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COLLECTION Identifier: MS Thr 606

Boston theater watercolors and printed materials

Overview

Watercolor drawings of theater buildings in Boston, Massachusetts, as well as some clippings and playbills concerning these establishments.

Dates

  • Creation: 1797-1886 and undated

Language of Materials

Collection materials are in English.

Conditions Governing Access

There are no restrictions on physical access to this material.

This collection is not housed at the Houghton Library but is shelved offsite at the Harvard Depository. Retrieval requires advance notice. Readers should check with Houghton Public Services staff to determine what material is offsite and retrieval policies and times.

Extent

.25 linear feet (1 box)

Watercolors of Boston theatres, drawn by an unknown artist. Size of drawings vary; all are matted on 28 x 36 cm. paper board. Titles taken from manuscript annotations on mats. Some include clippings and playbills pasted on versos. Many of these images are actually copies of originals and probably were to be used for a book. Some, but not all, of the text and images can be found in the drama section of Justin Winsor's History of Boston... Many of these theaters no longer exist.

Also includes black and white photomechanical prints of most of these watercolors.

Includes the following Boston theaters: Bijou Theatre, Bland's Lyceum, Boston Adelphi Theatre, Boston Museum, Boston Theatre, Continental Theatre, Globe Theatre, Hay-Maket Theatre, Hollis Street Theatre, Howard Athenaeum, Leonard's National Theatre, National Theatre, Park Theatre, Tremont Theatre, Washington Theatre, and the Windsor Theatre.

Arrangement

Arranged alphabetically by theater name.

Physical Location

Harvard Depository

Immediate Source of Acquisition

No accession number. Source unknown.

General note

This collection is shelved offsite at the Harvard Depository. See access restrictions below for additional information.

Processing Information

Processed by: Bonnie B. Salt

Title
Boston theater watercolors and printed materials, 1797-1886: Guide.
Author
Harvard Theatre Collection, Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
Description rules
dacs
Language of description
und
EAD ID
hou02099

Repository Details

Part of the Houghton Library Repository

Houghton Library is Harvard College's principal repository for rare books and manuscripts, archives, and more. Houghton Library's collections represent the scope of human experience from ancient Egypt to twenty-first century Cambridge. With strengths primarily in North American and European history, literature, and culture, collections range in media from printed books and handwritten manuscripts to maps, drawings and paintings, prints, posters, photographs, film and audio recordings, and digital media, as well as costumes, theater props, and a wide range of other objects. Houghton Library has historically focused on collecting the written record of European and Eurocentric North American culture, yet it holds a large and diverse number of primary sources valuable for research on the languages, culture and history of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.

Houghton Library’s Reading Room is free and open to all who wish to use the library’s collections.

Contact:
Harvard Yard
Harvard University
Cambridge MA 02138 USA
(617) 495-2440