This collection is located on-site.
This collection has no restrictions.
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.
Arranged alphabetically.
You will need to make an appointment in advance to use this collection material in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room. You can schedule an appointment once you've submitted your request through your Special Collections Research Account.
This collection is located on-site.
This collection has no restrictions.
Reproductions may be made for research purposes. The RBML maintains ownership of the physical material only. Copyright remains with the creator and his/her heirs. The responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Brander Matthews Dramatic Museum records; Box and Folder; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.
The collections stemming from and relating to the Brander Matthews Dramatic Museum are described and grouped under various collection names. The Brander Matthews Papers, 1827-1967 (MS#0854) also includes a number of separately cataloged items, such as bound volumes of correspondence with Theodore Roosevelt The Brander Matthews Dramatic Museum records, 1910-1971 (MS#0364) (this collection) are the business records of the Dramatic Museum itself. The Brander Matthews Dramatic Museum collection of documents relating to actors and theatrical managers, 1732-1995 (MS#0365) is collection of letters, manuscripts, and documents of prominent actors, actresses, and theatrical managers. It consists largely of single, unrelated items. The Brander Matthews Dramatic Museum collection of theatrical business records, 1864-1911 (MS#0363) includes box office receipts, salaries, stage properties, and expenses, for American and English theaters and two American booking agents. The Brander Matthews Dramatic Museum Ephemera, 1750-1970 (MS#0366) contains a variety of formats dealing with the theater, chiefly American and English, in all its aspects including drama, opera, dance, movies, puppets, and spectacles. The majority of the material documents the 19th century and includes prints, photographs, pamphlets, clippings, playbills, and programs. This collection is divided into seven units: portrait file, subject file, program file, playbill file, scrapbooks, posters and lantern slides. The Dramatic Museum Realia, 1700-1966 (MS#0253) contains 391 puppets, 128 masks, and 30 stage models; Art and Theatrical Machinery are also part of this collection. The Speech Recordings records, 1925-1965 (MS#1182) contain sound recordings divided into four subunits--Speech Recordings Collection, Speech Laboratory Archives, Tape Recordings Collection, American Speech Recordings Collection. The Edward B. Wisely music tape recordings, 1875-1940 (MS#1364) Tape recordings of American, English, and Irish music hall and vaudeville stars. 1875-1940. 15 items. Individually cataloged books and codex manuscripts that form the Brander Matthews Dramatic Library
The Brander Matthews Dramatic Museum Theatre and Costume print collection, 1787-1966 (Avery Library) contains primarily 19th-century published prints depicting British and French dramatic theatres, with a small representation of international theatres. Other materials from the Brander Matthews Dramatic Museum at Columbia but not in the RBML are in the Office of Art Properties (art objects); Barnard's Minor Latham Theatre (stage and theater models); Barnard Library (phonograph records - 33 1/3 rpm); and the Music Library (music phonograph records).
Other RBML collections related by provenance include the Brander Matthews papers, Columbia University. Columbia Theatre Associates records, Daly's Theatre, N.Y. Records, Dirce St. Cyr papers, James Woodman Thompson papers, Roger Wheeler theatrical memorabilia, Katherine H. Parker papers, Peter Gilsey Collection of Theatrical Admission Tokens and Medalets, Charles Dickens papers, and the Joseph Urban Papers, 1893-1998.
Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. Contact rbml@columbia.edu for more information.
When the Museum was dispersed in 1971, its collections were divided as follows: Rare Book and Manuscript Library: manuscripts, historical recordings (78 rpm discs and tapes), theatrical printed ephemera (i.e, playbills, scrapbooks, programs, etc.), engravings, paintings, portraits and photographs. Office of Art Properties: art objects such as puppets and masks. Barnard's Munar Latham Theatre: stage and theater models. Barnard Library: phonograph records (33 1/3 rpm). Music Library: music phonograph records.
Source of acquisition--Brander Matthews Dramatic Museum. Method of acquisition--Transfer; Date of acquisition--1971. Accession number--M-71.
Transferred from the museum, 1971.
Columbia University Libraries, Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Cataloged Christina Hilton Fenn 05/05/1989.
2023-04-03 Encoded finding aid created from PDF. yh/kws
When the Brander Matthews Dramatic Museum was dispersed in 1971, its collections were divided among the Rare Book and Manuscript Library, the Office of Art Properties, Barnard's Minor Latham Theatre, the Barnard Library, and the Music Library. The Rare Book and Manuscript Library received manuscripts, historical recordings (78 rpm discs and tape), theatrical printed ephemera (including playbills, scrapbooks, and programs), engravings, paintings, portraits, and photographs.
The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches for other collections at Columbia University, through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, and through ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.
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