In view of the fact that last Sunday was the two hundredth anniversary of the first performance of "The Beggar's Opera the collection of documents on this subject which was given to the Library by the late E. L. Oay '97, is being shown in the Treasure Room this week.

As an undergraduate, Gay began buying editions of the "Beggar's Opera", and other works of John Gay. His collection of this author's works was nearly complete. Since his death, the Library has purchased three early editions with peculiarities which had escaped his notice, besides buying later editions as they appear.

The Library collection of John Gay now ranks with the Harvard collections of the writings of Coleridge, Crowne, Dodgson, Donne, Dryden, Herbert, Keats, Milton, Persius, Prynne, Pope, and Walton in approaching a satisfactory state.

John Gay's autograph appears on the fly leaf of Dryden's 'Annus Mirabilis' of 1667, and of a 1662 Elzovir edition of Pierre Charron's 'De La-Sagesse.' It is also signed to the manuscript assignment to Jacob Tonson and John Watts of his rights as author of the 'Fables' and the 'Beggar's Opera,' dated February 6, 1727. The poet's signature is not easy to find, but infinitely scarcer is that of 'L. Bolton' the Duchess of Bolton who was once Lavinia Fenton, the creator of the part of Polly in the 'Begger's Opera,' and in no small measure responsible for its amazing first run of 1728.

The story of that spring season at the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre is far better known than that of any other successful play of equally long ago, because the theatre cash book for this year has been preserved. Mr. Gay secured it, and it is now one of the notable treasures in the Harvard Library, where the Theatre Collection and the English Literature section are striving to make good their respective claims to its custody. A pack of cards, on each of which is one of the tunes or a verse from one of the songs of the opera, is another otherwise unknown witness to the popularity of the play, as well as being an important addition to the collection of playing cards given by J. E. Whitney, '89.