Albin Schram collection of letters from French theatrical figures
General Note
Correspondents include French theatrical actors, dancers, singers, and musicians such as Jean Louis Barrault, Réjane, Jean (Eugène) Coralli, and Jacques Offenbach.
Dates
- Creation: circa 1841-1945
Creator
- Offenbach, Jacques, 1819-1880 (Person)
Language of Materials
French
Restrictions on Access
Collection is open for research.
Extent
.05 linear feet (9 folders)Biographical / Historical
Albin Schram (1926–2005) was one of the most prolific collectors of autograph letters by shapers of world history. He was born in Prague to Austrian parents. He studied law at Vienna University and worked in Vienna, Germany and Switzerland. After the annexation of Czechoslovakia, he was conscripted into the Wehrmacht in 1943.
Schram was a voracious collector of letters, owning manuscripts written by literary, historical, musical, political and scientific figures across 500 years. He was a wealthy Austrian banker who pursued his hobby from his mansion in Lausanne, Switzerland. The letters were kept in a filing cabinet adjoining the laundry in the basement of the house.
He is said to have collected some 1000 letters, written by royals, scientists, writers and philosophers. They date between the 15th and 20th Centuries, and represent a broad range of countries and languages.
Arrangement
Unprocessed.
Processing Information
Minimal description derived from existing records and converted to online finding aid, Betts Coup, 2020.
Processing Information
See curatorial file for contents list.
Creator
- Offenbach, Jacques, 1819-1880 (Person)
- Title
- Schram, Albin, 1926-2005. Albin Schram collection of letters from French theatrical figures, circa 1841-1945 (2007MT-32): Guide
- Status
- completed
- Author
- Houghton Library, Harvard University.
- Date
- 2018 November 16
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- hou04345
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.
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