Among the many rare and interesting collections contained in the Widener Library is one of theatrical memorabilia, which is not only the rarest but the largest of its king in the world.

The Theatre Collection includes books, pamphlets, original drawings, photographs, prints, playbills, and relics; from the earliest seventeenth century playbill to the latest Broadway program, the files of this collection are as nearly complete as the efforts of lifelong collectors and specialists have been able to make them.

This department at Harvard was born a quarter-century ago, when in 1903 Mr. John Drew made the gift to the University of the Robert W. Lowe collection, cosisting of about 840 books and pamphlets dealing particularly with the history of the British Stage Subsequent donations of eminent private collectors, together with the continuous inflow of valuable individual contributions, the most noteworthy being that of Robert Gould Shaw '69, have given Harvard its unrivalled prominence. The present size of the collection may be realized when it is considered that six years ago the custodian of the collection started a catalogue of the prints alone, and the task is not yet finished.

The playbills, of which there were over 350,000 in 1917, furnish an authentic history of the stage from the time of Shakespeare. The earliest playbill is that of a puppet show in Bartholomew Fair about 1682, believed to be the first playbill printed in English. In the first of the Drury Lane playbills the dramatis presonae, the names of the actors, and the author did not appear; these features were printed for the first time on the bills of 1714. It is interesting to note that many of the stars of this period resolved upon several alleged farewell performances before actually retiring from the stage.

Includes Ford's Theatre Bill

The original playbill of the performance at Ford's Theatre for the evening on which Lincoln was assassinated April 14, 1865, is in the collection. It was not learned until late in the morning of that day that the play was to be honored by the presence of the President. Mr. Polkinhoru, manager of the theatre, immdiately asked the printer to alter the bill and to add a patriotic verse. This was impossible, but some playbills were changed to suit the manager's demand, and of these several reprints have been made. All the steps in the changing of this bill are shown in the collection. Two copies of the playbills distributed in the theatre the night of the assassination are in the collection, and are exceedingly rare.