NYC Theater Scrapbook.
Early 20th century New York Theatre Scrapbook
[Goldsmith, Myra B]. Theatre Record and Scrap Book. [New York]: Printed for Charles A. Burkhardt, 1889.
8vo.; yellow cloth stamped in gilt; manuscript notes in ink and pencil and approximately 80 examples of mounted playbills; ca. 56 ticket stubs, 10 carriage checks, a small printed advertisement piece, and various pictorial clippings from playbills or magazines.
The faithful New York theatre record of young Myra Goldsmith, the daughter of Abraham Goldsmith (1850-1938), influential Jewish-American lawyer and bibliophile. The personal library of Abraham Goldsmith sold at auction at Anderson Galleries in New York for $9,000 in 1935. His daughter’s scrapbook records her frequent attendance at the theatre, either with her father, her female friends, or relatives. The book, arranged sequentially, covers the period from October 8, 1898, when Myra was, as she notes, aged 13, to March 1, 1902. Each two-page spread provides space to list the title of the play, the theatre, date, accompanying guests, seats, impressions of the play, criticism of the performance and the individual actors, and a space for affixing theatre programs or playbills. The portions of each playbill listing the name of the theatre, the title of the play, cast, and play synopsis have been cut out and are pasted down on the rectos and the manuscript comments and accompanying ephemera are affixed on the versos of the preceding leaves. Loosely inserted into the book are four additional theatre programs including a performance of “Giselle” by the Imperial Russian Ballet starring Anna Pavlova. Goldsmith filled the scrapbook completely with the details of 80 performances, and sometimes provided reviews.
Many of the performances Goldsmith attended were aimed at a female audience, such as “A Runaway Girl,” “Because She Loved Him So,” “The Liberty Belles,” and “Frocks and Frills.” In addition, many productions featured female-led companies (“The Maneuvers of Jane,” “The Little Minister,”) or were written by female playwrights (“Way Down East,” “The Pride of Jennico”).
(#13318)
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