Collections : [Rare Book & Manuscript Library]

Correspondence and manuscripts of Volzhenskii. The correspondence dates from the 1920's and primarily concerns Red Cross affairs in Harbin and Japan. There is an untitled manuscript by an anonymous author concerning collectivization in the Saratov area, and there are reports discussing Red Cross activities during the Civil War in the Far East and the Crimea. Also included is a photograph and an engraving.

Correspondence, photographs, and printed material by and relating to Benjamin Disraeli. There are nine letters from Disraeli to various persons including Sir Charles Adderly, First Baron Norton; the Duke of Northumberland; and Sir Henry Edwards. The letters span the dates 1849 to 1879. Also included are two letters from Disraeli's father, Isaac D'Israeli, 1766-1848, to Stephen Weston, 1805, and Edward Moxon, 1833, and a post card from William Ewart Gladstone. A letter from William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne to Sir William Owen (1837) has been removed from an extra-illustrated edition of "The Letters of Runnymede" (London, 1836) and cataloged for the collection.

A collection of letters, manuscripts, and documents of prominent actors, actresses, and theatrical managers. Many of these are single, unrelated items. The largest body of correspondence is from the American actress, Charlotte Cushman (14 letters). Another figure of major interest is William Charles Macready, partly because of Miss Cushman's relationship to him (she toured with him for several years) and also as there are several of his letters. Sir Henry Irving, Edwin Forrest and James Mowatt are each represented by a few letters. A group of 8 unsigned letters may have been written by the famous singer, actress, and manager, Eliza Vestris. One box contains manuscripts of Samuel Coit, Charlotte Cushman, Clyde Fitch, Wallace Gould, Henry von Heiseler, E.H. Sothern, and Lester Wallack. Six boxes contain Augustin Daly's check stubs and bank books for Daly's Theatre, New York, for 1872-1899. (For additional Augustin Daly business records, see description sheets for Daly's Theatre Collection, X810.128/D15& the Dramatic Library Collection shelf list).

Office files consisting of correspondence, reports, memoranda, and other documents relating to the operation of the Museum. Included are numerous biographical and topical folders on the theatrical subjects such as David Belasco, Costumes, French stage models, Helen Hayes, etc. Masks and Puppets account for 29 folders.

A collection of letters, engravings, prints, portraits, caricatures, other illustrations, and printed materials relating to Charles Dickens. Among the letters is an autograph letter by Dickens and copies of several Dickens letters to the publishers Lea & Blanchard. Many of the illustrations are portraits of Dickens while others are illustrations for his novels and stories, including numerous illustrations of scenes from dramatic versions of his works as well as some playbills for these productions.

Letters of Hoffman to his family. There are seventeen letters to his niece, Matilda Nicholas Whitman, and one letter to his half-sister, Ann Hoffman Nicholas. The correspondence deals with the literary and social life in New York and with the Hoffman family. Two of the letters have notes added by his father, Josiah Ogden Hoffman. Also, an engraved portrait of Charles Fenno Hoffman.

Correspondence, notes, and manuscripts including items that relate to most of Agnew's professional activities, are especially rich in materials that deal with the treatment of eye diseases during the latter half of the 19th century. An interesting sidelight of the collection is a group of finely detailed woodblocks and steel plates that Agnew used to illustrate his published articles.

Personal and professional papers of Stedman, including correspondence, letter books, diaries, poetry manuscripts, scrapbooks, photographs, and genealogical materials for the Stedman and Dodge families. Correspondence and manuscripts of his mother, Elizabeth Clementine Dodge Stedman Kinney (1810-1889), poet and diarist, and of his granddaughter, Laura Stedman Gould (1881-1941), author and editor. Also, editions of Stedman's LIBRARY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE including printed materials relating to the marketing; and an album of Civil War photographs by Mathew Brady, inscribed by the photographer to Laura H.W. Stedman as well as additional loose photographs by Brady.