the personal and business papers of Henry E. Huntington. There is material related to the Huntington, Holladay, and Metcalf families, but most of the collection deals with Huntington's business interests in Southern California, railways, real estate, and industry. Series 2. Henry E. Huntington and his family includes biographical information, newspaper clippings, photographs, scrapbooks, ephemera, and physical objects. There is material related to the Huntington Land and Improvement Company, Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, and the Pacific Electric Railway Company as well as other businesses in Los Angeles County, Orange County, and San Gabriel Valley, California. This material includes business records, account books, annual reports, correspondence, maps, tracts, balance sheets, and others. There is also material related to the founding of the Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens including auction catalogs, invoices, receipts, and bills for art and rare books, and information regarding a lawsuit about Huntington's estate tax after his death, and the passing of Proposition 15, in 1930, which exempted The Huntington from paying California property tax. There is also material related to Collis P. Huntington and his business interests and Arabella Huntington. Also included are the blueprints for the Huntington's San Marino residence. Series 3. Correspondence contains over 22,000 pieces of personal and business correspondence spanning 1794 to 1970. The physical objects include Henry E. Huntington's lunch box, razors, traveling trunk, and other items.
mssHEH
Image not available
Theatrical anecdotes
Rare Books
Theatrical anecdotes are almost as old as the theatre itself. For much of its 2,500-year history, the stage has teemed with real characters and real stories as fascinating as any created by a dramatist. Ranging from the age of Aristophanes to the time of Tennessee Williams, this book is a motherlode of tales about backstage rivalries, thespian eccentricity, the parsimony of producers, and indignities suffered on tour. Here we encounter Judith Anderson's unique method of working herself into a frenzy for her first entrance in Medea: deliberately provoking her co-star and arch-enemy Florence Reed. We get Oscar Wilde's own assessment of the first performance of Lady Windermere's Fan ("The play was a great success, but the audience was a total failure"). And we learn of Shakespeare's wild oats and why Moliere's grave had to be dug an extra four feet deep. David Garrick, Sarah Bernhardt, Noel Coward, Donald Wolfit, Laurence Olivier, John Gielgud, Helen Hays, and a cast of hundreds are present in these pages--along with directors, producers, critics, prompters, prop men, designers, and ghosts. Although the book brims with the glittering and the glamourous, Peter Hay does not neglect those legions of near-anonymous players and professionals without whom the stars would not be stars and the theatre could not exist. The ideal gift book for anyone who has ever been stage-struck, Theatrical Anecdotes is both richly entertaining and wonderfully edifying. Organized by topic, it contains hundreds of tips for all theatrical professionals, directs scholars and students to a wealth of historical sources, and treats lovers of theatre to a feast of backstage secrets that will permanently enrich their appreciation of the art.
486821