A Few Historical Documents

Playbill for a special meeting of the Old Cambridge Shakespeare Association held on January 30, 1962 at Boylston Hall, Harvard University, hosted by Frederick C. Packard, Jr., professor of public speaking. The program consisted of recordings of notable Shakespearean actors, with a display provided by the Harvard Theatre Collection.

Playbill for the centenary banquet of the Old Cambridge Shakespeare Association, held at the Harvard Faculty Club on November 14,1980

Proclamation by the Mayor of Cambridge, Massachusetts, on the occasion of the centenary of the Old Cambridge Shakespeare Association, dated November 14,1980.

Bill Head for playbills circulated to members for meetings of the Old Cambridge Shakespeare Association, designed by Daniel Berkeley Updike's Merrymount Press, first used in 1927 and still in use. The original printing was for 1,500 copies, and below the head the details of each meeting were then printed by Mimeograph. (By 1930 this original supply was exhausted and thereafter the bill heads were reproduced by offset lithography, and the quality thereafter has degraded further and further. This rendering was made from the original printing of the playbill.) High resolution.

Playbill for a meeting of the association in December 1949, reproduced by Mimeograph (wax stencil ink duplication).

Playbill for a meeting of the association in April 1925, reproduced by Hectograph (gelatine-spirit duplication). Page 1. Page 2. Page 3.

Printed list of members and officers of the association for 1914. Page 1. Page 2. Page 3. Page 4.

Printed list of members and officers of the association for 1919. Page 1. Page 2. Page 3. Page 4.

Printed list of members and officers of the association for 1926. Page 1. Page 2. Page 3.

Typewritten and handwritten list of members of the association during the first five years of its existence, between 1880 and 1884, compiled by Mrs. Jacob G. Cilley. There were 126 members during that period. Page 1. Page 2. Page 3. Page 4.

Advertisement for the edition of Shakespeare's works edited by Dr. William James Rolfe, who was an active member of the association. The first Rolph edition was published by Harper and Brothers, beginning in 1871, completed about 1897. The edition was intended for school use, and therefore was somewhat expurgated and contained extensive explanatory notes. These notes often referred to other volumes in the series. A later edition, printed in a smaller size, with self-contained notes, was published by the American Book Co. beginning in 1898 and completed in forty volumes around 1905. This advertisement for the complete series was printed while the revised series was still in progress. This later series became the official text of the Old Cambridge Shakespeare Association, and was referred to as the “red Rolph,” to distinguish it from the earlier series. Page 1. Page 2. Page 3. Page 4. Page 5. Page 6.

Some Prominent Past Members

James Barr Ames (1846–1910). Dean of the Harvard Law School. (President of the Old Cambridge Shakespeare Association, 1900–1910.)
James Barr Ames (b. 1911). Director of the Boston Athenaeum and the Massachusetts Historical Society. (President of the Old Cambridge Shakespeare Association, 1968–1975.)
George Pierce Baker (1866–1935). Professor of English, Harvard University. Founder of the “47 Workshop” at Harvard and the Yale School of Drama. Teacher of many playwrights.
Charles Francis Dorr Belden (1870–1931). Director of the Boston Public Library. Librarian of the Massachusetts State Library.
George Henry Browne (1857–1931). Founder of Browne and Nichols School.
Thomas Wentworth Higginson (1823–1911). Abolitionist and Civil War colonel.
Lois Lilley Howe (1864–1964). Architect.
Henry Oscar Houghton (1823–1895). Founder of Houghton-Mifflin Publishing Co. and Riverside Press. Mayor of Cambridge.
William Coolidge Lane (1859–1931). Librarian of the Boston Athenaeum and Harvard University. President of the American Library Association. (President of the Old Cambridge Shakespeare Association, 1910–1931.)
Milton Edward Lord (1898–). Director of the Boston Public Library. President of the American Library Association. (President of the Old Cambridge Shakespeare Assocation, 1955–1968.)
Frederick Clifton Packard, Jr. (1899–). Professor of Public Speaking at Harvard University. Founder of Harvard Vocarium Records. Preserved many historic recordings of actors and poets.
William James Rolfe (1827–1910). Editor of Shakespeare's plays. President of Emerson College of Oratory. (President of the Old Cambridge Shakespeare Association, 1895–1900.)
Franklin Haven Sargent (1856–1923). President of the Academy of Dramatic Arts, New York.
William Learoyd Sperry (1882–1954). Dean of the Harvard Divinity School.
Justin Winsor (1831–1897). Superintendent of the Boston Public Library. Librarian of Harvard University. Founder and president of the American Library Association. Biographer of David Garrick. Teacher of George Pierce Baker.

Sarah Chapman Thorpe Bull. Widow of the violinist Ole Bull.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Dana. Grandson of the poet.
John Holmes. Brother of Oliver Wendell Holmes.
Samuel Longfellow. Brother of the poet.
James Mills Peirce. Professor of Mathematics and Astronomy, Harvard University. Son of mathematician Benjamin Peirce.
Elizabeth Wadsworth Sparks Pickering. Daughter of Jared Sparks, President of Harvard University. Wife of Edward Charles Pickering, Director of the Harvard Observatory.
Nuruan Stuart Thayer Richards. Widow of Nobel Prize-winning chemist Theodore William Richards.
Charles Theodore Russell. Mayor of Cambridge. Father of William Eustis Russell, Governor of Massachusetts.
Annie Allegra Longfellow Thorp. Daughter of the poet.

(Additions to this list are solicited from the membership.)

Publications

Three publications have been issued by the Old Cambridge Shakespeare Association.

The first, The Old Cambridge Shakespeare Association, 1880–1940, was intended for publication on the fiftieth anniversary of the organization in 1930, but publication was delayed until 1940, the sixtieth year. Cover. Title page.

The second, Miss Howe's Reminiscences of the Early Years of the Old Cambridge Shakespeare Association, written by Lois Lilley Howe in 1930–1931, was published in 1957. Cover. Title page.

The third, Shakespeare in Cambridge, The First Hundred Years of the Old Cambridge Shakespeare Association, 1880–1980, was published in 1980. This centenary volume incorporates the two earlier publications along with new material. Copies of this history can be obtained from the Curator of the Harvard Theatre Collection. Cover. Title page.

In February 2006 the Association instituted an experiment in reading from a new edition of The Life of Henry V, prepared from the First Folio text, and adapted specially for the purpose of group reading. This edition was prepared by Fredric Woodbridge Wilson, Curator of the Harvard Theatre Collection. This and subsequent volumes are freely available on the Association's and the Editor's web sites. It is expected that further plays will be added to form a series. Edition of Shakespeare's Plays Prepared for Dramatic Reading.

Archive

The archive of the Old Cambridge Shakespeare Association forms a part of the Harvard Theatre Collection. It includes the records of the organization from the date of its founding until around 1975. The archive contains copies of playbills of the association's meetings, financial records, correspondence, membership records, a few photographs of early members, and some miscellaneous Shakespeare programs, clippings, and pamphlets contributed to the organization by its members. For further information, please contact Fredric Woodbridge Wilson, Curator of the Harvard Theatre Collection. The Harvard Theatre Collection is located in the Nathan Marsh Pusey Library, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138.

Playbills and most other documents are scanned in gray scale at 100% of original size at 150 d.p.i. resolution. Some documents are scanned in color and at higher resolution.

If documents appear too small to read, please adjust the settings on your Internet browser. In Microsoft Internet Explorer, select the Tools menu, then Internet Options, then the Advanced tab, and under the Multimedia section remove the check-mark on the first item, Enable Automatic Image Resizing. When you close the menu the scanned documents should appear in a size that is easy to read.

cambridgeshakespeare.org

Revised January 1, 2007