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Citation Johnson, Catherine J. 1991. The stage art of Theodore Komisarjevsky: An exhibition in the Harvard Theatre Collection. Harvard Library Bulletin 1 (4), Winter 1990-1991: 6-41.

Citable link http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:42661228

Terms of Use This article was downloaded from Harvard University’s DASH repository, and is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Other Posted Material, as set forth at http:// nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of- use#LAA HARVARD LIBRARY BULLETIN

3 Among Harvard's Libraries The Revolution in the College Library KENNETH E. CARPENTER

6 The Stage Art of Theodore Komisarjevsky: An Exhibition in the Harvard Theatre Collection CATHERINE J.JOHNSON

42 Shakespeare's Italians

HARRY LEVIN

51 American Library Resources for Latin American Studies

WILLIAM VERNON JACKSON

68 Harvard Library Bibliography: Supplement

NI \\' SI H 11 S \\ IN I I H l 1J lJ 11 - I 1J tJ I \ 0 I ll \l I I N t · \1 BI I{ l

Publishedby Haroard UniversityLibrary, Cambridge,Massachusetts

HARVARD LIBRARY BULLETIN

3 Among Harvard's Libraries The Revolution in the College Library

KENNETH E. CARPENTER

6 The Stage Art of Theodore Komisarjevsky: An Exhibition in the Harvard Theatre Collection

CATHERINE J. JOHNSON

42 Shakespeare's Italians

HARRY LEVIN

51 American Library Resources for Latin American Studies

WILLIAM VERNON JACKSON

68 Harvard Library Bibliography: Supplement

NEW SERIES WINTER 1990-1991 VOLUME I NUMBER 4

Published by Harvard University Library, Cambridge, Massachusetts HARVARD LIBRARY BULLETIN

NEW SERIES, VOLUME I, NUMBER 4, WINTER 1990-1991 PUBLISHED FEBRUARY 1991 ISSN 0017-8136

EDITOR Kenneth E. Carpenter

MANAGING EDITOR The HARVARDLIBRARY BULLETIN is published quarterly by the Daniel J. Griffin Harvard University Library. Annual subscription $35; single issue $9. All business and ADVISORY BOARD editorial correspondence should be addressed to HARVARD Bernard Bailyn LIBRARY BULLETIN, Harvard Adams UniversityProfessor University Library, 25 Mt. Auburn Street, Room 206, Cam­ Charles Berlin bridge, Massachusetts 02138. Lee M. FriedmanBibliographer in Judaica in the Harvard CollegeLibrary Publication of the BULLETINis William H. Bond made possible by a bequest from Professorof Bibliography,Emeritus George L. Lincoln, '95, and by a fund established in memory of Alfred D. Chandler, Jr. William A. Jackson. Isidor Straus Professoref Business History, Emeritus The paper used in this publica­ Patrick D. Hanan tion meets the minimum re­ Professoref Chinese Literature quirements of the American National Standard for Informa­ Albert M. Henrichs tion Sciences-Permanence of Eliot Prefessorof Greek Literature Paper for Printed Library Ma­ terials, ANSI 239.48-1984. oo Andrew L. Kaufman

Copyright 1991 by the President Charles Stebbins FairchildProfessor ef Law and Fellows of Harvard College. Jeanne T. Newlin Second-class postage paid at Boston, Massachusetts 02109. Curator ef the Theatre Collectionin the Harvard CollegeLibrary Hugh M. Olmsted A NEW SERIES Head ef the Slavic Department in the Harvard CollegeLibrary This issue of the HARVARD LIBRARYBULLETIN is the second Simon M. Schama of a New Series, beginning with Professoref History Spring 1990. The final issue of the old series was Volume Helen Vendler XXXVI, Number 4 (Fall 1988). William R. KenanJr. Professorof English and American Language and Literature No issues dated 1989 were published. Arthur E. Vershbow Member of the Overseers'Committee to Visit the Harvard UniversityLibrary Richard J. Wolfe Curatorof Rare Books and Manuscripts,Francis A. Countway Library,Joseph Garland Librarian 3

Among Harvard's Libraries

The Revolution in the College Library

ore than a new breeze is stirring in one of the most powerless? Not that he M Widener. A revolution is taking place. stayed in that position very long. From 1958 In the College Library a new culture is being to 1970, De Gennaro worked as Reference created, major organizational shake-ups are Librarian, Assistant Director, Associate Uni­ occurring, and everything about the library versity Librarian for Systems Development, is being examined anew. The leader of the and Senior Associate University Librarian. revolution is Richard De Gennaro, since 1 Everyone who uses HOLLIS benefits June the Roy E. Larsen Librarian of Harvard directly from his work of that period, since College. De Gennaro was primarily responsible for When A. Michael Spence, then Dean of what is now called the OW (Old Widener) the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, announced database. It consists of the records that were De Gennaro's appointment on 4 April, the produced when major portions of the Wid­ senior Harvard librarians who were gathered ener shelflists were converted to machine­ for the announcement burst into spontane­ readable form, a project that was among the ous applause. Today, the applause would not earliest in libraries to employ the computer. be so general: revolutions are hard on every­ Along with returning to the scene of past one. It is not pleasant to be asked---or major accomplishments, De Gennaro has required-to cast aside cherished practices the satisfaction of doing so after a lifetime of and modes of thought; neither is it easy to preparation for a truly difficult managerial live with the sense of insecurity revolutions job. From Harvard, he had gone in 1970 to foster. The number of people putting in the University of Pennsylvania as Director of long, long hours is large. Unease, tension, Libraries and Adjunct Professor of English, anxiety are widespread, even among those and then in 1987 he had become Director of many who are also elated with the transfor­ the New York Public Library. In those posi­ mation that is underway. Such is the reality tions he learned from doing, and he has also of the Harvard College Library today. Or, so learned from study, as a participant in the it seems to this writer, who watches the Harvard Business School's Advanced Man­ College Library from the sideline of the agement Program. University Library Director's Office. De Gennaro thus comes to his latest posi­ The leader of the revolution would not tion feeling that he has the managerial skill find it possible to say, "This hurts me more to accomplish his goals. And most impor­ than it hurts you." Quite the contrary. He tant of all, he believes that he knows what loves the job and believes completely in the should be done. Senior officials elsewhere in necessity of the changes he is leading. But, the library and, it seems, in the College and meet with him at a quarter to six on a the University's Central Administration also Thursday afternoon, and some of the spring believe that he knows what should be done. has gone out of him. This is a man who day De Gennaro thus brings to the job a level of after day, almost certainly until late at night, support and a combination of personal and is giving himself fully to the task he has intellectual qualities that make him the ideal undertaken. person to lead the revolution. Part of what makes the hard work so But a revolution to what end? gratifying to him is that he has returned to Because a revolution in a library is like a Harvard, and who would not find it pleasing revolution in a country-you can change the to return to head an organization in which leadership, but that does not alter the coun­ some thirty years earlier he had begun as try or institution-the end point is not fully 4 HARVARD LIBRARY BULLETIN

obvious from the first hundred days. De heightened efficiency in processing materi­ Gennaro has, however, made it clear that als, and a rational preservation operation. change is upon the Harvard College Library. But they fostered others as well. All heard Rhetoric there is, but not rhetoric alone. On the message that the old ways would no Tuesday, 4 September, the day after Labor longer continue. De Gennaro got across the Day, De Gennaro announced that an Area idea that there would be in the College Studies Department had been formed, Library a new institutional culture. What he headed by Charles Berlin, Lee M. Friedman wants is unmistakably clear, and he is get­ Bibliographer in Judaica. In addition to ting it. In the halls, on the paths of the Yard, Judaica, the Department consists of the one catches phrases about work. Work is Middle Eastern and Slavic divisions. something that those employed in the librar­ On the same day of 4 September, a new ies are expected to do more of. series of governance meetings was instituted While De Gennaro is encouraging a cul­ and one recent, albeit venerable institution, ture of work, he is also trying to foster a the Associates meeting, was abolished. pragmatic approach and to discourage per­ Along with a restructured Department fectionism. Cataloging backlogs are no Heads Group, De Gennaro instituted longer acceptable, and neither is the lament bi-weekly Tuesday Management Meetings, that they exist because of lack of staff. Pro­ with attendance by invitation and "limited to cess the books, or don't buy them. That's those who are directly involved in the mat­ the message of the new culture, and it has ters being considered." A month later De certainly been conveyed by means other Gennaro announced that the Harvard Col­ than general exhortation. An effort to end lege Library would undertake a strategic backlogs was one apparent reason behind planning process, and on 30 October, he creating an Area Studies Department. RichardDe Gennaro announced his intention to restructure the As important as is a new culture and more two major departments in Widener, Collec­ efficient, rational practices, De Gennaro tion Development and Cataloging and Pro­ aims at still more. Here are some of the cessing. In their place will be three depart­ remarks he made at the start of the retreat ments: American and English Studies, that began the Strategic Planning Process: European Studies, and Cataloging Services. "The Dean has set some new ground rules In the future the same individuals will have for the Library. The Faculty of Arts and Sci­ responsibility for acquiring materials as well ences (FAS) can no longer continue to as processing them. increase the Harvard College Library budget On 15 November, the College Library by ten to twenty percent a year, as it has for Preservation Department was formally inau­ the past ten years. There is evidence that gurated, a step presaged on 2 August. On these increases may have contributed to the that date, De Gennaro announced that Car­ Library's financial and deferred-work defi­ olyn Clark Morrow's appointment as cits by relieving us of the necessity of facing Malloy-Rabinowitz Preservation Librarian in up to our problems and setting priorities. the University Library would be joint with We can exact no more exceptional budget the College Library. The new department, increases without clear goals derived from a with a staff of thirty-four people, was cre­ rational planning process. There will be no ated by bringing together people from vari­ approval of new library space in the Yard ous parts of Widener. As easy as thai: may unless it is an essential component of a larger sound, it violated one of the unwritten ele­ master plan for dealing with the Library's ments of the traditional Widener ethos: You long-term space and programmatic needs. may add on, but you do not take away. Finally, the planning process is essential if we In the meantime the rumor circulated that are to set goals for the FAS [fund-raising] the budget for acquisitions had been cut. campaign. And it has been, officially one-time, in order "The College Library has been living off that the Librarian of Harvard College could the Metcalf Plan for the last fifty years, but have some unallocated funds directly at his this plan no longer serves us effectively. We disposal. That, too, was a shock, for the tra­ need a new master plan, a new strategy that dition has been that book funds are the top will be appropriate to our time as Metcalfs priority in the budget. was to his. The changes, of course, furthered a num­ "Keyes Metcalf came to Harvard as ber of goals: improved decision making, Director and Librarian of Harvard College in Among Harvard's Libraries 5

1937. Widener was overused and filled to placed on helping users. The library still has capacity; Metcalf faced a crisis. His concept millions of books on the shelves in Harvard was to relieve the user, staff, and stack spaces Yard, but millions are also stored elsewhere. in Widener by building three new libraries: Although some materials are collected as one for special collections (Houghton), one part of a cooperative with other for undergraduates (Lamont), and one for of the nation's libraries-to insure that some lesser-used materials (New England Deposit kinds of little used research sources continue Library). All three were completed by 1950. to be available-De Gennaro's library "The transfer of collections from Widener emphasizes the most heavily used materials to Fine Arts, Music, Pusey, etc. continued and has multiple copies of many titles. No the Metcalf strategy. Building new space in matter if coverage is not as great; copies can the Yard and transferring materials to other be transmitted electronically, and delivered libraries made it possible to cope with the in whatever form is desired to a faculty growth of the collections while continuing member's office. And the user can find out to make them available on open, browsable what is available, because HOLLIS serves as shelves. These steps extended the life of the a gateway to bibliographical databases else­ open-stack library for fifty years. where. (Of course, it also contains records "In the 1990s our space is again filled, and for all of Harvard's books.) Along with pro­ we need to develop a new grand strategy viding access by author, title, date, key­ appropriate to our time and its changed con­ word, call number, perhaps even to tables of ditions." contents, HOLLIS also serves as a gateway That statement can almost give the to the map catalog, to the prints in the impression that money is fuelling De Genn­ Fogg, the dramatic portraits in the Theatre aro' s revolution, but this observer sees in it Collection, the Visual Collections of the Fine much more. De Gennaro has a vision of a Arts Library, the photographs at the Busi­ new library, one that he would like to bring ness School, etc., etc. about even if the Faculty of Arts and Sci­ Something like this is the vision of the ences were to increase the library budget by future library that De Gennaro wishes to ten to twenty percent. create. Although new technology makes it We seem to be at a crossroads. Follow one possible and perhaps inevitable, De Gennaro path, and the only course is to build a new does not want to wait to see if it evolves; it library in or near Harvard Yard-and not probably cannot. And he seems to feel it's just a new library but one that consists of not even possible to proceed slowly, given stacks in which will be shelved millions of the mental transformation that is required. books. It's an attractive path, indeed, one Moreover, if you know where you want to that many of us wish it were possible to go, that's where you want to put your pursue wholeheartedly. financial resources. If you cannot go down Follow another path, and Harvard either both paths, embrace the one that seems the revamps Widener or builds a new library. In inevitable future-and then put every bit of it is a great reference collection, instead of energy and intelligence into making that the mediocre one that is limited by the space future as attractive as possible. Or, to switch in the reading room. It has in it CD-ROMs metaphors, don't shiveringly wade into the and computer terminals and a staff that can water; dive in, and then enjoy the surfacing assist users both to find books and to learn their way with the new technologies. And in this newly created library, more emphasis is Kenneth E. Carpenter 6

Theodore Komisarjevsky (Lon­ don, ca. 1934). Photographby Maurice Beck and Helen Mac­ Gregor. 7

The Stage Art of Theodore Komisarjevsky: An Exhibition in the Harvard Theatre Collection

Catherine]. Johnson

AN INTRODUCTION BY ERNESTINE STODELLE KOMISARJEVSKY CHAMBERLAIN

t is my sincere hope that the Harvard Theatre Collection's exhibition of I my late husband's contributions to the twentieth-century theatre in the form of stage designs, scripts, photographs, and various background mate­ rial for the plays and the operas he produced in , France, Italy, England, and the will provide the viewer with a vivid sense of the man as a gifted artist whose vision of an ideal "synthetic Theatre" was achieved through his own creative energies. But beyond the unusual fact that Theodore Komisarjevsky was personally CATHERINEJOHNSON is Assis­ capable of fulfilling the multiple needs of his stage conceptions, there is an indis­ tant Curator in the Theatre putable logic in his vision of a "synthetic theatre." The word "synthetic" is used Collection, Harvard Uni­ versity. in the Hegelian sense whereby all the elements of a production-visual, aural, and dynamic-become synthesized, or, in Komisarjevsky's own words, "united harmoniously into a single artistic demonstration," that demonstration being the director's expression of the work's "inner rhythm, spirit, and ideology." It was my good fortune to be involved in several professional capacities in my late husband's career from 1935 onward: first, as a co-author of a play; then as research assistant in matters concerning details of his productions; as a demonstrator of acting and dance techniques on his lecture tour of the eastern United States in 1938; and, later, when he established a school of act­ ing in New York City, as a teacher of movement courses. On his part, Komisarjevsky supported my choreographic and performing efforts by designing costumes for my dances and encouraging me in my teaching and writing efforts. For me, in retrospect, the most exciting collaborative experience I shared with my husband was trying to solve a technical problem posed in , which he had been invited to produce at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre at Stratford-upon-Avon in the spring of 1938. We were still in America winding up our lecture tour, and "Komy" had already begun to design the production in a style that departed radically from the conventional Greek interpretation. His decor was that of a Mediterranean town of unidentifiable nationality, with the inhabitants wearing fanciful concoctions of various period styles, some of which were inspired by dolls . . m our possession. 8 HARVARD LIBRARY BULLETIN

The dilemma confronting Komisarjevsky lay in the fact that the mistaken identities of the double set of twins-Antipholus of Ephesus and Antipholus of Syracuse and their respective Dromios-were due entirely to the droll sit­ uation that each set of twins was dressed exactly alike, in spite of the fact that Antipholus and Dromio of Syracuse had just arrived in Ephesus. Ordi­ narily, in a Greek version, the ubiquitous toga solved this problem. How, then, to devise the means whereby the Syracuse twins could become the "spittin' images" of their Ephesian brothers? Working on the problem jointly in the spirit of the comedy's farcical imaginings, we inserted a preliminary mimed scene shortly after the curtain rose on the morning of the day in which the grand confusion took place. The shops in the square were just opening for business when the two strangers, Antipholus and Dromio of Syracuse, appeared in rather unkempt clothes after their long travels. Right in front of them, to their surprise, they found a tailor shop with a rack of good-looking suits. With the charming strains of a Handel Concerto Grosso setting the mood for a stylistically mimed scene, the two strangers carefully selected new clothes, joyfully paid the tailor, and marched out proudly wearing their new garments. From that moment on, the comic dilemma of the mistaken identities took over, for Antipholus and Dromio of Syracuse were wearing the same clothes as their twin brothers! Other collaborative experiences were likewise alive with the sense of dis­ covery. I am especially grateful even now for my husband's suggestion that I compose a dance in homage to Isadora Duncan-an idea that never would have entered my mind, for I revered the great American dancer and would have considered it sacrilegious to try to interpret her art in my own way. But Komy's insistence that I try to choreograph such an homage gave me courage, and the dance premiered in 1939 in Paris. The costume he designed for me with its voluminous scarf is in the exhibition. Thus does the past enrich the present.

KOMISARJEVSKY IN LONDON: A REMINISCENCE BY PHILLADA SEWELL

To be in a Komisarjevsky production was an unforgettable experience. This truly amazing man, who possessed about twenty times the vitality of ordinary mortals, not only directed his productions but designed the scen­ ery and the dresses. Before rehearsals started he knew exactly what move­ ments, grouping, and lighting he wanted. If something was not right, a dress rehearsal could go on well into the small hours. And if clothes were wrong-God help the wardrobe! But in rehearsal, once the scenes were set, Komisarjevsky would sit qui­ etly in the stalls and let the actors get on with it. Once in a while he would take an actor aside and walk up and down the stage with him, talking all the time, for about ten minutes. The transforma­ tion in the actor's performance was staggering. "What did you say to him?" I asked once. "I can't tell you," he replied. The finished productions were like symphonies-everything joined in a miraculous whole. One eminent critic wrote, "There is a wind that blows through every Komisarjevsky production." The Stage Art of Theodore Komisa,jevsky 9

INTRODUCTION TO THE EXHIBITION

The theatrical career of Theodore Komisarjevsky (1882-1954) spanned three continents and engaged him in all aspects of stage production. He was director and producer, stage and costume designer, translator and adaptor of plays, teacher of acting and directing, designer of cinema interiors, director of films, and theorist and author of theatrical treatises. A truly universal man of the theatre, his eclecticism influenced all his productions. The son of a for the Imperial Opera of St. Petersburg and half brother of the great Russian actress Vera Kommissarzhevskaya, Theodore Komisarjevsky was educated at a military academy, studied architecture in St. Petersburg, and earned a doctor of philosophy. He intended to become an architect but the theatrical pull of his ancestry was strong. In 1906, he became scenic director of Vera Kommissarzhevskaya's Dramatic Theatre on Ofitserskaya Street in St. Petersburg, then under the artistic direction of V sevolod Meyer hold. The ideas of new artistic voices filled the Russian theatre world of the early . The Moscow Art Theatre propounded a new style of psy­ chological realism in its method acting. Serge Diaghilev's art review Mir lskusstva sought a new form of visual representation. His Ballets Russes pro­ ductions advanced the art of stage decoration with the colorful, stylized designs of Bakst, Dobuzhinsky, Goncharova, and Benois. Chekhov, Tolstoy, Gorky, Gogol, Andreyev, and Ostrovsky provided a strong body of modern plays for the Russian stage, supplemented by the works of the European writers Maeterlinck and Ibsen. Meanwhile, proponents of non-realistic the­ atre led by Meyerhold were developing theories of a symbolic stage. In this rich climate Komisarjevsky began his work at Vera Kommissar­ zhevskaya's theatre. He carefully examined the prevailing contemporary artistic values from which he developed his own eclectic theory of a "syn­ thetic" theatre emphasizing harmony of production elements and stressing the importance of decor. From its beginnings in Russia, the career of Theodore Komisarjevsky is revealed in the extensive collection of documents given to the Harvard Theatre Collection by his widow, Ernestine Stodelle Chamberlain. The exhibition, mounted August through October 1989, was based on those papers, along with additional materials loaned by members of the Komisarjevsky family. The checklist follows the order of the exhibition and entries are listed under the chronological section in which they were displayed.

THE RUSSIAN YEARS (1906--1919)

Komisarjevsky worked in the theatre of his sister Vera Kommissarzhevskaya, the Kommissarzhevskaya Dramatic Theatre, from 1906 until her death from smallpox in 1910. At the time she died, Komisarjevsky was in the midst of producing his first play outside her theatre, 's Caesar and Cleopatra. From 1910 to 1911, Komisarjevsky collaborated with , with whom he had worked at the Kommissarzhevskaya Dramatic Theatre, to form the short-lived "Gay Theatre" or "Merry Theatre for Grown-up Children"; it performed a repertory of what Komisarjevsky called "amusing one-acts." In 1910, Komisarjevsky was appointed producer of Mos- 10 HARVARD LIBRARY BULLETIN

Number 3. Portrait of Vera Kommisarzhevskaya, Theodore Komisarjevsky's half sister, as Nora in A Doll's House, wearing a costume designed by Komisarjevsky.

cow's Nezlobin Dramatic Theatre where he averaged a production a month for three years. His work there included the first Russian productions of Moliere's Le Bourgeoisgentilhomme, the first part of Goethe's , Carlo Gozzi's , and Komisarjevsky's own adaptation of Dostoyevsky's The Idiot, which he pro­ duced without sets. In 1914, Komisarjevsky founded both a small 150-seat theatre in a remodelled town house and a school of theatrical arts to train "universal actors." The theatre, named the Vera Kommissarzhevskaya Memorial Theatre, in honor of his late sister, was one of the four theatres he managed in Russia prior The Stage Art of TheodoreKomisa,jevsky 11 to his expatriation in 1919. During his career in Russia he served as director of the Free School of Scenic Art (1910-1919),director of the Maly and Bolshoi theatres in Moscow (1913-1914), artistic director of the Moscow Opera House (1914- 1919), director of the Vera Kommissarzhevskaya Memorial Theatre (1914-1918), and managing director and producer of the Bolshoi Ballet and Opera (1918--1919). Anguished over the widespread poverty resulting from the Revolution, and frustrated over the Bolshevik government's policy of entrusting the management of theatres to committees of theatrical employees, Komisar­ jevsky left Russia in 1919. He made his way west via Warsaw and Paris, eventually arriving in London. The Russian theatre during the time of Komisarjevsky's work embraced experimentation, albeit of two distinct varieties. Stanislavsky and the Moscow Art Theatre sought realism, to be attained in part via the actor's "method," i.e. psychological preparation for the role. The Symbolists favored non­ realistic modes. Theodore Komisarjevsky spent his first years in the theatre working with the Symbolists, most notably Meyerhold, but when he replaced Meyerhold as the artistic director of the Kommissarzhevskaya Dra­ matic Theatre, he tried to forge a theatre that united the symbolic approach with a focus on the actor as more than a symbolist's tool. Eventually Komisarjevsky rejected the ideas of both Meyerhold and Stan­ islavsky and followed his own idiosyncratic and eclectic method. Indeed, Komisarjevsky was called by some "the most eclectic of Russian directors." His productions combined music, words, movement, and the visual arts to present colorful, stylized theatre. In Myself and the Theatre he set forth his views on combining the various theatrical arts:

This division of the art of the Theatre into drama, opera and ballet is purely artificial and enforced, and perfection in Theatrical art can be achieved only by a synthetic union of the drama, opera, and ballet in one single show, in which each of these would be the complement of the other, which would be performed by an ensemble of universal actors.

Komisarjevsky brought to each of his productions a great interest in the text, for he believed that the director should serve the author through sym­ pathetic interpretation. That meant a varying directorial approach with each author and work. Called by Russian theatrical historian N. M. Gorchakov "the most pro­ found thinker of all the pre-Revolutionary innovators," the full extent of his innovation has not yet been thoroughly examined. His influence has, how­ ever, been recognized, particularly in the work of Aleksandr Tairov and Evgenii Vakhtangov. An artist and trained architect, Komisarjevsky emphasized the visual style of his productions by himself designing the costumes and settings for many of the plays he directed. A manifesto on decor is part of his theory of a "synthetic theatre," outlined in Myself and the Theatre:

To make a fully harmonious impression on the audience a Synthetic Theatre requires something entirely new in the matter of decor-something dynamic in place of what is at present static .... The dynamic decor of the Synthetic Theatre should be in harmony with the music and the ensemble of performers. Even in a production of a play without music the rhythm of the stage action should reflect itself in the surroundings .... The decor must be in dynamic harmony with the 12 HARVARD LIBRARY BULLETIN

acting and should be made to change, if not always its forms ... at least the colors and effects of light and shade .... The rhythm of the music must be in harmony with the rhythm of the words, with the rhythm of the movements of the actors, of the colours and lines of the decor and costumes, and of the changing lights. The reaction on the spectator of musical acting must be strengthened by this synthetic environment. Though his ideas were informed by the work of Richard Wagner, Adolphe Appia, Edward Gordon Craig, and Meyerhold, Komisarjevksy rejected the concept that the actor is merely an element of the decor or a puppet con­ trolled by the master mind of the artist director. Rather, he wished to develop a multi-faceted or "universal" actor who would sing, dance, speak, emote, and appear as an object of art.

The Family of Komisarjevsky 1. Portrait of Fyodor Kommissarzhevsky, Sr., father of Vera Kommissarzhevskaya and Theodore Komisarjevsky (n.d.). Photomechanical print. Loan of Ernestine S. K. Chamberlain.

2. Portrait of Vera Kommissarzhevskaya (St. Petersburg, 1905). Photograph.

3. Vera Kommissarzhevskaya as Nora in Ibsen's A Doll's House (St. Petersburg, ca. 1905). Photograph. Costume designed by Theodore Komisarjevsky.

4. V. F. Kommissarzhevskaia: Al'bom solntsa Rossii (Petrograd: s.n., n.d.). A picture depicting Vera in many of her famous roles, including the title role of Maeterlinck's Sister Beatrice, one of her greatest. The production was among the most successful Meyerhold/Kommissarzhevskaya collabora­ tions. Theodore Komisarjevsky designed costumes for the production during his first season with his sister's theatre.

5. Facade of Vera Kommissarzhevskaya's Dramatic Theatre on Ofitserskaya Street in Leningrad in 1984. Photograph. Loan of Ernestine S. K. Chamberlain. The original theatre, closed before Kommissarzhevskaya's death in 1910, reopened in 1954.

Scenesfrom Productionsof the Russian Years 6. Scene of Valentin's death in part 1 of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust (Nezlobin Theatre, Moscow, 1912). Photograph.

7. Scene from part 1 of Goethe's Faust (Nezlobin Theatre, Moscow, 1912). Photograph. Komisarjevsky's own production of Goethe's Faust was apparently inspired by Georg Fuchs's production at the Munich Art Theater, which Komisarjevsky saw and recounted in his Theatre and a Changing Civilization: Impressive because of its simplicity, Professor Erler, who was responsible for the settings and the brightly coloured "posterlike" costumes, used only plain blackcloths. In addition to these backings, he had two massive movable "walls" on which grey stones were painted, and which represented alternatively Faust's study, Auerbach's cellar, the Church, the prison, etc. The suggestive effects of scenes were completed by the use of three-dimensional details, such as columns, statues, a The Stage Art of TheodoreKomisa,jevsky 13

few pieces of furniture, etc., and particularly by ingenious lighting effects which Number 6. Scene of Valentin's brought out the plastic qualities of the actors and their environment. death in part 1 of Goethe's Faust (Moscow, 1912). Like Fuchs, Komisarjevsky used movable walls on which grey stones were painted, adding three-dimensional details to create different scenes.

8. Scenes from the ballet Pagliacciby Ruggero Leoncavallo (Kommissarzhevskaya Memorial Theatre, Moscow, ca. 1917-1919).2 photographs.

9. Scenes from Tales of Hoffinann by Jacques Offenbach (Moscow, 1918). 2 photographs. For Tales of Hoffmann, Komisarjevsky positioned a group of students on a platform to listen to the performance and occasionally engage in the action. The character of E. T. A. Hoffmann himself played the , set on another platform. Greatly praised for this staging, Komisarjevsky used a similar technique in his 1923 production of La Duenna by Richard Brinsley Sheridan at the Theatre des Champs Elysees, Paris.

10. Scenes from by (Kommissarzhevskaya Memorial Theatre, Moscow, ca. 1918--1919).4 photographs. 14 HARVARD LIBRARY BULLETIN

Number 8. The curtain callfor 11. Scene from The Marriageof Figaroby Pierre Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais Komisa,jevsky's production of Leoncavallo's (Mos­ (Moscow, 1919). Photograph. cow, ca. 1917-1919). 12. Scenes from The Merry Wives of Windsor, opera by Otto Nicolai (Moscow, 1918). 6 photographs.

CostumeDesigns for Nicolai'sOpera The Merry Wives of Windsor(Moscow, 1918). 13. Costume design for Dr. Caius. Watercolor, gouache, and pencil on board; 30.3 x 22.9 cm.

14. Costume designs for Dr. Caius and Mistress Page. Pencil; 33 x 27 cm.

15. Costume design for two "Cochers". Watercolor and pencil on board; 30 x 23 cm.

Komisarjevsky'sWritings on the Theatre 16. Tvorchestvo aktera i teori1a Stanislavskago, Svobodnoe iskusstvo, vypusk 5 (Petro grad: [Teatr i lskusstvo, n. d.]). Theodore Komisarjevsky's The Actor's Work and Stanislavsky's Theory, heavily emended in pencil in Komisarjevsky's hand. The Stage Art of TheodoreKomisatjevsky 15

17. Entsiklopedi1a Stsenicheskago Samoobrazovani1a. Kostium (Petrograd: Teatr i Number 13. Komisarjevsky's costume design far Dr. Caius in Iskusstvo, [n.d.]). Nicolai's operatic version of Komisarjevsky's much-used and much-travelled copy of his encyclopedia The Merry Wives of Wind­ of costumes. sor (Moscow, 1918). Water­ color, gouache and pencil on board. 18. Teatral'ny1aprel1udii (Moscow, [s.n.] 1916). 16 HARVARD LIBRARY BULLETIN

19. Myself and the Theatre (New York: E.P. Dutton [1930]). This title, along with the next, outlines Komisarjevsky's ideas on theatre.

20. The Theatre and a Changing Civilization (London: John Lane, The Bodley Head, 1935).

ITINERANT PRODUCER: CABARET AND OPERA IN EUROPE (1920-1927)

When Komisarjevsky arrived in London in 1919,he first found work in staging the opera PrinceIgor at Covent Garden. Then, with his fellow Russian expatriate , he produced a series of "Russian Evenings" under the auspices of a British artistic organization, the Russian Musical Dramatic Art Society, known as Lahda. The following year he staged Maeterlinck's SisterBeatrice with Lahda. Throughout the twenties, Komisarjevsky developed a new career in England and the Continent, and in the United States as well, where he staged a season for New York's Theatre Guild. In France and Italy, he focused on the musical and operatic, and in collaboration with George Annenkov opened the club L'Arc-en-Ciel where they produced a cabaret evening with entertainment similar to Nikita Baliev's Chauve-Souris. (Komisarjevsky later worked with Baliev in London, staging a section of Queen of Spades during one of Baliev's British tours.) Komisarjevsky also collaborated with Jacques Hubertot at his Theatre des Champs Elysees, staging several productions, including Le Club des CanardsMandarins by Henri Duvernois and Pascal Fortuny, and La Duenna by Richard Brinsley Sheridan in November 1923. Both were light-hearted pieces well suited to Komisarjevsky's directorial and decorative style.

London 21. Portrait of Theodore Komisarjevsky (London, ca. 1934). Photograph by Maurice Beck and Helen MacGregor. Loan of Ernestine S. K. Chamberlain.

22. Roger Furse (1903-1973).Portrait of Theodore Komisarjevsky during his years in London (ca. 1930-1934). Pencil; 38 x 30.5 cm.

23. Program for SisterBeatrice (Russian Musical Dramatic Art Society, Aeolian Hall, London, 4-5 June 1920). Among the first productions Komisarjevsky mounted in London was Sister Beatrice,which had been one of his sister's greatest roles and her most success­ ful collaboration with Meyerhold. Komisarjevsky's staging also received favorable reviews.

Turin 24. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756--1791). Cosi Fan Tutte (Leipzig: Universal­ Edition [n.d.)). Komisarjevsky's annotated score for his Teatro di Torino production, 1927.

25. Scene II from Cosi Fan Tutte (Teatro di Torino, Turin, Italy, April-May 1927). Photograph. The Stage Art of Theodore Komisaryevsky 17

Number 22. Pencil portrait of Theodore Komisarjevsky by Roger Furse (1903-1973).

26. Scene from Act II, Fata Malerba (Teatro di Torino, Turin, Italy, April-May 1927). Photograph.

27. Programs for the Teatro di Torino (Turin, Italy, April-May 1927).

Paris 28. Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751-1816). La Duegne, adaptation fran\'.aise nouvelle de Theodore Komisarjevsky; musique de Voldemar Bernardi (1923). Typescript translation of La Duenna with manuscript annotations by Komisarjevsky in French and Russian.

29. Mlle de Cazalis in the title role of La Duenna by Sheridan (Theatre des Champs Elysees, Paris, 1923). Photograph by Henri Manuel. The composer, Voldemar Bernardi, is shown on stage at the piano. 18 HARVARD LIBRARY BULLETIN

Number 29. Komisa,jevsky's 30. Costume design for Mlle de Cazalis in the title role of La Duenna by Sheridan staging of Richard Brinsley (Theatre des Champs Elysees, Paris, October, 1923). Gouache and pencil; 36.5 Sheridan's La Duenna (Paris, 1923). Photograph by Henri x 25.5 cm. Manuel. 31. Costume design for the role of Carlos in La Duenna by Sheridan (Theatre des Champs Elysees, Paris, October, 1923). Gouache and pencil; 37 x 23 cm.

32. Costume design for Orchide in Le Club des Canards Mandarins by Henri Duvernois and Pascal Fortuny (Theatre des Champs Elysees, Studio, Paris, 1923). Gouache and pencil; 31.4 x 25 cm.

33. Costume designs for ''Jeune.fille choriste"in Le Coq d'Or, an unrealized produc­ tion designed for Jacques Hubertot (Theatre des Champs Elysees, Paris, 1923). Watercolor and pencil; 32 x 24 cm. Loan of Christopher P. A. Komisarjevsky.

34. Costume design for King Dodon in Le Coq d'Or, an unrealized production designed for Jacques Hubertot (Theatre des Champs Elysees, Paris, 1923). Gouache and pencil; 30.5 x 23 cm. Loan of Dana Perez. 19

Number 30. Komisarjevsky's costume design for the title role of La Duenna (Paris, 1923). Gouache and pencil.

35. Program for L'Arc-en-Ciel (Paris, 1925). Cover designed by George Annenkov.

36. Costume design for "4 petits negres" (L'Arc-en-Ciel, Paris, 1925). Gouache and pencil; 30 x 24 cm. Loan of Christopher P. A. Komisarjevsky.

37. Costume design for "4 Bouffons" (L'Arc-en-Ciel, Paris, 1925). Gouache and pencil; 30 x 24 cm. Loan of Benedict L. N. Komisarjevsky. 20 HARVARD LIBRARY BULLETIN

Number 32. Costume design by Komisarjevsky for Orchide in Le Club des Canards Manda­ rins (Paris, 1923). Gouache and pencil.

38. Costume designs for two satyrs (L'Arc-en-Ciel, Paris, 1925). Watercolor and pencil; 28 x 23 cm. Loan of Benedict L. N. Komisarjevsky.

39. Rendering of stage setting designed by Lesley Blanch and Theodore Komisar­ jevsky for Domenico Cimarosa's opera Gianninae Bernardone(Theatre Pigalle, Paris, n.d.). Watercolor and pencil; 31 x 40.5 cm. Loan of Christopher P. A. Komisarjevsky.

KOMISARJEVSKY AND THE THEATRE GUILD (1922-1923)

In 1922, Komisarjevsky travelled to New York at the invitation of Lawrence Langner to direct the Theatre Guild's 1922-1923 season. In an interview with the British press, Langner was asked why he had hired the The Stage Art of Theodore Komisa,jevsky 21

Russian director. He replied that no less a critic than George Bernard Shaw had pronounced Komisarjevsky the "best director in Europe." Although Komisarjevsky usually designed the productions he directed, the Theatre Guild engaged Lee Simonson, an American designer. The rela­ tionship between Simonson and Komisarjevsky was successful, and they are known to have collaborated on the set design for The Tidings Brought to Mary. Their collaboration continued with their joint authorship of Settings and Costumes of the Modern Stage. Besides Paul Claudel's The Tidings Brought to Mary, Komisarjevsky directed for the Theatre Guild 's Peer Gynt, and A. A. Milne's The Lucky One. According to Orville Larson, an historian of modern stage design, Tidings was the first American production to use lighting design techniques developed by the Swiss innovator, Adol­ phe Appia. Komisarjevsky's innovative staging, sensitivity to the style of the text, and avant-garde lighting and stage design pleased New York audi­ ences and critics. Kenneth MacGowan, writing in Theatre Arts Magazine, 7 (1923), 99-101, described the productions: The Tidings Brought to Mary: Lee Simonson and Theodore Komisarjevsky, the Guild's Russian director, quite abandoned the actual. The curtain never separated audience and stage . . . . The setting developed as an arrangement of plastic surfaces backed by a golden sky. The breaks in the action, the change of scenes, were indicated by nuns who filed out Overleaf Number 45. The first from the side portals, prayed for a moment, lit candles, or covered the block with a opening from Komisaijevsky's table cloth .... Played upon by slowly changing lights, the whole thing, actors, promptbook for the Barnes The­ steps, costumes, and colors became a pattern dictated by the play and interpreted by atre production of The Three the director and the artist. And it was utterly artificial and of the theatre .... In The Sisters (1926), showing the Tidings Brought to Mary we have our first purely presentational (as against diagram of the stage and the representational) performance .... director's notes and revisions to the text. Peer Gynt: Somewhere between permanence and illusion-and rather near to expressionism-lies the production of Peer Gynt made by Komisarjevsky as director and Lee Simonson as decorator . . . . In the foreground stood conventionalized rocks throughout the Norwegian scenes, even in the Troll King's palace, while between them more realistic objects such as fences and houses, identified the spots .... A triumph all told, for Simonson, and a revival that really reanimated a great and curious play through the youth of Schildkraut and the color and vividness of setting and costumes.

40. Scenes from The Tidings Brought to Mary by Paul Claudel (Theatre Guild, Garrick Theatre, New York, 1923). 2 photographs.

41. Joseph Schildkraut as Peer and Selena Royle as Solveig in Peer Gynt (Theatre Guild, Garrick Theatre, New York, 1923). Photograph. Gift of Frank C. Brown, 31 August 1943.

42. Joseph Schildkraut in the title role of Peer Gynt (Theatre Guild, Garrick Theatre, New York, 1923). Photograph. Gift of Frank C. Brown, 31 August 1943.

43. Selena Royle as Solveig, Francene Wouters as Helga and Joseph Schildkraut as Peer in Peer Gynt (Theatre Guild, Garrick Theatre, New York, 1923). Photograph by Francis Bruguiere.

44. Program for Peer Gynt (Theatre Guild, Garrick Theatre, New York, 1923). 22 HARVARD LIBRARY BULLETIN

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RUSSIAN DRAMA ON THE ENGLISH STAGE

Between the years 1925 and 1936, Komisarjevsky produced all of Chekhov's full-length plays on the English stage. He successfully presented them as popu­ lar drama and revolutionized the English perception of Russian theatre. In fact, critics were so pleased with these extraordinary productions that they per­ suaded the London theatre audiences to travel beyond the West End to the Barnes Theatre in the London suburb of Hammersmith, a converted cinema stage under the management of Philip Ridgeway. The 1926 season of Russian drama at the Barnes began with Chekhov's Ivanov, a play Komisarjevsky had originally produced in December 1925 under the auspices of the at the Duke of York's Theatre. Three Chekhov plays followed in rapid succes­ sion: in January 1926 (starring Boris Ranevsky as Serebryakov and Jean Forbes-Robertson as Sonia); The in February (starring Mary Sheridan as Olga and as Tusenbach, revived in October 1927 with as Olga and as Solyony); and , in October 1926 (starring Dorothy Dix as Madame Ranevsky and Charles Laughton as Epihodov). Two other Russian pieces, Nikolai Gogol's The Government Inspector and Leonid Andreyev's Katerina, staged between Feb­ ruary and October, interrupted the Chekhov cycle. The small stage and limited budget of the Barnes demanded imagination and ingenuity. For each play, Komisarjevsky devised a transmutable set that could be used throughout the production. The best example of this was seen in The Government Inspector for which Komisarjevsky created a rotating stage set. Cora Jarrett described the staging in Theatre Arts Magazine, 10 (1926), 709: The gaily irrational design is like a high wind in the sails of the play; the fantastic tum-table room, with its skeleton door and windows, from which the personages of Gogol lean out when the room turns its outside to the street, and through which they lean in when the tum-table turns again, and the room is an interior, belongs to a world in which anything may happen. Framed in this witty and artificial stage picture, the scenes glitter as if through a colored window; the whole play rings on the ear differently, and with less bitterness in the satire, no doubt, than was the author's intention. But that sort of white magic, when a man can work it, justifies itself. In order to make Chekhov's dramas fit the expectations of English audi­ ences, Komisarjevsky took some liberties with the text-not something for which he was criticized, because the critics were generally unfamiliar with Chekhov. According to theatre historian Victor Emeljanow, Komisarjevsky shifted the characterization of at least one character in each play to create a romantic lead. In Uncle Vanya, Astrov the doctor turned from bumpkin to Byron; in The Three Sisters, Tusenbach became a Jeune premier; and in , Trigorin was portrayed as a suave dilettante. In 1936, Komisarjevsky completed his Chekhov productions with The Seagull, starring as Nina, as Arcadina, and John Gielgud as Trigorin, at the New Theatre, London.

The Three Sisters 45. (1860-1904). The Three Sisters (London: Chatto and Win­ dus, 1923), translated by . Promptbook for Theodore Komisarjevsky's production at the Barnes Theatre, London, February 1926. Constance Garnett's translation is pasted into a copy book and annotated The Stage Art of Theodore Kornisa,jevsky 25

with stage directions and textual changes. A diagram of the stage is included. Number 49. Stage design by The textual changes and additions show Komisarjevsky' s liberal revising. Komisarjevsky for his New Theatre, London production of the Seagull (1936). For this 46. Program for The Three Sisters (Barnes Theatre, London, 1926) setting Komisarjevsky chose a pallet of sea blues and greens, andfaded browns. Watercoloron 47. John Gielgud (1904-1990). Autograph letter to Komisarjevsky (London, 8 July board. 1938). Gielgud produced The Three Sisters for his 1937-1938 season at the Queen's Theatre. He invited Komisarjevsky to direct the production as a reprise of the great Barnes Theatre success in which Gielgud had starred. Komisarjevsky, however, declined. The production was directed by Michel St. Denis and starred Peggy Ashcroft as Irina. Gielgud wrote:

I know [St. Denis) will not give anything like such beauty to the production you did-and I shall always think with love and admiration of that Barnes performance-but he is an interesting producer and very good to work with-I believe he might do something quite different and stimulating in a different way.

The Seagull 48. Anton Chekhov (1860-1904). The Seagull, acting version and translation by Theodore Komisarjevsky, 1936. Typescript with manuscript annotations. Promptbook for Theodore Komisarjevsky's production at New Theatre, London, May, 1936.

49. Theodore Komisarjevsky (1882-1954). Stage design for The Seagull (New Theatre, London, 1936). Watercolor on board; 37.5 x 59.5 cm. 26 HARVARD LIBRARY BULLETIN

Number 52. Scene .from The 50. Scene from The Seagull (New Theatre, London, 1936). Photograph by Government Inspector, illus­ trating the rotating stage set. Houston Rogers. Claude Rains, shown here Peggy Ashcroft in the role of Nina is shown in the center of the photo­ wearing a top hat, starred in this graph. Ashcroft starred as Irina in Komisarjevsky's production of The Three 1926 production. Sisters and played as well several roles in other Komisarjevsky productions. The two were married from 1934 to 1937.

51. John Gielgud, (1904-1990). Autograph letter to Komisarjevsky (London, [1936]). Gielgud left The Seagull after six weeks to play in the United States. Upon leaving the production he wrote Komisarjevsky:

... I do hope to work again with you on another play soon when I come back. Do let me know if you read anything that appeals to you that might be suitable for me to play in. I have loved Trigorin and shall be very sad to leave the part. You have helped me so much to get more reality and subtlety again-big theatres and too much Shakespeare make me tired and then I get so cheap and declamatory. I'm sure what I have learned in this part should be invaluable to working at Hamlet again.

The Government Inspector 52. Scene from The Government Inspector, depicting the stage design by Komis­ arjevsky (Barnes Theatre, London, 1926). Photograph by Lenare. Gift of George Zournas and Rosamond Gilder, 15 January 1986. The Stage Art of Theodore Komismjevsky 27

Komisarjevsky had staged The Government Inspector, starring Claude Rains, at the Duke of York's Theatre in 1920, during his first theatrical sea­ son in London. Rains appeared also in the 1926 Barnes production alongside Charles Laughton.

53. Nikolai Gogol (1809--1852). The Government Inspector, arranged by Theodore Komisarjevsky (London, 1926). Typescript with manuscript annotations. Komisarjevsky's promptbook for the 1926 production at the Barnes Theatre. The manuscript notes show the location of the "turn-table" platform room at the moment the curtain opened and the actors arrived on stage.

KOMISARJEVSKY AND SHAKESPEARE

By the time Komisarjevsky began his work at Stratford-upon-Avon in 1932, he was better known in England as a progressive director of Russian drama than as a Shakespearean. He had, however, also put on a very popular for the Oxford University Dramatic Society in 1927. Komisarjevsky's experience with directing Shakespeare had also included two Moscow produc­ tions, The Tempest and a production of Nicolai's operatic version of The Merry Wives of Windsor. Between 1932 and 1939, Theodore Komisarjevsky produced seven Shakespeare plays for the British stage, six for the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre at Stratford-upon-Avon. They attracted criticism, but his Shakespearean productions also drew crowds. The plays were The Merchant of (1932, revived 1933), (1933), The Merry Wives of Windsor (1935, revived 1936), King Lear (1936, revived 1937), The Comedy of Errors (1938, revived 1939), and (1939). In addition, he staged Antony and Cleopatra for the commercial stage at the New Theatre, London, in 1936. When Komisarjevsky produced at the new Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in 1932, his changes to the text and locale of the play horrifed purists, who considered his comical treatment of the tragedy to be fantastic and frivolous. His changes in the comedies, however, proved more palatable. He staged The Comedy of Errors in a toy land of pink bowler hats and doll-like figures, brought a festive satirical spirit to The Taming of the Shrew, and set The Merry Wives of Windsor in sixteenth-century Vienna. Komisarjevsky's work at Stratford might have had more immediate influ­ ence had the Second World War not erupted. In Switzerland when Britain declared war, Komisarjevsky soon after moved his family to the United States.

The Merchant of Venice Komisarjevsky's 1932 production of The Merchant of Venice, the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre's first production by a guest director, was, despite mixed reviews, a box-office success that the theatre greatly needed. An unexpected problem was the set. Designed to make use of the state-of-the-art machinery in Stratford's newly built theatre, it was intended to change quickly, in full view of the audience. It changed in full view, but laboriously. This mishap notwith­ standing, the production succeeded, and Komisarjevsky's comic interpretation of The Merchant of Venice was revived at Stratford in 1933. 28 HARVARD LIBRARY BULLETIN

Number 53. Komisarjevsky's typescript promptbook for his Barnes Theatre production of The Government Inspector (1926), with diagram depicting the shifting locationsof players on the rotatingplatform.

54. Stage settings for The Merchant of Venice (Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, 1932). 4 photographs. The Stage Art of Theodore Komisatjevsky 29 , •=11?'.. .

._, t ,. one_., .... _. ,

Macbeth 55. Stage design for Macbeth, labelled "Part II" (Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, 1933). Charcoal, silver crayon, and wash; 43 x 65 cm. Loan of Tanya Komisarjevsky Metaksa. 30 HARVARD LIBRARY BULLETIN

Number 56. Stage scenery 56. Photographs of stage scenery designed by Komisarjevsky for his production of designed by Komisa,jevsky for Macbeth(Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, 1933). 4 photo­ Macbeth (Stratford-upon-Avon, 1933). The remarkableset was graphs by Logan Birmingham. constructedof aluminum. The set, constructed of aluminum, consisted of adjustable screens, scrolls, and platforms. The witches appeared only once on stage and thereafter were seen projected on the back curtain.

The Merry Wives Of Windsor Komisarjevsky set his 1935 Stratford production of The Merry Wivesof Windsorin Vienna and costumed his characters in a colorful palet of bright pink, fuscia, and purple. The London Times looked unfavorably upon the production: "To show how independent [the play] may be made of English character and English humour he gives it a Viennese background and imposes on the actors the artifici­ ality that would be appropriate of a Goldoni comedy" (18 April 1935). The sets were also brightly painted, and the fast pace of the production contributed to one reviewer feeling that the general atmosphere resembled "an Offenbach opera; indeed, some of the speeches were spoken as recitative to music."

57. Costume design for Slender. Pastel and pencil; 26.2 x 18.2 cm. The Stage Art of Theodore Komisa,jevsky 31

58. Costume design for Justice Shallow. Pastel and pencil; 26.3 x 18.1 cm.

59. Costume design for Mr. Page. Pastel and pencil; 26.2 x 18.2 cm.

60. Costume design for Nym. Pastel and pencil; 28.1 x 18.4 cm.

61. Costume design for in disguise. Pastel and pencil; 26 x 21 cm.

62. Costume design for Bardolph. Pastel and pencil; 27.2 x 18.7 cm.

63. Permanent stage setting for The Merry Wives of Windsor (Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, 1935). 2 photographs by Ernest Daniels. The second photo shows the permanent setting with additional stage pieces to transform the scene into a forest.

64. Program for The Merry Wives of Windsor (Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, April-September, 1935).

65. W. H. Savery. Autograph letter to Theodore Kornisarjevsky (Stratford-upon­ Avon, 26 April 1935). The letter praises Komisarjevsky's work on The Merry Wives of Windsor: "I personally loved the show, & if only I could find a backer & you were agreeable, I would at once start a "KomisTheatre" in London & do nothing but your productions . ·

King Lear 66. Costume notebook for King Lear (New Theatre, Oxford University Dramatic Society, Oxford, 1927). Komisarjevsky's notes indicate that he based his designs on Ford Maddox Brown's painting Cordelia's Portion, which he described as "Barbaric, VI century. But simple, stylized." The costumes were to be made of material without ornament, and the cloaks, robes, and scarves were each to be in dif­ ferent solid colors. The Oxford University Dramatic Society (O.U.D.S.) production was played without scenery other than stairs, a platform and a "semi-circular gold cloth round the stage, upon which cloth a highly inge­ nious lighting system project[ed] each scene cinema wise" (The Daily Chronicle, 15 February 1927).

67. William Shakespeare (1564-1616). King Lear (New York: Macmillan, 1912), The Tudor Shakespeare, Virginia C. Gildersleeve, editor. Director's prepa­ ration copy in Komisarjevsky's hand, heavily annotated in pencil with cuts, stage business, and diagrams. Used for both the 0. U.D.S. production, 1927, and for the Stratford-upon-Avon production, 1936.

68. Komisarjevsky's manuscript rehearsal notes for King Lear (Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, 1936).

69. Scene from Act I of King Lear (Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford­ upon-Avon, 1936). Photograph by Ernest Daniels. 32 HARVARD LIBRARY BULLETIN

Randle Ayrton played Lear in Komisarjevsky's Stratford production of the tragedy. A reviewer of the day described the single set it featured: "The whole stage is occupied by stairs, put at different angles, with platforms on which the action takes place . . . . When the light first shone on the throned King, trum­ peters blew a wild barbaric blast" (Sheffield Telegraph,21 April 1936).

Antony and Cleopatra 70. Advertisement for Komisarjevsky's production of Antony and Cleopatra.

71. Komisarjevsky rehearsing Antony and Cleopatra(New Theatre, London, 1936). Photograph. Komisarjevsky's only commercial Shakespearean production, Antony and Cleopatra,staged at the New Theatre, London, in 1936, and starring the Rus­ sian actress Eugenie Leontovich, proved so controversial that it damaged Komisarjevsky's reputation. The headline for James Agate's review in the Times read: "Anton and Cleopatrova: A Tragedy by Komispeare." Leontovich had great difficulty with the English Shakespearean verse, and both Komisar­ jevsky and Leontovich were attacked as "foreigners" and "charlatans." Strat­ ford, fortunately, stood by Komisarjevsky; in 1938 he again directed at the Shakespeare Festival. This time, his Comedy of Errorswas a critical success.

The Comedy Of Errors 72. William Shakespeare (1564-1616). The Comedy of Errors(New York: Macmillan, 1912),The Tudor Shakespeare, F. M. Padelford, editor. Komisarjevsky's preparation copy, heavily annotated, includes notes on the pantomime added by him at the beginning of Act I. Throughout there are directions concerning a comic detail of the set: the clock bell was to strike a time contrary to that on the clock's face and the clock hands rush to catch up. Portions of the text were to be delivered as recitative, and single speeches were broken up into parts for several characters.

73. Manuscript notes for the opening pantomime of The Comedy of Errors (Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, 1938). Komisarjevsky's notes indicate the beats to be used for each action in the opening pantomime. Komisarjevsky created "an Ephesus of dolls' house quaintness . . . [a] proper scene of eternal pantomime and harlequinade. Its citizens appear as puppets and playboys bound to no especial century, but heirs of a timeless invention" (Ivor Brown writing in The Observer, 17 April 1938). Several of the costume designs, notably those for Nell and the four officers, were based on dolls of Komisarjevsky's own family.

74. Stage design for The Comedy of Errors (Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, 1938). Watercolor; 31 x 43 cm. Loan of Ernestine S. K. Chamberlain.

75. Designs for Duke's Attendant, Inn Proprietor, and two Ladies. Watercolor; 31 x 43 cm. Loan of Ernestine S. K. Chamberlain. The Stage Art of Theodore Komisarjevsky 33

76. Designs for Dromio of Syracuse and Dromio of Ephesus, Antipholus of Number 74. Watercolorstage design for The Comedy of 37 26 Syracuse and Antipholus of Ephesus. Watercolor; x cm. Loan of Errors (Straiford-upon-Avon, Ernestine S. K. Chamberlain. 1938).

77. Designs for Adriana, Luciana, Aemilia, and a Courtesan. Watercolor; 37 x 26 cm. Loan of Ernestine S. K. Chamberlain.

78. Designs for the Officers, Aegean of Syracuse, Nell, and the Duke. Watercolor; 37 x 26 cm. Loan of Ernestine S. K. Chamberlain.

79. Designs for Merchant (goldsmith), Dr. Pinch, Merchant (tailor), and Balthazar. Watercolor; 37 x 26 cm. Loan of Ernestine S. K. Chamberlain.

80. Stage set for Komisarjevsky's production of The Comedy of Errors (Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, 1938). 2 photographs by Ernest Daniels. 34 HARVARD LIBRARY BULLETIN

The Tamingof The Shrew 81. Stage settings for The Taming of the Shrew designed by Komisarjevsky (Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, 1939). 4 photographs by Ernest Daniels.

Romeoand Juliet After 1939, the year Komisarjevsky moved to the United States, he continued to stage Shakespeare in his own theatre studio. In addition to a production of , he also directed an open-air production of in 1950 in Montreal, Canada.

82. Costume for young boy in Romeo andJuliet (Komisarjevsky Theatre Studio, New York, 1944). Striped jacket and britches. Loan of Ernestine S. K. Chamberlain.

83. Design for Tybalt. Pencil and watercolor; 35 x 21 cm.

84. Design for Mercutio. Charcoal, pencil, and watercolor; 35 x 21 cm.

85. Design for Benvolio. Pencil and watercolor; 35 x 21 cm.

KOMISARJEVSKY AND THE COMMERCIAL THEATRE

During his first decade in London, in 1927, Komisarjevsky had a brief flirtation with the commercial theatre, in the form of a collaboration with on an "International Season" at the Court Theatre. His pro­ ductions drew positive notices from the critics, particularly the opening play, Dmitri Merezhkovski's Paul I, which starred George Hayes and Charles Laughton. As Komisarjevsky observed in Myself and the Theatre, his enchantment quickly vanished: "First of all the Theatre, because of its aes­ thetic and intellectual nature, is not and never was a commercial institution. The commercial managers, although they make a pretense of giving the greater public what it wants, merely guess at everybody's taste and of course in most cases wrongly." The commercial theatre brought Komisarjevsy in contact with actors and actresses who admired his abilities as a director: his insight and precision. As John Gielgud in his autobiographical volume, Early Stages, wrote: Actors love working for Komisarjevsky. He lets them find their own way, watches, keeps silent, then places the phrasing of a scene in a series of pauses, the timing of which he rehearses minutely. Very occasionally he will make some short but illuminating comment, which is immensely significant and easy to remember. Komisarjevsky's papers reveal numerous instances of actors expressing their gratitude for his inspired directing of them.

86. Dmitri Sergeyevich Merezhkovski (1865-1941). Paul I, as performed at the Court Theatre, London, October 1927; adapted by John Alford and J. C. The Stage Art of Theodore Komismjevsky 35

Dale. Typescript mounted in folio journal. Promptbook marked for light and sound cues with stage diagrams and notes on setting, furnishings, and props.

87. Elizabeth Bergner and Hugh Sinclair in Escape Me Never by Margaret Kennedy (, London, 1933). Photograph, by Sasha. Gift of George Zournas and Rosamond Gilder, 15 January 1986.

88. Fay Compton (1894-1978). Autograph letter to Komisarjevsky (London, 23 December 1926). Compton starred in Komisarjevsky's production of Liliom which, after an out-of-town tour that included Southsea and Liverpool, opened at the Duke of York's Theatre in London, presented by Philip Ridgeway. She writes in this letter: "A thousand thanks Komis . . . . I want the play to be an enor­ mous success for all our sakes-but particularly for yours-as its your child really! and you've had all the real work and you've been marvellous."

89. (1893-1951). Autograph letter to Komisarjevsky (Portsmouth, 1926?). Novello, who played the title role in Komisarjevsky's Liliom, writes: "I have never been more happy-I hope for many more productions .... "

90. Charles Laughton (1899-1962). Autograph letter to Komisarjevsky (1928?). Laughton's letter reveals that Komisarjevsky forced his actors to think about their responsibility not to pursue a solely commercial career but instead to push themselves beyond that into more artistically fertile ground.

I desire and fear but I believe my desire for the new is stronger than my fear. In all of my work I have wished to please and when I spoke in that view I was perhaps thinking that if we please we live and if we do not we die. I was thinking ... of hoped for future productions of the classics. But dear master I do not come to you with the intention of trying to hinder you . . . .

INTERIOR DESIGNS FOR MOVIE PALACES

Komisarjevsky designed the interiors for twenty-two cmemas for the Granada chain between 1927 and 1939, so large a number that the aesthetic of Komisarjevsky was seen by virtually every London movie-goer. His work for the entertainment entrepreneur Sidney Bernstein (now Lord Bern­ stein) included the interior of the Phoenix Theatre, Charing Cross Road, an Italian Renaissance palace of highly dramatic effect, the Granada Dover and the Granada Walthamstow, both in the Moorish style, the Granada Tooting in medieval Gothic, and a reconstruction of the old Empire Theatre, Edm­ onton, in an entirely modern style. In these theatres Komisarjevsky used his scenic vision to create highly theatrical effects, thus adding another aspect to a career that was already notable for its versatility.

91. Ticket booths at the entrance of the Phoenix Theatre, Charing Cross Road, 1930. Photograph by Sims and Co. 36 HARVARD LIBRARY BULLETIN

92. Auditorium of the Granada Theatre, Tooting, 1931. 2 photographs by Sims and Co.

93. Interior of the Empire Theatre, Edmonton, 1933. 2 photographs. The publicity described the interior of this Bernstein cinema as "ultra­ modern .... The decorative scheme ... is notable for its simplicity and bold colours. Six colours-blue, grey, broken white, dark brown, red and yellow-are employed in the Foyer and six in the Auditorium-buff, green, pink, silver, grey and red."

94. Program for the opening of the Phoenix Theatre, Charing Cross, 1930. Loan of Ernestine S. K. Chamberlain.

95. Applique design for cinema curtain (London, n.d.). Watercolor, ink, and pencil; 27.5 x 37 cm.

KOMISARJEVSKY IN THE UNITED STATES

Although Komisarjevsky had worked in the United States with the Theatre Guild in the early twenties, had staged a musical, Revenge with Music, at the New Amsterdam Theare in 1934, and had gone on lecture tours in 1936 and 1938, his name was still little known to the New York theatre world when he emigrated in 1939. Then aged 57, Komisarjevsky had to establish himself for the third time in his career. He began by setting up a school of drama and dance with his wife, Ernestine Stodelle. In addition to his work at the Komisarjevsky Theatre Studio, he taught at Yale University and directed several productions for the .

96. Business card of Theodore Komisarjevsky and brochure for the Komisarjevsky Theatre Studio in New York (ca. 1940).

97. Stage design for The Cherry Orchard (Yale University Theatre, New Haven, 1941). Watercolor and pencil; 28 x 34 cm.

98. Scenes from The Cherry Orchard (Yale University Theatre, New Haven, 1941). 2 photographs.

99. Program for The Cherry Orchard (Yale University Theatre, New Haven, 1941). Komisarjevsky served on the drama faculty of Yale University as a lec­ turer with the rank of assistant professor during the academic years 1940-41 and 1941-42.

100. Costume worn by Tanya Komisarjevsky in the role of Louison in Moliere's La Malade imaginaire (Komisarjevsky Theatre Studio, New York, ca. 1945). Gold bodice with rose velvet skirt. Loan of Naomi Komisarjevsky.

101. Friedrich Schiller (1759-1805). Mary Stuart (Philadelphia: David McKay, 1898), translated from the German with an introduction by Edward Brooks, The Stage Art of Theodore Komismjevsky 37

Jr. Komisarjevsky's working copy with numerous textual changes. Gift of Number 93. "Ultra-modern"inte­ rior of the Empire Theatre cin­ Tanya Komisarjevsky Metaksa, 1987. ema, designedby Komisatjevsky in 1933. The foyer was coloredin The Dances of Ernestine Stodelle blue, grey, broken white, dark brown,red and yellow. 102. Costume designed for the dance "Homage to Isadora Duncan" (Premiere, Ecole Normale de Musique, Paris, 25 March 1939). Rust silk toga with gold embroidery and purple silk scarf. Loan of Ernestine S. K. Chamberlain.

103. Costume designed for the dance "La Vivandiere," part of a suite of four dances on the French theme to the music of Jacques Offenbach (Ecole Normale de Musique, Paris, 25 March 1939). Blue and mauve wool jacket and skirt with silk lining; wool hat with gold braid and tassel. In this dance, Stodelle, as la vivandiere, served wine to the troops. Her belt and buckles came from a military costumer in Paris, and she performed the dance in matching tights with white spats and black patent-leather shoes. Loan of Ernestine S. K. Chamberlain. 38 H A R V A R D L I B R A R Y B U L L E T I N

104. Costume designed for the dance "Tempo di Balla," choreographed to music by Domenico Scarlatti (Komisarjevsky Theatre Studio, New York, 1940). Pink silk jacquard bodice with white tulle skirt. Loan of Ernestine S. K. Chamberlain.

105. Costume for the role of The Veiled Lady performed by Stodelle in Komis­ arjevsky's production of Moliere's Don Juan (Lincoln Theatre, New Haven, Connecticut, 1942). Magenta taffeta with green velvet and blue satin sleeves and green and yellow ribbon; yellow satin hat with feather. Loan of Ernes­ tine S. K. Chamberlain.

106. Costume designed for a dance choreographed to Bach's Komm siisser Tod (Norwalk, Connecticut, 1944). Silver bodice with blue skirt and pink satin inner sleeves. Loan of Ernestine S. K. Chamberlain.

107. Ernestine Stodelle, performing "Homage to Isadora Duncan" (Ecole Normale de Musique, Paris, 25 March 1939) in a costume designed by Theodore Komis­ arjevsky (see no. 102). Photograph by Theodore Komisarjevsky. Loan of Ernestine S. K. Chamberlain.

108. Program for dance recital by Ernestine Stodelle (Ecole Normale de Musique, Paris, 25 March 1939). Komisarjevsky directed the program and designed the costumes worn by Stodelle. Loan of Ernestine S. K. Chamberlain.

109. Theodore Komisarjevsky (1882-1954). Autograph letter to his wife, Ernestine Stodelle (London, 13 March [1939]). Loan of Ernestine S. K. Chamberlain. Komisarjevsky offers instructions for revising the construction of his design for Stodelle's costume for her dance, "Variety 1900": "I looked at your Valse dress and saw that the neck is too high in the front and that it gives you a bosom. Ask the couturiere to cut it lower, like this in front . I'm off tomorrow for Stratford Love & kisses Husband."

110. Invitation and program for dance recital (Komisarjevsky Theatre Studio, New York, 1940).

KOMISARJEVSKY AND OPERA

Komisarjevsky's theories of synthesis in the theatre were best served by the operatic format: "I came to the conclusion that opera, because it can combine all the expressions of the actor's art-movement, speech, singing­ could be the most perfect form of Theatrical art, and have the most power­ ful appeal to the public." In 1927 he produced two operas for the Teatro di Torino: Cosi Fan Tutte and Fata Malerba, of which he was enormously proud. Though he had mounted a number of operas in Russia, his work in opera in Europe remained limited, partly because he disliked the "star" mentality and the inevitable lack of rehearsal time. Komisarjevsky returned to opera in the late 1940s, after his move to the United States, and staged several works for the New York City Opera under the musical direction of Laszlo Halasz. Not only was this a return to opera The Stage Art of Theodore Komismjevsky 39

Number 107. Ernestine Stodelle, Komisarjevsky's third wife, per­ .forming "Homage to Isadora Duncan" (Paris, 1939) in a cos­ tume designed by her husband. Photographby Theodore Komis­ arjevsky.

but also a return to his theatrical roots. Vladimir Rosing, with whom he had previously worked when he first arrived in London in 1920, took over Komisarjevsky's production of Prokofiev's The Love for Three Oranges when Komisarjevsky became ill during rehearsals. Komisarjevsky also collabo- 40 HARVARD LIBRARY BULLETIN

rated with scenic designer Mstislav Dobujinsky, with whom he had first worked at Vera Kommissarzhevskaya's Dramatic Theatre in Russia. Thus, Komisarjevsky's career came full circle, his days in the Russian theatre being linked via London and New York in the persons of Rosing and Dobujinsky. Together, the three Russian expatriates staged "synthetic" operas in the the­ atre of New York, Komisarjevsky's final productions.

111. Production notes for the staging of Alban Berg's Wozzeck (New York City Center, New York City Opera Company, 1952). Typescript with manu­ script additions.

112. Rough sketch of stage design for Wozzeck. Pencil; 11.5 x 21 cm. Mstislav Dobujinsky designed the sets and costumes for this production, though this rough sketch may represent an expression of Komisarjevsky's wishes. The "unit set" used for the production was widely criticized by reviewers. Virgil Thomson in the New York Herald Tribune commented: "The gravest fault of the production seemed to be its visual conception, that is to say, its set and staging. Its set is a unit set, which means that, like all unit sets, it fits completely no single scene of the play."

113. Maurice Maeterlinck (1862-1949). Pelleaset Melisande, drama lyrique en 5 actes et 12 tableaux de Maurice Maeterlinck; musique de Claude Debussy (Paris: A. Durand & Fils, 1907). Komisarjevsky's prompt score for the New York City Opera production of 1948. Notes on the cast list of the score suggest that Komisarjevsky used the copy of the score that had served for his sister's production of the opera forty-one years earlier in 1907.

114. Plan for the setting of Pelleas et Melisande (New York City Center, New York City Opera Company, 1948). Pencil on graph paper; 21.5 x 28 cm. On this occasion the New York City Opera did not engage Dobujinsky to design the settings, and the program notes describe the production as "devised and directed by" Komisarjevsky. The production toured to the Chicago Civic Opera House where a critic for the Chicago Daily Tribune wrote, "At first glimpse, Theodore Komisarjevsky's skeletal setting seems bleak, a little odd. But it is resourceful. It has a tower, a crypt, a terrace, and it responds to lighting." Some reviewers were more accepting of the "unit set" in opera than others. The Stage Art of Theodore Komisa,jevsky 41

]) l(

115. Mstislav Dobujinsky (1875-1957). Costume designs for drunkards in The Number 115. One of two draw­ Love for Three Oranges (New York City Opera Company, New York City ings by Mstis/av Dobujinsky (1875-1957) for costumes for Center, 1949). 2 drawings: charcoal, crayon, and pencil; 27 x 35 cm. each. drunkards in The Love for Three Oranges (New York, 1949). 116. Mstislav Dobujinsky (1875-1957). Costume design for horseman in The Love far Three Oranges (New York City Opera Company, New York City Center, 1949). Charcoal and watercolor; 28 x 36 cm. Loan of Ernestine S. K. Chamberlain. 42

Shakespeare's Italians

Harry Levin

question that addresses our subject was posed-in strikingly melodramatic A chiaroscuro-by an Englishwoman living in Florence, Violet Paget, who wrote a cultivated, opinionated, and prolific series of articles and books under the pseudonym, Vernon Lee. Her essay, "The Italy of the Elizabethan Drama­ tists," appears in a volume dedicated to her esthetic mentor, Walter Pater, under the Faustian title, Euphorion. There, while duly acknowledging Italian arts and culture as the source of so much that went on to develop in England and the rest of Europe, she dwelt more heavily and obsessively upon "the monstrous immo­ rality of the Italian Renaissance." She expressed surprise that the infamous careers of Sigismondo Malatesta, Lodovico Sforza, and Cesare Borgia had prompted no echo among the pastorals and classical exercises of Italian Renais­ sance drama. On the other hand, she argued, the impact of those villainies had HARRY LEVINis Irving Babbitt been incisively registered in the plays of , John Marston, Cyril Professor of Comparative Tourneur, Thomas Middleton, and John Ford. Incidentally, these were Jacobean Literature, Emeritus, in the playwrights (the last one Caroline), and Stuart England had scandals enough of Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Harvard University. its own. Nor-to cite a single Tudor figure-could Henry VIII be held up as a model of domestic or political innocence. Moreover, it would not be difficult to note some resemblances between the biography of Mary, Queen of Scots, and the scenario of The Duchess of Malfi. Yet Vernon Lee could persist with her paradox: "And the nation which was chaste and true wrote tales of incest and treachery, while the nation which was foul and false wrote poetry of shepherds and knights-errant." Leaving aside this somewhat Podsnappian view of the British so steeped in virtue that they had to import their vice at second hand, there is more to be said on the Italian side of the paradox. Indeed it had already been said by the Jacobean voyager, Fynes Mory­ son: " ... their plays were of Amorous matters, Neuer of historyes, much less of tragedies, which the Italyans nature too much affects to imitate and surpasse." When nature surpasses art, what need of imitation? The observation seems to have some grounding in cultural history, despite its undertone of blimpish suspicion toward foreigners. After all, the Elizabethans reserved their deepest scorn for their own compatriots who had been corrupted by travel abroad, and this attitude could best be summed up in their Italianized proverb: "Inglese italianato e un diavolo incarnato." The demoralization of Shakespeare's Richard II, in the opinion of his ducal uncles, had been adversely influenced by Report of fashions in proud Italy, Whose manners still our tardy, apish nation Limps after in base imitation. (II, i, 20-22) Shakespeare'sItalians 43

Yet, with the widespread vogue of Italian literature among Shakespeare's con­ temporaries, few works were esteemed so highly or taken so seriously-whether in the original or in Sir Thomas Hoby's translation-as Castiglione's guide to good behavior, II Cortegiano. The object lesson of the incarnate devil might well be offset, in the long run, by the idealized model of the perfect courtier. When Ben Jonson's Volpone is visited by an English blue-stocking, Lady Wouldbe, he tries to fend her off by quoting some poet or other on feminine modesty. Her response is instantaneous and overwhelming: Which of your poets? Petrarch, or Tasso, or Dante? Guarini? Ariosto? Aretine? Cieco di Hadria? I have read them all. It will be recalled that Gonzago's murder, the story of Hamlet's play-within-the­ play, was originally "written in very choice Italian" (III, ii, 263). Academic drama had furnished some helpful precedents and patterns, filtered from the Ital­ ian courts through the English Inns of Court, those legal societies which engaged in dramatics: particularly those criteria which distinguished tragedy from comedy, and-most important-versi sciolti, which inspired blank verse. But the sensibilities of the Cinquecento, as Francesco De Sanctis would confirm, tended toward the idyllic and the romantic. Actually, a foreign importer of intrigue would not have needed to depend on Italy for his plots. We could think of Marlowe's Massacreat Paris or Chapman's French tragedies, of that perennial favorite, Kyd's Spanish Tragedy, or of Middleton's major tragedy, The Change­ ling, set at Gibraltar. Xenophobia could be focussed upon the national enemy, Spain, through such Shakespearean characters as the fantastical Don Armado­ the very name does battle in Love's Labor's Lost-or the bastard Don John, so ineffectual a malcontent in Much Ado about Nothing. Nor were indigenous crimes to be neglected: witness Arden of Feversham, The Yorkshire Tragedy, and a long line of gory domestic dramas. Vernon Lee's simplistic views would be questioned-notably by Mario Praz, whose critical eye was especially sensitive to literary manifestations of the sen­ sual, the sinister, and the macabre. Perhaps it is worth noting that, when he uncovered such elements even in the Victorian period, the arresting title of his book, La Carne, la Marte, e ii Diavolo nella Letteratura Romantesca,was neutralized by its English translator into The Romantic Agony. Now it should be acknow­ ledged, in all fairness, that Shakespeare had been exempted from Vernon Lee's generalizations. Thus all too often he has been placed in a class by himself, and thereby rendered unapproachable, while "others abide our question ... " He was not less but more responsive than others to the currents of his age; and if his achievements turned out to be uniquely humane, he had achieved them by using the same materials and techniques that they did, and can be most fully under­ stood in the light of conditions they shared. He himself recognized that he had been drawing upon the standard traditions of comedy when his stage directions referred to certain stock characters not by name but as Pantaloon, Pedant, and Braggart-types, if not stereotypes, that had scarcely been novel with Aris­ tophanes and were currently animating the Commedia dell' Arte. Admittedly, as we are told in The Taming of the Shrew, it is hard to outdo "an old Italian fox" in craftiness (I, i, 403). In his book, The Lion and the Fox, Wyndham Lewis went so far as to trace a Machiavellian pattern throughout Shakespeare's works. This was going too far-a frequent procedure for Lewis. 44 HARVARD LIBRARY BULLETIN

Yet it was an English Shakespearean monarch, Richard III, who-while Duke of Gloucester in 3 Henry VI-had vowed to "set the murtherous Machevil to school," to give a few lessons in villainy to Machiavelli himself (III, ii, 193). It should be conceded that Cymbeline-Shakespeare's belated, long-drawn-out, and overly conventionalized romance-does indeed present a stereotypical contrast between the ingenuous natives of Roman Britain, with side-trips to an even, more primitive Wales, and "that drug-damn' d Italy," damned not for opium or crack but for its aura of potions and poisons (III, iv, 15); and it is thence that the villain must be recruited, "some jay of Italy" (III, iv, 49). He is the Duke of Sie­ na's brother, Jachimo, who in fulfillment of a cosmopolitan wager invidiously comparing Englishwomen with "the shes of Italy," seeks to seduce the Britannic heroine, Imogen (I, iii, 29). When he fails and fakes the evidence, he is caught and denounced as "Italian fiend" by her husband, Posthumus, and as "slight thing of Italy" by a masque of ancestral ghosts (V, v, 210; V, iv, 54). Handily he confesses his guilt, but with an innuendo touching British intelligence: " ... mine Italian brain / Gan in your duller Britain operate / Most vilely" (V, v, 196-8). Even while admitting the moral impeachment, he still takes for granted an intellectual superiority. Speaking in from pretty much the same viewpoint, Iago says: "I know our country disposition well" (III, iii, 201). Iago too has been in England, where he seems to have picked up his drinking songs; it was the right place, since its country disposition is more "potent in potting" than that of the Danes, the Ger­ mans, the Hollanders, or other hard-drinking nationalities (11, iii, 77). Shakespeare did not spare the satire in dealing with his fellow countrymen. When Portia jests about her international bevy of suitors, putting each of them down with an ethnic remark, the English baron is dumb, since he has no lan­ guages; nor has he any style, since he mixes up his garments as well as his man­ ners. But, although Shakespeare could easily spin off such caricatures, his funda­ mental concern was with human beings. As consummate master of the English language, he was much interested in other languages. He even invented one, to bedazzle his cast of characters in All's Well that Ends Well: "Oscorbidulchos volivorco" (IV, i, 79). Though that is not intended to have any meaning, it sounds impressive. He knew French well enough to have some fun with it, even to risk some ribald puns in Henry V, where he goes on to differentiate between Anglo­ Welsh, Anglo-Scottish, and Anglo-Irish dialects. He cannot have known much Italian, but he seems to have made use of a few untranslated sources: specifically, the old play Gl'Ingannati for Twelfth Night and a novella by Giraldi Cinthio for Othello--which also confirmed him in using modern rather than mythological subject-matter. The dialogue of The Taming of the Shrew, in particular, is sprinkled here and there with Italian words and phrases, polite cliches which might well have been acquired from John Florio's conversational handbook: hen trovato, mi perdonato, basta. It would be hard to say whether the braggart ensign Pistol is speaking Ital­ ian or Spanish in 2 Henry IV-or is he looking forward to Esperanto?-when he consoles himself with the maxim: "Si fortune me tormente, sperato me contento" (II, iv, 181f.). In any case, the meaning is all too obvious. Choice of names is usually more or less appropriate, and sometimes quite meaningful. Benvolio is clearly a man of good will, just as Malvolio is a man of ill will. Servants tend to be indel­ ibly anglicized; even in the homeland of Brighella and Arlecchino, they are Shakespeare'sItalians 45 named Potpan and Sugarsop, Hugh Oatcake and Susan Grindstone. Prince Escalus, the Latinized representative of the Scala family presiding over Verona, dwells in Freetown, an anglophone version of Villafranca. When Jonson made his first theatrical hit with Every Man in His Humor, its scene was set in Florence and its cast was Italian. Revising the play for his Folio, he transposed the setting to London, and rebaptized the dramatispersonae with English names. Shakespeare never undertook such vernacularization; his single comedy in native dress, The Merry Wives of Windsor, is essentially an appendage to the history plays. Charles Lamb once remarked: "I am sometimes jealous that Shakespeare laid so few of his scenes at home." Lamb may have temporarily forgotten that Italy, so near and yet so far, had established itself as the ideal playground for comedy: a federation of comic-opera principalities-or so it must seem at this esthetic distance-and of comparably operatic personalities, attractive, sophisticated, and slightly larger than life. It could represent what Jonson termed a "fustian country," a histrionic perspective, a terrain for make-believe. Nine of Shakespeare's comedies, including three we now classify as romances, are located-or at least have scenes-in greater Italy. Two of the tragedies belong in that category. We need not count the Roman tragedies, which take place in a Plutarchan sphere of their own, a model realm for reconsidering the universal problems of citizenship. As for Cymbeline, though its date is that of Caesar Augustus, its two non-Britons come closer to Renaissance Italians than to the ancient Romans. Out of the thirty-eight plays in the Shakespearean canon, then, these eleven constitute a significant proportion. It should be worth the trouble to walk through them briefly, watching for the commonplaces poetized, the con­ ventional figures vitalized, and the distant regions brought home to the English repertory. Shakespeare delighted in the diversity of the Italian city-states, the movement and interaction from one community to another, often subject to the quasi-epical intervention of their civic dynasties. The Taming of the Shrew is set into bold relief by its induction, which frames the play itself within a practical joke at an English alehouse. Padua, seat of learning, is saluted as "nursery of arts" by Lucentio, arriving from Pisa-en route to Lombardy-at the outset (I, i, 2); later on the witty Benedick will happen to have been a local boy; and Portia, as a law­ yer, will claim Paduan connections. But if Lucentio is there to study philosophy at the renowned university, emulating the student Erastrato at Ferrara in The Supposes (his prototype in George Gascoigne's adaptation of Ariosto's play), he is soon deflected from scholarship to courtship. And courtship is the frank inten­ tion of the mercenary Petruchio: I come to wive it wealthily in Padua; If wealthily, then happily in Padua. (I, ii, 75f.) This unromantic fortune-hunter accounts himself "a gentleman of Verona," and The Two Gentlemen of Veronais not really a very romantic play (II, i, 47). Possi­ bly the thinnest of Shakespeare's comedies, it is barely redeemed by the animal act of the clown Launce and his live dog Crab, who seem livelier than the other personages. Friendship so predominates over love that the well-named Proteus can suddenly desert his Julia for Silvia, while her gentleman, Valentine, can be perfectly willing to swing her over. Insofar as true lovers should find each other 46 HARVARD LIBRARY BULLETIN

unique, rather than interchangeable, Shakespeare will be doing better by them when he returns to Verona for a tragedy. Meanwhile his landscape has extended to Sicily-or rather, to the Two Sicilies under Spain-in Much Ado about Nothing: a homecoming from the Spanish wars led by Prince Pedro of Aragon and an ill-fated house-party at Messina. Claudio, the misguided lover, hails from Florence. The Paduan Benedick, albeit "the, prop'rest man in Italy," is welcomed as "Signior Mountanto" (the upward thrust in a duel) because of the verbal parries that he will exchange with the even wittier Beatrice (V, i, 172f.; I, i, 30). Twelfth Night takes us farther afield and to sea. "This is Illyria, lady," Viola is informed, and so are we, as the Adriatic vista opens up (I, ii, 2). This Illyrian seaport-it could well be Dubrovnik, formerly Ragusa in its more Italian days-seems to suit these Italian visitors who came from Messaline, wherever that may have been. Offhand it sounds like a dissolute Roman empress, but it is more likely a variant of Messina. If Sir Toby Belch seems virtually too English, a lesser Falstaff, Malvolio aspires toward a Machia­ vellian role, when he resolves to improve his mind by reading "politic authors" (II, v, 161). The sea-captain Antonio, setting foot in Illyria at his peril, reminds us that these neighboring states were continually at war, which jeopardized the safety of any traveller from a hostile city. In this respect, he resembles the Ped­ ant, alternately described as a Mercantant, from Mantua in The Taming of the Shrew (and this Italianism for "merchant" better fits the Shakespearean meter). Now France, the principal locale for All's Well That Ends Well, is at peace. But Tuscany can always play its traditional part as "a nursery to our gentry" (I, ii, 16). At this moment "The Florentines and the Sennoys [Sienese] are by the ears" (I, ii, 1); and the most adventurous of these young Frenchmen are off to those wars, warned by their King against "those girls of Italy" (11, i, 19). That warn­ ing against seductive femininity would repeat itself in Cymbeline, where it is less needed but more heeded. The royal patient has awarded Helena, the medical lady who cured him, to her admired Count Bertram, who in his turn has fled, saying: ''I'll to the Tuscan wars, and never bed her" (II, iii, 173). It is a tortuous story from The Decameron, and we need some reassurance along the way. Hence the title keeps up our occasionally flagging spirits with the promise of a happy ending: all will end well, if only we are patient. Bertram's Florentine lady-love will connive with Helena in what has come to be known as "the bed-trick," a crude professional term for an old motif, an arrangement for connubial substitu­ tion under the cover of night (as in Measure for Measure). Well might we end by asking, with the boastful spy Parolles, "Who cannot be crush'd with a plot?" (IV, iii, 325). We seem to be moving in a more problematic direction with The Merchant of Venice, though not altogether toward romance; Bassanio too is out to wive it wealthily, and his romance will be called to the rescue of Antonio's muddled business. The Venetian empire at its height, the mercantile metropolis itself, the centralizing span of the Rialto forms a busy background for sharp practice as in Volpone, further sharpened by-and sharpened against-the Jewish usurer Shylock. The thwarting of his revenge, the transcendance of Portia's sympa­ thetic plea for mercy over his harsh clamor for justice, must emanate from the more leisurely region of music and moonlight, from Belmont across the water, half-way to Illyria. With Shakespearean comedy, a successful resolution often entails an incidental displacement, normally from court to countryside, but in Shakespeare's Italians 47 this case from contentious lawcourt to restorative suburb. The two gentlemen of Verona-after a sylvan interlude-disentangle their misunderstandings at the court of Milan, though Shakespeare never seems quite sure whether its ruling figure is a duke or an emperor. More auspiciously, as in A Midsummer Night's Dream or , the alleviating environment is that of a forest, where the ills of society are remedied by turning back to nature and roaming from one "part of the wood" to another. In The Winter's Tale, across the long temporal break, we switch countries. Shakespeare had already switched them from the alignment of his narrative source, thereby making his lost-and-found princess Perdita a Sicilian, whose mythical archetype is the home-bred goddess, the abducted Proserpina. Sicily had been the classical soil of the pastoral; yet here it is the scene of tragicomic events, which precipitate the characters into a Bohemian retreat, a purlieu for reversal and renewal. This Bohemia may have a seacoast, as well as deserts, though not as yet the special associations-gypsy or artistic-that would accrue to it in later centuries. Still it offers a sheepcote for pastoral antics, "a gallimau­ fry of gambols" celebrating the betrothal of the erstwhile shepherdess to her princely swain (IV, iv, 328). The recognition scene must be staged again in Sicily, where her mother, the supposedly defunct Queen Hermione, will come to life before our very eyes. After some sixteen years of concealment, she makes her reappearance as a statue

-a piece many years in doing and now newly perform'd by that rare Italian master, Julio Romano, who, had he himself eternity and could put breath into his work, would beguile Nature of her custom, so perfectly is he her ape. He so near to Hermione hath done Hermione that they say one would speak to her and stand in hope of answer. (V, ii, 95-102) This sculptural attribution, Shakespeare's only direct reference to an existent artist, bypasses Giulio Romano's chief pursuits in painting and architecture, not to mention his underground illustrations for Aretino's Sonetti Lussuriosi, a por­ nographic sequence that had provoked some Jonsonian snickers. But as a master-in Vasari's terms-of both disegno and grazia, Giulio was well qualified to exemplify the dialectic between Art and Nature that runs through the play. It is resolved in favor of Nature, and hopes are answered, when the living Hermi­ one steps down from her pedestal and embraces her daughter at last. Where do we go from here? Where is The Tempest to be situated? The storm itself is magically conjured up by a pinch of dew from "the still-vex'd Bermoothes" on the opposite side of the Atlantic (I, ii, 229). The "uninhabited island" itself must strategically be placed in the Mediterranean, somewhere between Tunis, where his daughter has just been wedded, and Naples, whither the King and his courtiers are now returning. Pantelleria has been suggested; but we should not be all that specific; it should remain a mysterious isle, not easily spotted on any workaday map. Here conspiracy, which has previously dethroned Prospero from his dukedom of Milan, twice raises its head again and is twice put down: with the courtiers and with the clowns. It is interesting to notice-perhaps another invidious comparison-that when the drunken Steph­ ano first sees the bestial Caliban, he wants to bring him back to Naples as a present for an emperor, whereas the jester Trinculo wants to take the servant­ monster to England and make a fortune by exhibiting him there. "Any strange beast there makes a man," he wryly comments (II, ii, 28). Banishment once 48 HARVARD LIBRARY BULLETIN

more leads to restoration. The old magician will recover his duchy; but ulti­ mately its "gorgeous palaces" and "solemn temples" will prove as delusive as Miranda's "brave new world," as utopian as Gonzalo's ideal commonwealth, and as visionary as Shakespeare's world and theater-"the great globe itself' (IV, i, 152f.; V, i, 183). When Shakespeare turns from comedy to tragedy, the transition is not abrupt, since love, the theme of Romeo and Juliet, had heretofore been mainly relegated to the comic domain. Hence the tragic treatment had to be an experiment, and it was mainly Shakespeare's innovation, though it had been preceded by Gismond of Salerne, an Italianate tragedy at the Inns of Court. Ever since the generation of Wyatt and Surrey, English poets had been rehearsing-as Sir Philip Sidney would put it-"poor Petrarch's long deceased woes." Francesco Petrarca had lived his full career as an encyclopedic scholar, an all-round humanist, a versatile innovator in many genres, and a stylist in Latin as well as a pioneer in the ver­ nacular. But it was his intimate experience, his most personal vein as a sonnet­ eer, his lyrical formulations of amorous feeling, the moods and phases of his transcendent passion for Madonna Laura through her life and death, that cast so far-reaching a spell over his Renaissance successors. It was, above all, his celebra­ tion of womanhood that contributed so much to the modern outlook, and that must have made it easier for Shakespeare to proceed from his own early lyricism to actual drama. Romeo is "for the numbers that Petrarch flow'd in," according to the satirical Mercutio, who contrasts Laura unfavorably with Juliet: " ... marry, she had a better love to berhyme her" (II, iv, 38-41). Sonnets are embedded in the text, most poignantly in the lovers' first encounter, and rhyme is more abundant than blank verse in the earliest scene of the play. Parenthetically, it might be observed that there is no textual provision for a balcony scene. The word itself was never employed by Elizabethans, though the relevant function might have been served by the upper space of their formalized stage. Juliet would seem to have been standing at her window, while Romeo stood in the Capulets' garden outside. Balconies, to be sure, were more endemic to the Italian than to the English climate. Any land might have provided sur­ roundings for an erotic rendezvous, but Italy helped to warrant the extreme youthfulness of the lovers. Conflict is inherent in dramaturgy of any kind; but in this context "Alla staccato carries it away," with the stylized thrust of duelling swords at the opening, the climax, and the denouement (III, i, 74). And, as the prologue announces in its preliminary sonnet, "fair Verona, where we lay our scene," is notorious for its municipal blood-feuds: "civil blood makes civil hands unclean" (2, 4). The rival families condemned by Dante to Purgatory, the Montecchi and Cappelletti, had been morally reconciled by the succession of previous storytellers, but not until their tale of faction crossed by affection had resolved itself through potion, poison, and dagger. That all this had happened within a self-consciously Roman Catholic framework had a further distancing effect for Shakespeare, who had confronted and sharply defied the "Italian priest" through (iii, i, 153). Yet in Romeo and Juliet Friar Lawrence can act as a moralistic yet sympathetic raisonneur. Turning from Romeo and Juliet to Othello, Shakespeare's other Italianate trage­ dy, we do not leave the theme of love behind; we watch it being overpowered by an accumulation of other motives. Where Petrarchism fostered the paradigms for the earlier play, Machiavellianism preconditioned those of the later one. The Shakespeare's Italians 49 spirit of Machiavelli had "crossed the Alps" and delivered Marlowe's prologue to The Jew of Malta. The key-word of his statecraft, "policy," had taken on a cynical intonation, never neutral, "base and rotten" for Shakespeare in 1 Henry IV (I, iii, 108). But exaggerated apprehensions of plotting and protestant suspi­ cions of papery had merely prepared the way. Shakespeare was less concerned with literal poisons than with the fears that could envenom men's minds. Now Iago is not an archetypal villain, any more than Romeo is an archetypal lover; each of them, as a major Shakespearean characterization, is highly individual­ ized. Nor is Iago a typical Venetian, any more than that generous merchant of Venice, Antonio. Cassio, Iago's incidental victim, attests of him: "I never knew a Florentine more kind and honest" (III, i, 40). Accordingly, he trusts him as he would a compatriot; and so does Othello, who is so far from being a compa­ triot. "This is Venice," so Brabantio-one of its magnificos-confidently affirms, awakened by an unseemly hue and cry of the citizens when his daughter is carried off by a gondolier to Othello (I, i, 105). How could that ever happen here? The peculiar topography of Venice, which gave it the most colorful of all cityscapes, made it a high point on the European grand tour. Bantering with the melancholy Jacques in As You Like It, Rosalind describes such tourists as having "swam in a gundello" (IV, i, 38). More sadly, it is reported that the Duke of Norfolk, condemned to lifelong exile by Richard II, after having fought in the Crusades and retired to Italy, died and was buried at Venice. Of course, one must see that city in order to prize it-not that Holofernes ever has, but he shows off his pedantry by reciting a proverbial jingle in Love's Labor's Lost:

Venechia, Venechia, Che non te vede, che non te prechia. (IV, ii, 97f) From this commanding city-state-empire, so well organized under its Duke and Senators, Othello the Moor-like Shylock the Jew-is an outsider. Yet, far more acculturated than Shylock, through religious conversion and now through mar­ riage, he has been entrusted by the Venetians with their naval leadership and has led them to victory against the infidel Turks. Venice functions as a point of departure, in the receding perspective of Act I. The subsequent four acts occur in its Levantine colony, swerving centrifugally with the dramatic action: this is Cyprus, not Venice. If Iago is reductive when he calls Othello "an erring barbarian," he is even more mischievous when he invokes Desdemona as "a super-subtle Venetian" (I, iii, 855f. ). That epithet befits not her but himself; for she is truly simple and loyal; and it is only through the madness of Othello's psychic insecurity that he can be led to mistreat her-as if she were one of those ill-famed Venetian courtesans-in the so-called "brothel scene." After civic order reasserts itself, with the reinforced presence of the Venetians, it is Othello who avenges his own crime by suicide, even while recalling his services to the state. And the self he kills becomes identified with the enemy, the Turkish infi­ del, once again and finally the outsider: And say besides, that in Aleppo once, Where a malignant and a turban'd Turk Beat a Venetian and traduc' d the state, I took by th' throat the circumcised dog, And smote him-thus. (V, ii, 352-56) 50 HARVARD LIBRARY BULLETIN

Regional commitments would be neutralized by the admonition of Coriola­ nus, when he departs from Rome to take command with its Volscian enemies: "There is a world elsewhere" (Ill, iii, 135). Yet insofar as Shakespeare's creative world had a center, Italy and the Italians were very near it, not because he had travelled there-he hadn't, and his sketchy geographical patchwork is evident when his gentlemen of Verona travel by water to Milan-but because it had ani­ mated the mainstream of humanistic civilization as he knew it. Later English poets, settling in Italy, vainly tried to reanimate its past with their self­ conscious, worked-up closet dramas, such as Byron's Marino Faliero or Shelley's Cenci. Let me quote a stage direction, not from one of them but from the pas­ tiche that exposed them, by a playwright whom Max Beerbohm invented, known from his play as "Savonarola" Brown: Re-enter Guelphs and Ghibellines fighting. SAV. [Savonarola] and LUC. [Lucrezia Borgia] are arrested by papal officers. Enter MICHELANGELO. ANDREA DEL SARTO appears for a moment at a window. PIPPA passes. Brothers of the Misericordia go by, singing a requiem for FRANCESCA DA RIMINI. Enter BOCCACCIO, BENVENUTO CELLINI, and many others, making remarks highly characteristic of themselves but scarcely audible through the terrific thunderstorm, which now bursts over Florence and is at its loudest and darkest crisis as the curtain falls. What is lacking amid all this allusion and profusion? Synthesis, imagination, insight. Beerbohm's wit brings out the truth that nothing fits together; every­ thing sticks out in different directions, depending more on historical repute than artistic recreation; and everyone, with some divergence in centuries, has been dead for several hundred years. What we miss is that organic conception which brings Romeo and Juliet or Beatrice and Benedick or Prospero and Miranda or Othello, Iago, and Desdemona to life. To life, but not necessarily to la dolce vita, Vernon Lee to the contrary notwithstanding. It could be accepted as a measure of Shakespeare's sustained authority, of his acceptance by Italian readers and writers, and of his continuing inter-cultural vitality that his plays engendered the libretti for three of Verdi's operas-two of them among the very greatest, one of these a marked improvement over its Shakespearean antecedent, The Merry Wives of Windsor. It is true that Falstaff started out as a thoroughly British Englishman; but, at the stage where Verdi took him up, he had reached a plane where ethnicity is outdistanced by universality.

This essay is based on a lecture presented at the Villa I Tatti (the Harvard Uni­ versity Center for Italian Renaissance Studies) in Florence on 7 December 1989. Textual references are to The Riverside Shakespeare, ed. G. B. Evans et al. (Bos­ ton, 1974). 51

American Library Resources for Latin American Studies

William VernonJackson

merican research libraries have assembled the largest collections of pub­ A lished materials relating to Latin America that exist in any country-far exceeding those in Spain, Portugal, and the individual Latin American nations. Yet we do not fully know the nature and extent of these resources. It is gener­ ally easy to find the location of a particular book, because, in addition to cata­ logs (partial or complete) of the Latin American holdings of a number of major libraries, we have such comprehensive catalogs as the National Union Catalog and the Union List of Serials/New Serial Titles. Moreover, it becomes ever easier to locate a given title, thanks to the on-line databases. We also often have statements of current collecting policy, but we lack the descriptive overall view of the results of past acquisitions. Catalogs in which one can find the location of a particular book are not the same as guides to resources that describe library collections in terms of the nature and extent of holdings, WILLIAM V. JACKSON is Pro­ fessor at the Graduate School their language and geographic spread, the degree of comprehensiveness, unique of Library and Information and rare materials held (e.g., first editions and manuscripts), nonbook materials, Sciences of The University of special emphases or areas of note within each field, and supporting and related Texas at Austin, Texas. materials in other parts of the collection. It is only from a guide or guides that we can find detailed answers to such questions as: Which libraries have collected materials for advanced study and research on Latin America? How extensively have they done so? In which subjects are they strong? In which disciplines are they weak? In building resources, to which countries have these institutions paid greatest attention? Where are important collections of nonbook materials, such as maps, music, and photographs? The answers to these and other related questions, in addition to aiding scholars, would further cooperative acquisitions and preser­ vation planning for Latin American materials. These are among the most endan­ gered holdings in American libraries. Although this article cannot substitute for an extensive, detailed guide, it does offer a general overview of Latin American resources in American libraries by indicating the distribution and extent of these materials and the nature of their holdings (with regard to both geographic concentrations and subject strengths). Although it does not trace the history of either individual collections or of the total national effort to develop resources, it offers observations that may facilitate understanding of research holdings in the last decade of the twentieth century. (This essay deals only with collections for advanced study and research, omitting both teaching materials that support basic studies, as found in libraries of liberal arts colleges, and those for the general reader, as found in public libraries.) 52 HARVARD LIBRARY BULLETIN

The lack of published information on individual library holdings has been a serious obstacle in preparing this report. Many sources were out of date or incomplete; many emphasized only certain aspects of holdings (e.g., one special collection or form of material). To supplement these books and articles with more up-to-date information, a brief questionnaire was sent in May 1987 to thirty-eight institutions with important Latin American holdings; it asked for statistics on the size of the collections and a list of subject strengths and geo­ graphic concentrations. Since not all libraries replied, the picture remains incomplete. Statements in this essay generally refer to materials in traditional book and booklike formats (monographs, pamphlets, serials, and newspapers), and they cover neither manuscript and archival materials, nor audiovisual items. Research libraries in the United States consist of three types: (1) those sup­ ported by the national government-most importantly, the Library of Con­ gress, which functions as the national library in all areas but clinical medicine and technical agriculture, for which there are separate institutions (the National Library of Medicine and the National Agricultural Library); (2) the privately supported, independent institutions like the New York Public Library, the Newberry Library, and the Huntington-none of them affiliated with a degree­ granting institution; and (3) the libraries of major research universities, both pri­ vately and publicly (state) supported. There are three national libraries, about fifteen members of the Independent Research Libraries Association (IRLA), and more than one hundred members of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL). These figures reveal the great numerical importance of university librar­ ies. Nearly every major university supports one or more "area studies program" -interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary programs that focus on one geographi­ cal area; a few examples are the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe at Harvard, Southeast Asia at Wisconsin, Africa at Northwestern, South Asia at Chicago, East Asia at California, Berkeley, Latin America at Texas, and the British Com­ monwealth at Duke. This means that some institutions have given relatively lit­ tle emphasis to overall Latin American holdings, even though nearly all teach Spanish and, to a lesser extent, Portuguese language and literature. The degree to which individual professional schools (e.g., law, medicine, journalism, archi­ tecture, library science) participate in these area studies programs varies greatly as well. These and other factors (funding levels, general support for libraries, grants from foundations and the U.S. government) have influenced and con­ tinue to play a role in the development of Latin American resources. Since the first third of the twentieth century, the Library of Congress has had a collecting policy broader than that of most universities; the New York Public Library has also collected in depth in nearly all humanistic and social science dis­ ciplines and technology but has given much less emphasis to the biological sci­ ences and has excluded certain fields (pedagogy and theology) covered by other libraries in New York City.

DISTRIBUTION OF RESOURCES

The number of collections having holdings of importance for research is in itself difficult to determine. Most American libraries organize their collections by subject (history, economics, chemistry, etc.), and to determine the extent of American Library Resourcesfor Latin American Studies 53

holdings on Latin America, it would be necessary to examine each topic within the classification (a study of Brazilian resources 1 revealed about 700 such places within the Library of Congress Classification). Furthermore, some major col­ lections have used more than one classification, so it would be necessary to combine figures. Twenty years ago Nettie Lee Benson defined a comprehensive Latin American collection as one that would "comprehend all fields and all countries of Latin America as well as all works published world-wide about Latin America or by Latin American authors from earliest time to the present." 2 She stated that such a collection would embrace from 450,000 to 600,000 titles or 650,000 to 800,000 volumes. No such collection existed in 1968, and probably one does not exist now, although it is certain that libraries with large holdings have become more comprehensive in the past two decades. If we do not have a truly comprehensive collection, what factors should we use to judge collections as "important" in the national context? We might more readily understand what an "important" col­ lection is by stating what it is not. It is not limited to a single country or region, but embraces the entire area south of the Rio Grande; it does not consist of a sin­ gle "special collection" on one topic, area, or political or literary figure; it does not limit itself to one or two academic disciplines, but embraces nearly all of the humanities and social sciences; and it does not deal with only a particular time period, but covers the pre-Columbian, colonial, and national periods. Such a broad scope does not, of course, preclude emphases on particular countries or disciplines. Under this definition fall both collections of very large dimensions (Texas and the Library of Congress) and those that may be only one-quarter or one-fifth of their size. On this basis, one might put forward the hypothesis that the United States contains between forty and fifty libraries with major Latin American resources. (A directory published in 1971 tabulates 144 institutions, but it includes special libraries, colleges, and public libraries that would certainly not meet the above definition.)3 In addition, many libraries may have special col­ lections or subject strengths related to aspects of Latin American civilization rather than to the entire range of its culture. Although there might be disagreement on a few institutions in the following list, it seems likely that most experts in library resources and Latin Americanists would feel that all of the following libraries meet these criteria. University Libraries (39): Arizona; Arizona State; California, Berkeley; Califor­ nia, Los Angeles; Catholic; Chicago; Columbia; Connecticut; Cornell; Duke; Florida; Harvard; Illinois; Indiana; Kansas; Massachusetts; Miami; Michigan; Michigan State; Minnesota; New Mexico; New York; North Carolina; North­ western; Ohio State; Pennsylvania; Pennsylvania State; Pittsburgh; Princeton; Southern California; Stanford; State University of New York, Stony Brook; Texas; Tulane; Vanderbilt; Virginia; Washington, St. Louis; Wisconsin; Yale. Other Libraries (6): Center for Research Libraries; Hispanic Society of Amer­ ica; Library of Congress; New York Public; Newberry; Pan American Union.

1 William V. Jackson, Library Guide for Brazilian Studies Distributed by Vanderbilt University Bookstore, (Pittsburgh: Distributed by University of Piusburgh 1974), pp. 7-14. Book Centers, 1964), pp. 165-194. 3 Robert P. Haro, Latin Americana Research in the United 2 Nettie Lee Benson, "The Development of Compre­ States and Canada: A Guide and Directory (Chicago: hensive Latin American Collections," in William V. American Library Association, 1971). Jackson, ed., Latin American Collections (Nashville: 54 HARVARD LIBRARY BULLETIN

Plotting these forty-five libraries on the map, one finds them distributed in all parts of the country. In one sense, this follows the distribution of major research collections, yet one can immediately see reflected the natural interest of institu­ tions in those southern states facing the Caribbean or bordering Mexico­ Florida, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California. These six states contain ten collections; the remaining thirty-five are in the District of Columbia and seventeen states: Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Massa­ chusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Caro­ lina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin. It is worth noting that six metropolitan areas have more than a single collec­ tion: New York, Washington, Chapel Hill/Raleigh/Durham, Chicago, San Francisco Bay, and Los Angeles. Chicago is unique in having three libraries in the city and two others relatively close by: Illinois to the south in Urbana and Wisconsin to the northwest in Madison.

DEVELOPMENT OF RESOURCES

A few historical notes will help set the stage for the discussion of the two national programs that enhanced Latin American holdings after World War II. By the end of the nineteenth century more than one hundred publications had been acquired and sent to the Library of Congress by American ministers to eight countries in Latin America, in response to a request by Librarian John Russell Young. 4 By 1915, Harvard had acquired several private libraries from Latin America, 5 and in 1920 Texas started collecting in earnest with the purchase of the Genaro Garcia collection in Mexico. 6 Four years later Tulane's Latin American Library began when a portion of the William Gates Collection of Middle American Books and Manuscripts came to the university as a gift. 7 During the 1920s and 1930s some university libraries were acquiring material on at least the history and literature of the republics to the south, but for many institutions extensive development of holdings in various disciplines and from all parts of Latin America did not begin until after World War II, when a new importance was given to international studies. Further strong impetus came in the 1960s, when both the large foundations and the federal government began to support area studies on a greatly expanded scale. Collecting foreign materials extensively became part of the normal operations of the country's major research libraries and, with some ups and downs, has continued to the present. The development of strong Latin American holdings in university libraries has almost always occurred in relation with and response to a Latin American pro­ gram on campus. In contrast, both the Library of Congress and the New York Public Library have long collected globally, with nearly equal emphasis on acquisitions from all regions of the world. During this same period, two national programs contributed to the expan­ sion of resources for Latin American studies. The first was the Farmington

4 Mary Ellis Kahler, "Bibliographic Activities of the 6 Nettie Lee Benson, "Latin American Collection," Dis­ Library of Congress Relating to Latin America," in covery, 7, no. 3 (1983), 54-61. Seminar on the Acquisition of Latin American Library 7 Guillermo Nunez Falcon, "The Latin American Materials, 23rd, 1978, Final Report and Working Papers Library, Tulane University," Louisiana Library Associa­ (Austin: SALALM Secretariat, 1979) p. 281. tion Bulletin, 46 (1983/84), 89-94. 5 William Bentick-Smith, Building a Great Library: The Coolidge Years at Harvard (Cambridge: Harvard Univer­ sity Library, 1976), pp. 112-114. American Library Resourcesfor Latin American Studies 55

Plan, which had as its goal to acquire and promptly catalog each new foreign publication that might reasonably be expected to be of interest to researchers in this country. Started in 1948 with coverage of three European countries, the Farmington Plan later expanded to cover most of the globe except Canada, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union and East European countries. About sixty American research libraries participated in these cooperative arrange­ ments, which operated in two ways: (1) for Western Europe and a few other countries, each library accepted the responsibility for certain subject areas and received books sent by the designated dealer in each country; and (2) for other parts of the world (mainly the newly developing nations) a series of "country responsibility" assignments was made, whereby a library accepted responsibil­ ity for collecting current publications in all fields from a specific country and made its own acquisition . For both types of coverage, the respon­ sibility was unique-there was only one library for each topic and for each country. Ten, originally eleven, libraries accepted country assignments for Latin America (see Table 1). Two collected for regions rather than simply for individ­ ual countries: Florida took up the entire Caribbean area, and Tulane, all of Cen­ tral America except Costa Rica. 8 Many of these Farmington Plan assignments­ both the subject and country types-reflected, at least in part, existing resources

TABLE I RESPONSIBILITY FOR LATIN AMERICAN COUNTRIES UNDER THE FARMINGTON PLAN

COUNTRY LIBRARY RESPONSIBLE COUNTRY LIBRARY RESPONSIBLE Argentina Cornell* Guyana Florida Barbados Florida Haiti Florida Bolivia Duke Honduras Tulane Brazil Illinois Jamaica Florida Caribbean** Florida Mexico Texas Chile California (Berkeley) Nicaragua Tulane Colombia Arizona Panama Arizona Costa Rica Kansas Paraguay Cornell* Cuba Florida Peru Cornell Dominican Republic Florida Trinidad & Tobago Florida Ecuador Duke Uruguay Cornell* El Salvador Tulane Venezuela Virginia Guatemala Tulane

*Originally assigned to Syracuse; Cornell took responsibility for these countries in 1968. •• All islands, countries, and territories not listed here.

SOURCE: Edwin E. Williams, Farmington Plan Handbook, Rev. to 1961 and abridged ([Ithaca, N. Y.] Association of Research Libraries, 1961), pp. -32-35; Farmington Plan Newsletter, No. 28 (October 1968), p. 7.

8 Edwin E. Williams, Farmington Plan Handbook Rev. to 1961 and abridged (Ithaca, N.Y.: Association of Research Libraries, 1961), pp. 32-35 and passim. 56 HARVARD LIBRARY BULLETIN

as well as current interests and thus were seen as enhancing subject or geograph­ ical strengths. For this reason, many libraries continued to emphasize the same countries after the the Farmington Plan ended in 1973. The second project, the Latin American Cooperative Acquisitions Program (LACAP) was the result of the efforts of the Seminar on the Acquisition of Latin American Library Materials (SALALM) to improve the flow of Latin American materials to the U.S. libraries. Undertaken with the assistance of the firm of Stechert-Hafner, this was an adaptation of the blanket order type of acquisitions that some libraries had placed with European dealers. In LACAP each partici­ pating library specified subjects and/or countries that it wished to cover by receiving current publications. On the basis of this profile, Stechert-Hafner sup­ plied materials from the stock sent to New York by its traveling agent in Latin America. (Although the materials were generally trade books, Stechert-Hafner did furnish some publications issued by universities and nonprofit organiza­ tions.) LACAP operated from 1961 to 1973, when it was terminated due to dis­ satisfaction on the part of some participating libraries; during this period about 43,000 different titles went to the participating libraries. 9 LACAP differed in one important respect from the Farmington Plan: multiple copies of books were acquired and distributed, although the exact number varied from as few as sev­ eral to as many as twenty. Those libraries that had signed up for the broadest coverage (Library of Congress, New York Public, and Texas) generally received priority when the number of copies available was limited. SALALM, the organization that sponsored LACAP, was an association of librarians, book dealers, scholars, and others, that came into being in 1956 fol­ lowing a meeting on the problems of Latin American acquisitions held at the University of Florida. Successive conferences have taken place at many U.S. universities, in cities in the Caribbean, in London, and in Berlin. SALALM's activities and publications 10 have contributed to the improvement of library holdings and to the dissemination of information on resources through a series of reports on significant acquisitions (no longer published). 11 Since the termination of the Farmington Plan and LACAP in the early 1970s, each library collecting on Latin America has independently pursued develop­ ment of its resources. Information continues to be exchanged at SALALM meetings, but there exists no formal cooperative agreement on resources. Undoubtedly, the Library of Congress acquires on the broadest scale, and in 1987 it received more than 18,000 monographs from Latin America, about half through purchase and half through gift and exchange (Table 2).

9 Jennifer Savary, "Library Cooperation in Latin Amer­ continued by Peter T.Johnson, "Significant Acquisi­ ica," in Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science tions of Latin American Materials by U.S. and Cana­ (New York: Dekker, 1975), XV, 214-247. dian Libraries, 1971/72," in Seminar on the Acquisition 10 William V. Jackson, "Twenty-Third Seminar on the of Latin American Library Materials, 17th, 1972, Final Acquisition of Latin American Materials," in Encyclope­ Report and Working Papers (Amherst: SALALM, 1975), dia of Library and Information Science (New York: Dek­ II, 1-29; and by Peter T. Johnson, "Significant Acquisi­ ker, 1981), XXXI, 239-280. tions of Latin American Materials by U.S. and Cana­ 11 Jane Garner. "Significant Acquisitions of Latin Ameri­ dian Libraries, 1972/73," in Seminar on the Acquisition can Materials, Decennial Cumulation, 1961/62-1970/ of Latin American Library Materials, 18th, 1973, Final 71" in Seminar on the Acquisition of Latin American Report and Working Papers (Amherst: SALALM, 1975), Library Materials, 16th, 1971, Final Report and Working I, 227-238. Papers (Washington: OAS, 1971), pp. 163-307. It is American Library Resourcesfor Latin American Studies 57

ORGANIZA TION OF RESOURCES

This article has used the phrase "Latin American collections" for the sake of convenience, not because these materials are physically and administratively separate. In fact, American research libraries generally classify their Latin American holdings by subject and shelve them with other volumes on these subjects (e.g., books on the economies of Brazil, Argentina, etc., with other books on economics, those covering the arts in Latin America with other vol­ umes on fine arts). In addition, many universities have branch libraries for some sciences and for certain professional fields. Three universities comprise, how­ ever, the exception to this general practice; they have established separate Latin American libraries. The largest of these (see Table 3) is at the University of Texas at Austin, housed since 1971 in Sid Richardson Hall along with the administrative offices of the Institute of Latin American Studies (ILAS). The collection at Tulane, originally part of the Middle American Research Institute, became part of the Tulane University Library and occupies separate quarters on the fourth floor of the Howard- Tilton Library. The University of Florida estab­ lished its Latin American collection as a separate unit in 1967 and located it in

TABLE 2 MONOGRAPHS FROM LATIN AMERICA ACQUIRED BY LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 1987

BY GIFT OR BY BY GIFT OR BY COUNTRY EXCHANGE PURCHASE TOTAL COUNTRY EXCHANGE PURCHASE TOTAL Anguilla 0 28 28 Haiti 51 56 107 Antigua and Barbuda 0 8 8 Honduras 9 124 133 Argentina 593 837 1,430 Jamaica 10 82 92 Bahamas 15 129 144 Mexico 926 1,286 2,212 Barbados 29 32 61 Netherlands Antilles 19 21 40 Belize 0 2 2 Nicaragua 23 123 146 Bermuda 0 9 9 Panama 37 98 135 Bolivia 40 226 266 Paraguay 10 188 198 Brazil 4,161 2,063 6,224 Peru 136 446 582 Cayman Islands 3 21 24 Puerto Rico 51 86 137 Chile 1,529 411 1,940 St. Christopher-St Kits-Nevis 0 0 0 Colombia 259 498 757 St. Lucia 0 13 13 Costa Rica 149 263 412 St. Vincent 0 9 9 Cuba 358 148 506 Surinam 54 11 65 Dominica 7 13 20 Trinidad and Tobago 18 27 45 Dominican Republic 61 222 283 Turks and Caicos Islands 0 0 0 Ecuador 62 378 440 Uruguay 139 332 471 El Salvador 12 68 80 Venezuela 279 822 1,101 French Antilles 5 145 150 Virgin Islands (U.K.) 1 5 6 Grenada 0 1 1 Virgin Islands (U.S.) 1 12 13 Guatemala 79 68 147 TOTAL 9,135 9,364 18,499 Guyana 9 53 62

SOURCE: "Library of Congress Monograph Receipts for 1986and 1987,"Library of Congress InformationBulletin, 47 (8 February 1988),52-58. 58 HARVARD LIBRARY BULLETIN

the Library East Building. Even though these separate libraries house the bulk of Latin American resources, some materials remain in other locations, e.g., agriculture at Florida, medicine and business administration at Tulane, some sciences at Texas, and law at all three institutions. Although the Library of Congress has had a separate reading room for the Hispanic Division since its creation (as the Hispanic Foundation) in 1939, the room contains only a collection of reference books. Originally, there was an attempt to house some Hispanic materials (notably in classes F and PQ) adjacent to the reading room, but given the size of the library's holdings, it was impossi­ ble to maintain this practice. In addition to not segregating Latin American items on the shelves, libraries have neither established separate catalogs to provide special bibliographic access nor published descriptive guides to their holdings. The development of on-line computer-based catalogs may eventually enable a user to view on his or her ter­ minal a listing of all materials dealing with a certain country; at present this is not possible. One current cooperative venture using the computer deserves mention, how­ ever, because it appears to have some potential for revealing more about Latin American resources. This is the North American Collections Inventory Project (NCIP). Libraries participating in this project (begun in 1983) are studying their resources in twenty-four broad fields, one of them being Latin American Stud­ ies. Utilizing the Conspectus methodology yields "an overview, or summary, of

TABLE 3 LATIN AMERICAN RESOURCES OF 26 RESEARCH LIBRARIES, 1987

LIBRARY VOLUMES* LIBRARY VOLUMES* Arizona 84,000 New York Public 150,000 Arizona State 65,000 New York University 37,000 California (Berkeley) 500,000 North Carolina 200,000 Catholic 50,000** Ohio State 50,000 Connecticut 70,000 Pennsylvania State 60,000 Cornell 240,000 Pittsburgh 221,000 Duke 185,000 Princeton 120,000 Florida 213,000*** Southern California 216,500 Harvard 300,000**** Texas 510,000*** Illinois 325,000 Tulane 216,500*** Kansas 250,000 Vanderbilt 70,000 Michigan State 60,000 Virginia 113,000 New Mexico 250,000 Wisconsin 250,000

SOURCE: Questionnaires returned by libraries, June, 1987. Newberry and Washington (St. Louis) could not supply current statistics; ten other major research libraries did not reply.

*Most figures are estimates. **Oliveira Lima Library only. ***Separate Latin American collections only; does not include volumes in other campus libraries (main and branches). ****Rough estimate, which probably does not reflect holdings of faculty libraries as fully as those of Harvard College Library. American Library Resourcesfor Latin American Studies 59

existing collecting strengths [ECS] and future collecting intensities [now spoken of as current collecting intensities, CCI]." 12 For each of 7,000 descriptors this takes the form of two symbols: a number representing the collecting level on a scale of O (out of scope) to 5 (comprehensive) and a letter representing the lan­ guage spread of material in one of four ways {English language predominating, Selected foreign languages, Wide selection of foreign languages, and Primarily in one foreign language); the two parts, ECS and CCI, are separated by a slash (e.g., 4F/3E). Coupled with these designations are optional additions: Scope Notes, Comment Notes, and Preservation Scope Notes. The results are then added to the RLIN data base and form the Conspectus On-line. One limitation of this methodology is obvious: even with the addition of notes, Conspectus "notation" is really a kind of shorthand symbol-far from the descriptive statements that are part of a true guide to resources. Unfortunately, there are at present several drawbacks in utilizing Conspectus On-line to obtain information on Latin American material. No statement on the application of subject descriptors to Latin America has been disseminated generally; one set of Conspectus Worksheets, entitled "Latin America Update" (seen in a library participating in NCIP), contains 146 pages. This seems to indi­ cate many specific (as opposed to broad) subjects. We know neither how many libraries have contributed data on Latin America nor how complete were their submissions. Availability is limited to libraries that are members of the Research Libraries Group (RLG), bec:ause apparently there are no plans to publish Con­ spectus On-line, in whole or in part (one could presumably arrange for a print­ out, but this would be rather costly.) 13

EXTENT OF HOLDINGS

To answer the question, How large are the Latin American collections? one should consult Table 3, which gives statistics for twenty-six research libraries, though most figures are estimates. We have no up-to-date figures for the remaining nineteen institutions: California, Los Angeles; Center for Research Libraries; Chicago; Columbia; Hispanic Society; Indiana; Library of Congress; Massachusetts; Miami; Michigan; Minnesota; Newberry; Northwestern; Pan American Union; Pennsylvania; Stanford; SUNY, Stony Brook; Washington, St. Louis; and Yale. Table 3 indicates that two institutions, California at Berkeley and Texas, have resources in excess of 500,000 volumes. (The Library of Congress presumably matches or exceeds this figure.) The next largest collections are found at Illinois and Harvard. Clustered at around 250,000 volumes are Cornell, Kansas, New Mexico, and Wisconsin, with another group (Pittsburgh, Tulane, Florida, Southern California, and North Carolina) consisting of libraries holding between 200,000 and 225,000 volumes. Four institutions (Duke, New York Public, Princeton, and Virginia) report between 100,000 and 199,000 volumes; the remaining nine institutions fall below 100,000.

12 Nancy E. Gwinn and Paul H. Mosher, "Coordinating Manual for the North American Inventory of Research Collection Development: The RLG Conspectus," Col­ Library Collections (Washington: Association of lege & Research Libraries, 44 (1983), 129. Research Libraries, Office of Management Studies, 13 For more information on NCIP, see Jutta Reed-Scott, 1988). 60 HARVARD LIBRARY BULLETIN

These figures are approximate. Most accurate are those for the separate libraries at Florida, Texas, and Tulane. One suspects that the estimate for Har­ vard may be low for a total collection exceeding 11,000,000 volumes. Of the libraries not replying to the questionnaire, California at Los Angeles, Stanford; and Yale probably have the largest holdings; given their emphasis on Latin America, the collections may approach or surpass those of Illinois and Harvard.

NATURE OF RESOURCES: GEOGRAPHIC CONCENTRATIONS

Although most libraries with significant holdings now attempt to collect material from all countries and regions in Latin America in equal depth, certain geographic concentrations within collections do exist. These have resulted from such factors as the origin and development of collections, purchases of special collections emphasizing a country or region, and priority support given to those nations emphasized in the teaching and research programs of Latin American centers. Each of the three separate Latin American libraries had a distinct geo­ graphical emphasis in its early years: the Caribbean region at Florida, Mexico at Texas, and Central America at Tulane; to a certain degree, these emphases per­ sist. To learn more about similar concentrations in other libraries, the present inquiry asked for a listing of the individual countries most strongly represented in each library's resources. Twenty-four institutions named eighty-seven such concentrations, or an average of 3. 6 per library. As one might expect, the three largest countries (Argentina, Brazil, Mexico) received most frequent mention; next came five republics (Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, and Peru) with four to seven mentions; there were two or three of Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Vene­ zuela, and one each of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Haiti. Some nations may not have been mentioned by some institutions because they fell under one of the five regions listed as a geographic concentration. The fourteen mentions here were: Central America (California at Berkeley, Kansas, Southern California, and Tulane), the Caribbean (Florida and Pittsburgh), the Andean area (Cornell, Illinois, Newberry, and Pittsburgh), the southern cone (Pennsylvania State), and the Amazon basin (Florida, Illinois, and Michigan State). The attempt to learn of strength in materials about individual cities and states was less successful: few libraries responded to this question. A comparison of Table 4 with Table 1 shows that several of the countries listed in 1987 were those for which a library had accepted Farmington Plan responsibility two decades earlier: Bolivia (Duke), Brazil (Illinois), Chile (Cali­ fornia at Berkeley), Costa Rica (Kansas), Cuba (Florida), Mexico (Texas), Peru (Cornell), and Venezuela (Virginia); in addition, the emphasis on the Caribbean at Florida has continued. To provide another indication of "country coverage" a count was made of entries under twenty-four countries in the catalogs of four libraries with large total collections (Harvard, Library of Congress, New York Public, and Texas). These statistics (Table 5) include both corporate entries (e.g., Argentina. Minis­ terio de Relaciones Exteriores) and subject entries (e.g., Brazil-Industries), but they show neither the number of titles (the same book could appear under sev­ eral headings) nor volumes (multivolume works and journals receive only one subject entry). They do, of course, reflect the subdivisions for a number of important social science disciplines, such as economic conditions, history, poli- American Library Resourcesfor Latin American Studies 61

tics, and provide a clue as to the relative quantity of each library's holdings on countries. But given the differences in the dates of coverage (because of the clos­ ing of card catalogs at different times) and in cataloging practices, any compari­ sons among the four libraries should be made with great caution. These figures do seem to corroborate the strengths reported on the questionnaire: greatest number of entries under the largest countries (but note that entries at Texas for Mexico are nearly double those for any other country). That the Library of Congress figures show the largest number of entries for Brazil is not surprising, since LC opened a procurement center in Rio de Janeiro in late 1966; the increased flow of Brazilian acquisitions has continued for more than two decades, and in 1987 nearly three times as many items came from Brazil as from

TABLE 4 INDIVIDUAL COUNTRIES MOST STRONGLY REPRESENTED IN LATIN AMERICAN COLLECTIONS OF 24 RESEARCH LIBRARIES

COUNTRY LIBRARIES REPORTING STRENGTH Argentina Arizona, Arizona State, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Michigan State, New Mexico, New York Public, New York University, North Carolina, Pittsburgh, Princeton, Southern California, Texas, Virginia (15 mentions) Bolivia Arizona State, Cornell, Duke, Pittsburgh (4 mentions) Brazil Arizona, Cornell, Duke, Florida, Illinois, Michigan State, New Mexico, New York Public, New York University, Newberry, Ohio State, Pittsburgh, Princeton, Southern California, Vanderbilt, Virginia (16 mentions) Chile California (Berkeley), Connecticut, North Carolina, Princeton, Virginia (5 mentions) Colombia Duke, Illinois, Michigan State, Southern California, Vanderbilt, Virginia (6 mentions) Costa Rica Illinois, Kansas (2 mentions) Cuba California (Berkeley), Florida, Illinois, New York Public, Pittsburgh, Princeton, Southern California (7 mentions) Dominican Rep. Pittsburgh, Southern California (2 mentions) Ecuador Cornell, Illinois, Pittsburgh (3 mentions) El Salvador Virginia Guatemala Texas Haiti Southern California Mexico Arizona, Arizona State, California (Berkeley), Connecticut, Duke, Illinois, New Mexico, New York Public, New York University, Newberry, Princeton, Southern California, Texas, Tulane, Virginia (15 mentions) Peru Arizona State, Cornell, Illinois, Newberry, Pennsylvania State, Pittsburgh, Virginia (7 mentions) Venezuela North Carolina, Southern California, Virginia (3 mentions)

SOURCE: Questionnaires returned by libraries, June, 1987. 62 HARVARD LIBRARY BULLETIN

TABLE 5 NUMBER OF ENTRIES UNDER 24 COUNTRIES IN CATALOGS OF FOUR RESEARCH LIBRARIES

LIBRARY OF NEWYORK COUNTRY HARVARD• CONGRESS PUBLIC TEXAS Argentina 6,125 19,290 7,018 18,290 Barbados 140 425 259 350 Bolivia 1,400 4,675 1,739 5,650 Brazil 6,190 24,200 7,383 22,090 Chile 3,375 10,375 3,846 10,050 Colombia 2,800 9,475 3,592 10,010 Costa Rica 625 2,725 1,008 2,640 Cuba 3,200 8,760 4,709 5,325 Dominican Republic 875 2,525 1,150 2,325 Ecuador 810 3,825 1,559 4,540 El Salvador 410 1,950 1,005 2,150 Guatemala 775 3,250 1,607 6,275 Guyana 270 690 612 475 Haiti 875 2,400 1,496 1,475 Honduras 400 1,875 1,098 2,200 Jamaica 500 1,300 886 1,275 Mexico 6,325 23,675 14,423 38,605 Nicaragua 375 1,975 810 2,610 Panama 1,400 2,160 1,592 2,635 Paraguay 1,075 2,250 1,149 3,075 Peru 2,810 9,525 3,758 10,325 Trinidad and Tobago 275 800 393 575 Uruguay 1,325 5,075 1,801 6,060 Venezuela 2,075 9,010 3,119 8,750

*Harvard College Library only.

SOURCES: Harvard-based on count of cards in Public Catalog in Widener Library in 1982; excludes entries in Hollis. Library of Congress-based on count of cards in Main Catalog in May 1988; excludes entries in Library of Congress Computerized Catalog (LCCC). New York Public-based on count of cards reproduced in DictionaryCatalog of the ResearchLibraries, 1911-1971 (800v.); excludes entries in computerized catalog (CATNYP). Texas-based on count of cards in public catalog, Benson Latin American Collection in May 1988; excludes all Latin American material not listed there.

NOTE: All figures include official publications under country (e.g., Argentina. Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores) and subject entries (e.g., Brazil-Industries). Catalogs vary in whether cities with same name (e.g., Mexico) and national universities (e.g., Colombia. Universidad Nacional) file in the country sequence or separately. AmericanLibrary Resourcesfor Latin AmericanStudies 63

any other country (Table 2). The large figure for Guatemala at Texas probably reflects the acquisition of a special collection. It is also interesting to note that all four libraries report relatively large numbers of entries for Cuba. Study of these figures tends to confirm differences in geographical concentration, whether the reasons are accidental or deliberate. Three published studies provide additional information about resources on Brazil, Colombia, and Central America. Jackson's Library Guide for Brazilian Studies (1964)14 describes the nature and extent of holdings in each of the disci­ plines in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences and technology. The thirty-nine institutions covered could be divided into four groups: seven with outstanding resources, nine with strong holdings, eleven with better than aver­ age, and twelve with working collections not extensive enough to support a great deal of research. Many of the libraries in the first two groups reported in 1987 that Brazil continues to be strongly represented in their holdings (Table 4). The Jizba survey (1975) 15 covers thirty-seven institutions and deals chiefly with Colombian belles lettres. The brief statement about each library gives the genres represented and size of holdings, as well as occasional comments on peri­ odicals and manuscript holdings and on the current (1975) collecting policy. Grieb's Research Guide to Central America and the Caribbean (1985) 16 is divided into two parts, but nearly all the information on library resources appears in the section devoted to Central America. Each one- to three-page essay, prepared by a different author, tends to emphasize manuscripts; there is little detail about book and journal holdings. The information covers only about a dozen institu­ tions, and the second part does not cover resources on the Caribbean.

NATURE OF RESOURCES: SUBJECT STRENGTHS

As a complement to geographical concentration, it would be useful to know which subjects libraries have emphasized in building their Latin American hold­ ings. Unfortunately, information currently available is sketchy, and two poten­ tial sources prove disappointing. The questionnaire sent to thirty-eight major libraries asked for a listing of the academic disciplines "most strongly repre­ sented" in the collections, but many libraries replied simply "all" or "social sci­ ences"; consequently, this approach yielded few concrete facts. The National Shelflist Count (done in selected libraries at irregular intervals) provides a count of titles by subject, but only in three places was there a geographic subdivision, i.e., one that would show titles under Latin America. Moreover, only the Library of Congress and fourteen university libraries participated in the latest inquiry (1985). We do know that at many universities library holdings in Latin American his­ tory and literature were started, encouraged, and developed under the aegis and

14 Jackson, Library Guide for Brazilian Studies (note 1). 16 Kenneth J. Grieb, ed., Research Guide to Central Amer­ 15 Laurel Jizba, "Colombian Belles Lettres Collections in ica and the Caribbean (Madison: University of Wiscon­ Selected United States Libraries" in Seminar on the sin Press, 1985). Acquisition of Latin American Library Materials, 20th, 1975, Final Report and Working Papers. (Austin: SALALM, 1978), pp. 304-323. 64 HARVARD LIBRARY BULLETIN

sponsorship of faculty in the departments of history and Spanish/Portuguese (or Romance languages and literatures). More generous funding in the past twenty years has undoubtedly led to filling in lacunae and rapid growth in some areas previously receiving lower priority, e.g., Brazilian literature and the history of the smaller republics. A descriptive guide to the New York Public Library 17 reported over 36,000 volumes of Latin American literature by the early 1970s. In addition to the New York Public's strength in general critical works and journals, it has a substantial body of work on modernismo, though it is scattered through the holdings classed as Spanish American literature. Although the number of the first editions of principal exponents Oulian del Casal, Ruben Dario, Enrique Gonzalez Mar­ tinez, Manuel Gutierrez Najera, Leopoldo Lugones, Amado Nervo, and others) is limited, there is full access to the texts through later printings and collected works. Strong holdings of major figures are present. The largest amount of material centers on Ruben Dario; the Public Catalog contains more than 250 entries for works by and about him. The largest block of material from an indi­ vidual country concerns Argentina; all aspects of its literature are well repre­ sented, including many works by and about Jorge Luis Borges. Holdings of Mexican, Chilean, and Brazilian literatures are also extensive and well rounded. The 1985 edition of the National Shelflist Count gives figures for the number of titles classified as Latin American literature. Examination of table 6 (derived from its figures) enables one to draw several conclusions. We expect to find the Library of Congress's holdings larger than those of other libraries, and this is true, but for both Spanish American and Brazilian literature, its holdings are two or three times those of even large universities. Second, for Spanish Ameri­ can literature, the university libraries cluster in two groups: one from 15,000 to 19,999 titles (found in seven institutions: Arizona, Indiana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Stanford, Texas, and Wisconsin) and one from 10,000 to 14,999 titles (found in four institutions: Arizona State, California at Berkeley, Ohio State, and Virginia). Holdings of Brazilian literature are in most cases only one-third or less than the size of the Spanish American. LC's collection is again much larger (47 per cent) than that of the largest university replying (Wisconsin). Examination of Table 7 shows that holdings of Latin American history are not significantly larger than those of literature (with a few exceptions). The Library of Congress again reports more than twice as many titles as any univer­ sity. Apart from this, holdings are over 30,000 titles at three universities (Cali­ fornia at Berkeley, UCLA, Wisconsin), between 25,000 and 29,999 at four (Columbia, Indiana, New Mexico, and Texas), between 20,000 and 24,999 at one (Arizona), between 15,000 and 19,999 at four (Arizona State, North Caro­ lina, Stanford, Virginia) and below 15,000 at two (Michigan and Ohio State). Again, the fact that some universities do not have all of their holdings classified by the Library of Congress Classification means that in some cases holdings are actually larger than indicated here. What these figures cannot show is nonquan­ titative factors, such as whether there is greater strength for the national than for the colonial period or whether the libraries have strong holdings or even spe-

17 William V. Jackson, "Latin American Literature in the Sam P. Williams, Guide to the Research Collections of the Research Collections of the New York Public Library" New York Public Library (Chicago: American Library in Latin American Collections (note 2), pp. 93-99; rpt. in Association, 1975), pp. 110-112. American Library Resourcesfor Latin American Studies 65 cial collections on such figures as Bolfvar and San Martin in the nineteenth cen­ tury or Peron and Castro in the twentieth. Nor do they provide any clues on such important kinds of materials as journals, published source materials, and biographical works. The third division in the National Shelflist Count is national bibliography. As we might expect, the totals here are much smaller than for the other two areas, but LC again reports the largest holdings (2,182 titles) in contrast to 1,020 for UCLA, 940 for Indiana, and 923 for Texas. On the 1987 questionnaire, three disciplines received mention as "most strongly represented" at six or more libraries: anthropology, economics, and political science (law was listed by two). Although these disciplines may well be the most strongly represented, specifics are needed about particular emphases. For instance, from various personal sources, discussion at SALALM, and a few listings, it is clear that many institutions have actively pursued the acquisition of census and other statistical publications. It may also be that other fields are being markedly strengthened; the fine arts, at least in recent years, have received increased attention at some libraries. Certainly it appears that of twenty-five or more academic specialties, more than three-and those only from the social sciences-would at this point be "strongly represented" in at least one library.

TABLE 6 TITLES CLASSIAED AS LATIN AMERICAN LITERATURE IN 15 RESEARCH LIBRARIES, 1985*

SPANISH AMERICAN BRAZILIAN TOTAL LIBRARY LITERATURE LITERATURE TITLES Arizona 15,564 3,297 18,861 Arizona State 12,159 3,134 15,293 California (Berkeley) 12,979 2,805 15,784 California (Los Angeles) 26,595 7,232 33,827 Columbia 9,073 2,378 11,451 Indiana 19,396 5,060 24,456 Library of Congress 46,483 14,317 60,800 Michigan State 7,842 704 8,546 New Mexico 18,414 5,885 24,299 North Carolina (Chapel Hill) 16,407 3,560 19,967 Ohio State 12,981 3,475 16,456 Stanford 15,639 3,134 18,773 Texas (Austin) 19,607 6,026 25,633 Virginia 13,913 3,676 17,589 Wisconsin (Madison) 19,933 9,734 29,667

*Only titles classified by Library of Congress Classification; titles classified by Dewey or other schemes not included.

SOURCE: Titles Classifiedby Library of CongressClassification, National She!fiist Count, 1985 (Chicago: Resources and Technical Services Division, American Library Association, 1986), pp. 383-386, 393-394 and computations therefrom. 66 HARVARD LIBRARY BULLETIN

TABLE 7 TITLES CLASSIAED AS LATIN AMERICAN HISTORY IN 15 RESEARCH LIBRARIES, 1985*

LIBRARY TITLES LIBRARY TITLES Arizona 23,151 Michigan State 12,101 Arizona State 15,842 New Mexico 28,350 California (Berkeley) 30,227 North Carolina (Chapel Hill) 19,062 California (Los Angeles) 33,919 Ohio State 14,321 Columbia 25,034 Stanford 19,731 Indiana 27,432 Texas (Austin) 28,573 Library of Congress 73,733 Virginia 18,265 Wisconsin (Madison) 30,463

*Only titles classified by Library of Congress Classification; titles classified by Dewey or other schemes not included.

SOURCE: Titles Classified by Library of Congress Classification, National She!fiist Count, 1985 (Chicago: Resources and Technical Services Division, American Library Association, 1986), pp. 118-123, and computations therefrom.

TABLE 8 TITLES CLASSIRED AS LATIN AMERICAN NATIONAL BIBLIOGRAPHY IN 15 RESEARCH LIBRARIES, 1985*

LIBRARY TITLES LIBRARY TITLES Arizona 657 New Mexico 609 Arizona State 480 North Carolina (Chapel Hill) 792 California (Berkeley) 357 Ohio State 735 California (Los Angeles) 1,020 Stanford 725 Columbia 494 Texas (Austin) 923 Indiana 940 Virginia 706 Library of Congress 2,182 Wisconsin (Madison) 802 Michigan State 468

*Only titles classified by Library of Congress Classification; titles classified by Dewey or other schemes not included.

SOURCE: Titles Classified by Library of Congress Classification, National Shelflist Count, 1985 (Chicago: Resources and Technical Services Division, American Library Association, 1986), pp. 602. American Library Resourcesfor Latin American Studies 67

CONCLUSIONS

Although information on Latin American resources in American research libraries is incomplete, available data do reveal a number of things about these holdings. First, there are between forty and fifty American libraries with resources on Latin America that are strong enough to be useful for advanced study and research. Second, among these collections, the largest ones range upward from 500,000 volumes. Those largest in size are the Library of Congress, Texas, University of California at Berkeley, Harvard, Illinois, plus, perhaps, UCLA, Stanford, and Yale as well. There appears to be some correlation between a library's size and the size of its Latin American collection, provided that the library emphasizes building and maintaining Latin American holdings. Third, resources of Latin American studies are distributed throughout the United States but with a notable regional concentration in the most southern tier of states-those bordering on the Caribbean or Mexico, as well as in such traditional library centers as New York, Boston, Washington, and Chicago. Fourth, there is some variation in the countries on which libraries have con­ centrated (Table 4), although those with largest holdings now collect in depth on all lands and islands south of the United States. Fifth, available evidence is, at present, quite insufficient to provide many facts on those disciplines in which libraries have built subject strengths. Sixth, despite their remarkable success in collecting, research libraries have devoted relatively little attention to preparing descriptive articles, surveys, and guides that could inform both their local constituencies and those outside. To be sure, published catalogs exist, but most library publications about Latin Ameri­ can materials deal with individual special collections, rather than the overall holdings of an institution. In an era of increased emphasis on access, guides become ever more desirable. 68

Harvard Library Bibliography: Supplement

This is a list of selected new books and articles of which any unit of the Harvard Library is the author, primary editor, publisher, or subject. The list also includes scholarly and professional work published by Library staff. The bibliography for 1960-1966 appeared in the Harvard Library Bulletin, 15 (1967), and supplements have appeared in the years following, most recently in Vol. XXXVI, No. 4 (Fall 1988). The list below covers publications through November 1990. Abdulrazak, Fawzi. Al-Matbu'at al-Hajariyah .ft al Maghrib (The Fez Lithographs). 208 p. Rabat: Darnanshral-Maarifah, 1989. (An annotated catalog of lithographed works printed in Fez in the latter half of the 19th century and the early part of the 20th cen­ tury. This work comprises volume 4 of the annual Mundus Arabicus. Fawzi Abdul­ razak is Arabic Language Specialist in the Middle Eastern Division of the Area Studies Department in the College Library.) The American Archivist. Vol. 52, No. 4 (Fall 1989), pp. 430-537. Chicago: The Society of American Archivists, 1989. (A special issue largely devoted to a report by the Working Group on Standards for Archival Description, chaired by Lawrence Dowler, Associate Librarian of Harvard College for Public Services. The Working Group was formed out of the conviction that something needed to be done to fos­ ter the development of standards for archival description. The Working Group's report presents a coherent case to the profession, explaining what standards can be, what role such standards could play, what potentials the Working Group sees, and what realities must be recognized. This issue of The American Archivist contains the Working Group's report, recommendations, checklists, and three background papers that gave the project its overall shape. Ten additional background papers, prepared for the Working Group's second meeting, will appear in the Winter 1990 issue, but abstracts of their contents are included here.) Becker, David P. The Work of Stephen Harvard, A Life in Letters. 64 p., softbound, with gold lettering on cover, 22 color photographs, 2 halftones, and 10 black-and-white illustrations. Cambridge: The Harvard College Library, 1990. (A catalog of the exhibition Stephen Harvard 1948-1988: A Life in Letters, on display at the Houghton Library during April and May, 1990, and at the Hood Museum of Dartmouth dur­ ing the summer of 1990. Contains 79 items, plus a list of 19 published writings and a list of 36 inscriptional stones. This catalog illuminates the tragically short career of one of America's most talented young graphic designers, and examines his work on every level, from the design of type to the design of entire books; from inscriptional stone carving, one of the most primitive of crafts, to creating new typefaces for the computer. Production of the catalog was generously supported by Roderick Stine­ hour and the staff of the Meriden-Stinehour Press in memory of their late colleague, and also supported by many other friends and admirers of Stephen Harvard. Addi­ tional support for the exhibition came from the Society of Printers, Boston, of which Stephen Harvard was a member. David Becker is former Acting Curator of Prints at the Fogg Art Museum.) Birladeanu, Ludmila and W. von Doering, Catherine A. Guyton, and Toshikazu Kita­ gawa. "A 'Frustrated' Cope Rearrangement," in journal of the American Chemical Harvard Library Bibliography: Supplement 69

Society, Vol. 112, p. 1722 (1990). (Ludmila Birladeanu is Supervisor of the Chemis­ try Library.) Bond, William H., editor. Letters from Thomas Hollis of Lincoln's Inn to Andrew Eliot. 92 p., softbound. Cambridge: Harvard College Library, 1990. (Thomas Hollis V, 1720- 1774, was the most beneficent to Harvard College of all the Hollises. When a fire destroyed the Harvard Library in 1764, he took a zealous interest in helping to restore the collection. Liberally-educated and interested in contemporary politics, he devoted his wealth and talents to promoting the ideals of civil and religious free­ dom. For many years he corresponded extensively with friends in the American col­ onies. The Reverend Andrew Eliot was a principal correspondent of Thomas Hollis in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Closely involved with Harvard College, Eliot was a good reporter of politics and public events. William H. Bond is Librarian of the Houghton Library, Emeritus.) Carpenter, Kenneth E. and Carr, Jane. Micro.formPublishing Contracts. (Reprinted from Micro.formReview/Spring 1990, Vol. 19, No. 2, pp. 83-100, with support from the James B. and Esthy Adler Preservation Fund. Kenneth E. Carpenter is Assistant Director for Research Resources in the Harvard University Library. Jane Carr is Head of Marketing and Publishing in the British Library.) Christo, Doris Hedlund, compiler. National Directory of Education Libraries and Collec­ tions. 269 p., permanent paper, index. Westport and London: Meckler, 1990. (Doris Hedlund Christo is Special Projects Coordinator at the Monroe C. Gutman Library.) "A Conversation with Sidney Verba," in Harvard Gazette, 28 September 1990, pp. 5-6. (Peter Costa, Director of the University Office of News and Public Affairs, inter­ views Sidney Verba, Carl H. Pforzheimer University Professor and Director of the University Library. The interview primarily touches upon Professor Verba's work as a social scientist on the comparison of elites and the notion of equality.) Danielson, Virginia. "Cultural Authenticity in Egyptian Musical Expression: The Rep­ ertory of the Mashayikh," in Paci.fieReview of Ethnomusicology, Vol. 5 (1989), pp. 49-61. (Virginia Danielson is Reconversion Project Manager in the Eda Kuhn Loeb Music Library.) Dowler, Lawrence. "The Role of Use in Defining Archival Practice and Principles: A Research Agenda for the Availability and Use of Records," in The American Archi­ vist, Vol. 51 (Winter and Spring 1988). (The article suggests that "a user-driven model of archives, rather than the current materials-centered model, can provide the intellectual tools needed to define archival principles and determine archival practices." The article stems from Mr. Dowler's work in the 1987 Research Fellow­ ship Program for Study of Modern Archives, administered by the Bentley Histori­ cal Library at the University of Michigan and funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Research Division of the National Endowment for the Humani­ ties. Lawrence Dowler is Associate Librarian of Harvard College for Public Ser­ vices.) ____ . See also entry above under The American Archivist. Edizioni dell'Elefante 1964-1990, Work of the Roman Publishers Enzo and Benedetta Crea. 20-page pamphlet with 13 illustrations and a paper cover. Cambridge: The Harvard College Library, 1990. (A catalog of the exhibition of the same name, on display at the Houghton Library from 6 December 1990 through 26 January 1991. Containing 35 items, the catalog also has an introduction in both English and Italian, in facing columns, by Dante Della Terza, Irving Babbitt Professor of Comparative Literature at Harvard University. Publication was made possible by a gift from Emily K. Seif­ ert in memory of her brother Franklin H. Kissner, who loved Rome and its books.) Elliott, Clark, compiler. BiographicalIndex to American Science: The Seventeenth Century to 1920. 300 p. + xliii. No. 16 in Bibliographies and Indexes in American History. New York and Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1990. (This work was supported 70 HARVARD LIBRARY BULLETIN

by a Douglas W. Bryant Fellowship from the Harvard University Library in 1984. It is a complementary volume to Mr. Elliott's BiographicalDictionary of American Sci­ ence: The Seventeenth through the Nineteenth Centuries, published by Greenwood Press in 1979. Clark Elliott is Associate Curator for Archives Administration and Research in the University Archives.) ____ . "Collective Lives of American Scientists: An Introductory Essay and a Bibliography," Beyond History of Science: Essays in Honor of Robert E. Schofield, ed. Elizabeth Garber (Bethlehem: Lehigh University Press; Associated University Presses, 1990), pp. 81-104. (Notes Mr. Elliott, "This work is a festschrift volume for Robert E. Schofield, Harvard Ph.D. 1955. Currently professor of history of sci­ ence at Iowa State University, he was my thesis advisor at Case Western Reserve University.") ____ . "Harvard University Archives," a chapter in Archives of Data-ProcessingHis­ tory: A Guide to Major U.S. Collections,edited by James W. Cortada. New York and Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1990. (This chapter was to have been written by Richard Haas, but his death prevented him from completing the task. The book, whose preface contains a brief biographical sketch of Mr. Haas, is dedicated "To the Memory of Richard L. Haas (1956-1987), Harvard University's First Records Man­ agement Officer and Pioneer in the Preservation of Data-Processing Archives.") ____ . "Invited Commentary: The History of Harvard Astronomy: A View from the Archives," in "Two Astronomical Anniversaries: The Harvard College Obser­ vatory Sesquicentennial [and] The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory Centennial," journal for the History of Astronomy, Vol. 21, Part 1 (February 1990), pp. 3-8. (Article published in a special issue of journal for the History of Astronomy, based on a symposium held at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics on 7 January 1989.) Emerson, John. "Some General Accounts of the Safavid and Afsharid Period, Primarily in English," in Pembroke Papers I: Persian and Islamic Studies in honour of P.W. Avery (Cambridge, England: University of Cambridge, Centre of Middle Eastern Studies, 1990), pp. 27-41. Gohn Emerson is Persian Language Specialist in the Mid­ dle Eastern Division, Area Studies Department, in Widener Library.) Erato/Harvard Book Review. Nos. 13-14 (Summer and Fall 1989), 15-16 (Winter and Spring 1990), and 17-18 (Summer and Fall 1990). Cambridge: Woodberry Poetry Room and Farnsworth Room, Harvard College Library. (edited by Stratis Haviara, Curator of the Woodberry Poetry and Farnsworth Rooms in the College Library, and Michael Milburn, Assistant Curator. Contributors to the publication include Harvard faculty and library staff. Each issue contains a book review supplement.) Etgar, Raphie. Raphie Etgar/Posters.Translated by M. Jagendorf. 20 p., oversized, with 1 halftone and 20 color reproductions. Cambridge: Harvard College Library, 1990. (Catalog for an exhibition of posters by the Israeli artist, on display at Widener Library during May 1990. This four-color catalog has a foreword by Charles Berlin, Lee M. Friedman Bibliographer in Judaica, and short commentaries by Dr. Gideon Ofrat, art historian; Professor Ran Shehori, Director of the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design; and Izzika Gaon, Curator of Design, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem. The exhibition ran from 1-31 May. Publication of this catalog was supported by the Max and Irene Engel Levy Judaica Book Fund and the Sherman H. Starr Library Publication Fund.) Friends of the Farlow. Newsletter of the Friends of the Farlow, Nos. 15 (October 1989), 16 (April 1990), and 17 (October 1990). 6 p. Cambridge: Farlow Reference Library of Cryptogamic Botany. (Edited by Robert Edgar, former President of the Friends of the Farlow.) Friends of the Harvard College Library. Calendarof Events. Folded brochure. Cambridge: Friends of the Harvard College Library, 1990. (Issued twice annually, listing library events of special interest to Friends. Edited by Joan P. Nordell, University Library Assistant Director for External Affairs.) Harvard Library Bibliography: Supplement 71

Guide to Archives and Manuscripts at Harvard and Radcliffe. 64 p. printed directory with 16 halftones, softbound, and a 17-microfiche catalog containing 3,800 descriptive entries for individual manuscript collections and archival record groups. Alexandria, VA: Chadwyck-Healey, 1990. (The printed directory updates the 1983 Directory of Archives and Manuscript Repositories at Harvard and Radcliffe. Arranged alphabetically by repository name, this expanded source offers a new category, "repository history," for many entries. The introduction by Eva Moseley, Curator of Manu­ scripts at the Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America, explains its format and use. The directory also offers sources such as find­ ing aids, books, and articles that provide additional information on the holdings in each repository. The printed directory is intended specifically to provide access to the microfiche catalog. The printed directory and microfiche catalog are a result of a two-year project funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.) A Guide to the Harvard University Library. Cambridge: Publications Committee, Harvard University Library, 1989, 1990. (First published in 1987 as A Student Guide to the Harvard University Library, the Guide has been revised annually since then. Formerly a folding brochure, the 1990 edition was produced in a 4-page letter-sized format, with a map on page 1.) Hamilton, Malcolm. "The SLA Joint Cabinet: Where do our leaders come from?" in Special Libraries, Vol. 81, No. 3 (Summer 1990), pp. 236-241. (This article analyzes the SLA chapters, geographical regions, and employer types that generate most of the chapter presidents and its division chairs. The author conducted his study as a member of SLA's nominating committee. Malcolm Hamilton is Librarian of the Kennedy School of Government Library and University Personnel Librarian.) Harvard Law School Library Newsletter. Cambridge: Law School Library. (Published informally on an approximately weekly basis, primarily for staff of the Law School Library.) The Harvard Librarian. Vol. 24, Nos. 1-3 (1990). Cambridge: Harvard University Library. (A quarterly newsletter, usually 12 pages, primarily for Friends of the Library and other libraries and institutions, issued by the Office of the Director of the Univer­ sity Library. Edited by Timothy Hanke, Publications Coordinator in the University Library.) The Harvard University Library: A Guide to Resources. 4 p. A supplement to the Harvard University Gazette, 14 September 1990. (Prepared by the Publications Committee of the Harvard University Library, an updated edition of this guide appears in the Gazette each September, and additional copies are available throughout the year.) Harvard University Library Annual Report 1988-1989. 74 p. Cambridge: Harvard Univer­ sity Library, 1990. (Containing an essay by Sidney Verba, Carl H. Pforzheimer University Professor and Director of the University Library; statements by most of the Faculty Librarians; a list of selected publications; selected personnel information; gifts and new endowments; Friends of the College Library; members of the Over­ seers' Committee to Visit the Library and members of other Library committees; and statistics.) Harvard University Library Notes. Nos. 960-999 (1990). Cambridge: Harvard University Library. (An approximately weekly newsletter, usually four pages, primarily for library staff, issued by the Office of the Director of the University Library. Edited by Timothy Hanke, Publications Coordinator in the University Library.) Harvard-Yenching Library. Harvard-Yenching Library. Two-color folding brochure. Cam­ bridge: Harvard-Yenching Library, 1990. (A general guide and introduction to the history, collections, policies, finding aids, services, and hours of the library.) ____ . Occasional Reference Notes. No. 21 (December 1989), 37 p. Cambridge: Harvard-Yenching Library. (News of the Library, conference papers received, and annotated lists of acquisitions in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Western languages. 72 HARVARD LIBRARY BULLETIN

Edited by Eugene W. Wu, Librarian of the Harvard-Yenching Library, with contri­ butions by others.) ____ . Occasional Reference Notes. No. 22 Qune 1990), 49 p. Special issue: List of Micro.filmsof Chinese Rare Books Preserved Under the Title II-C Program. Cambridge: Harvard- Yenching Library. (A list of Chinese rare books preserved on microfilm under the Title 11-C grants awarded to the Harvard University Library by the U.S. Department of Education in 1986 and 1989. The list contains 165 titles and is" arranged alphabetically by author and title; it supersedes an earlier list dated 4 Janu­ ary 1988. The compiler, Chia-yaung Hu, is Assistant Librarian for the Chinese Col­ lection in the Chinese Acquisitions and Reference Department of the Harvard­ Yenching Library.) Hazen, Dan C. "Preservation in Poverty and Plenty: Policy Issues for the 1990s," in The Journal of Academic Librarianship, Vol. 15, No. 6 Qanuary 1990), pp. 344-351. (The article notes the almost-exclusive focus on microfilming programs for preservation. After examining and redefining the assumptions underlying this approach, it specu­ lates on both general and specific alternatives to current practice. Dan C. Hazen is Book Selector for the Spanish and Portuguese Section in Widener Library.) HOLLIS Information Sheets. Single-sheet handouts issued by the University Library Office for Systems Planning and Research (OSPR) and revised as the need arises. (Information sheets on the use of the Harvard OnLine Library Information System. The topics as of September 1990 included: "Finding government documents," "Finding manuscript and archival materials," "Finding serials," "HOLLIS dial-up access instructions," "Library Guide database," "Searching by call number," "Searching by keyword," and "Search limits.") HOLLIS Newsletter. First issued in December 1985 and monthly thereafter by the Uni­ versity Library Office for Systems Planning and Research (OSPR). (Includes status reports on the Harvard OnLine Library Information System, suggestions for proce­ dures, equipment information, and also serves as a supplement to HOLLIS Liaison User Group meetings.) HOLLIS ReferenceManual and HOLLIS ReferenceManual Appendices. 14 chapters, pages separately numbered within each chapter, plus appendices (November 1990). (The latest revision by the University Library Office for Systems Planning and Research (OSPR) of the reference manual for the Harvard OnLine Library Information Sys­ tem.) "An Interview with Carolyn Clark Morrow," in OCLC Newsletter, July/August 1990, pp. 23-28. (Carolyn Clark Morrow is Malloy-Rabinowitz Preservation Librarian in the University Library.) Jeremy, David J. Technology and Power in the Early American Cotton Industry: James Mon­ togomery, the Second Edition of his "Cotton Manufacture" (1840) and the Justitia Contro­ versy about Relative Power Costs. 348 p. + xiv, 32 halftones, 28 tables, indexed, hard­ bound with dust cover. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1990. (Twenty years ago the Kress Library of Business and Economics at the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration acquired the interleaved and annotated copy of the Cotton Manufacture of the United States (1840) by James Montgomery, a Glasgow cotton-mill manager who had emigrated to New England. The book's original publication in 1840 was a major event. For the first time a precise and reli­ able comparison, at both technical and commercial levels, was made between cotton production in Britain, the first industrial nation, and in the U.S., its youthful rival. Montgomery's data and assessments were subjected to close scrutiny, especially in New England where his estimates of power costs favored water power rather than the new technology of steam power. Controversy erupted in the Boston newspa­ pers, and in response, Montgomery prepared an interleaved edition of his book in readiness for a second edition which was never published. Until the Kress Library obtained the volume its existence was unknown to scholars.) Harvard Library Bibliography: Supplement 73

Judaica Division. Guide to Judaica Videotapes in the Harvard College Library. 240 p. Cam­ bridge: Harvard University Library, 1990. (A dictionary catalog of some 1,000 Juda­ ica videotapes collected from 1987-1989 by the Judaica Division. The primary emphasis of the collection is on videotapes produced in and related to Israel, but a significant part of the collection consists of videotapes of Jewish interest produced in the U.S. and elsewhere. Prepared by Charles Berlin, Lee M. Friedman Bibliogra­ pher in Judaica and Head of the Judaica Division and Area Studies Department in the College Library.) ____ . Hebrew Books from the Harvard College Library. Microfiche. New York: K. G. Saur (R. R. Bowker), 1990. (A microfiche edition of 5,000 important Hebrew titles from Harvard's Judaica collection, selected by Charles Berlin, Lee M. Fried­ man Bibliographer in Judaica and Head of the Judaica Division and Area Studies Department in the College Library. Works were chosen with three factors in mind: research value, scarcity, and condition. Works included are primarily 18th-century through early 20th-century imprints, often printed in Central and Eastern Europe and the Middle East, generally scarce, and frequently on now-brittle paper. The accompanying brochure contains brief articles by scholars discussing the signifi­ cance of materials microfilmed in their respective fields.) ____ . Judaica Book Funds in the Harvard College Library Established May 1986- September 1989. Brochure. Cambridge: Harvard University Library, 1989. (A listing of 31 Judaica Book Fund endowments established from May 1986 to September 1989. Publication was made possible by the Sherman H. Starr Judaica Library Pub­ lication Fund.) ____ . Judaica Book Funds in the Harvard College Library, Supplement II to the 1986 "Harvard Judaica Bookplates" Catalogue. 12-page brochure. Cambridge: Harvard University Library, 1990. (A listing of 12 Judaica Book Fund endowments estab­ lished from September 1989 to September 1990. Publication was made possible by the Sherman H. Starr Judaica Library Publication Fund.) ____ . Yiddish Children's Literature on Microfiche: A Catalogue. Cambridge: Harvard University Library, 1990. (A publication of the Harvard-Littauer Judaica Endow­ ment.) Meredith, Willis C. and Naomi Ronen. "American Association of Law Libraries/ Research Libraries Group Microform Master Survey: Report on the Survey Form Pretest to the Commission on Preservation and Access," a 4-page insert to The Commission on Preservation and Access Newsletter, Number 29 (November-December 1990). (A report to the Commission on the pretest of a survey form that will be used in a worldwide survey of companies, agencies, and libraries that produce and store first-generation microform master negatives. Willis C. Meredith is Preserva­ tion Librarian in the Preservation Department of the Collection Services Division at the Law School Library. Naomi Ronen is Reference Librarian in the Research Ser­ vices Division of the Law School Library.) Miehe, Patrick K., compiler. Robert Lowell Papers at the Houghton Library, Harvard Univer­ sity, A Guide to the Collection. Bibliographies and Indexes in American Literature, Number 12. Foreword by Richard Wendorf; Introduction by Rodney Dennis. 227 pp. + xi. New York: Greenwood Press, 1990. (A catalog of 2,916 items, compris­ ing "family and literary correspondence generated before 1971 and literary manu­ scripts covering a period of about 35 years, beginning with school poems and end­ ing with Notebook." The Houghton Library has other Robert Lowell manuscripts, information about which may be found in the Library's card catalog and the pub­ lished version of that catalog, Catalogue of Manuscripts in the Houghton Library, Har­ vard University, 8 vols. (Chadwyck-Healey Inc., Alexandria, VA, 1986). Patrick K. Miehe was a member of the Manuscript Department in the Houghton Library from 1972 to 1979, and is now a member of a Boston law firm; Richard Wendorf is Librarian of the Houghton Library; Rodney Dennis is Curator of Manuscripts in the Harvard College Library.) 74 HARVARD LIBRARY BULLETIN

Moseley, Eva. "Labor Holdings at the Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe College," in Labor History, Vol. 31, Nos. 1-2 (Winter-Spring 1990), pp. 16-24. (Eva Moseley is Cura­ tor of Manuscripts in the Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America.) Nagy, Zuzana. "The Czech Publishing Industry 1990; an overview," in The European Bookseller(September 1990). (The article deals with changes in the Czech publishing industry since the "Velvet Revolution" of November 1989. Zuzana Nagy is a Slavic Librarian in the Slavic Division, Area Studies Department, of the College Library.) Publicationsin Print 1990, Department of Printing and Graphic Arts, The Houghton Library, Harvard University. 12-page brochure with colored cover, 5 halftones. Cambridge: The Harvard College Library, 1990. (Catalog of publications for sale, including an order form.) Ronen, Naomi. "Using the USMARC Holdings Format for Law Materials," in the book Library and Information TechnologyStandards, Michael J. Gorman, editor, pp. 56-70. Chicago: American Library Association, 1990. (Naomi Ronen is Reference Librarian in the Research Services Division of the Law School Library.) ____ . See also entry above under Meredith, Willis C. and Naomi Ronen. SchlesingerLibrary Newsletter. Fall 1989, Fall 1990. Cambridge: Schlesinger Library. (The newsletter is published each fall to report on the library's activities, acquisitions, exhibitions, and special projects.) The Arthur and Elizabeth SchlesingerLibrary on the History of Women in America. Folding brochure. Cambridge: Schlesinger Library, 1989. (A guide to the history, collections, facilities, programs, finding aids, and publications of the Schlesinger Library.) The Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America. The Schlesinger Library Vertical File for Women's Studies. Microfiche. Alexandria, VA: Chadwyck-Healey, 1990. (This microfiche publication reproduces nearly 250,000 pages of media clippings, government and organization reports, pamphlets, speeches, and other documentary materials drawn from sources throughout the United States over the last 40 years. Based on the Vertical File which continues to be maintained on a daily basis by Schlesinger Library reference staff, it provides sweeping coverage of the ideas, issues, events, personalities, and organizations that have shaped women's lives-and the lives of all Americans-since World War II, with particular emphasis on the post-1968 period marking the second historic wave of American feminism.) Seamus Heaney at Harvard. Boxed album of two cassette tapes. Cambridge: Harvard Col­ lege Library, 1990. (Readings by Seamus Heaney, Boylston Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory, of his own and other poems. Selected and edited by Stratis Haviaris, Curator of the Poetry and Farnsworth Rooms in the Harvard College Library, and Michael Milburn, Assistant to the Curator.) "Sleuth Schoon & Company Solve the Seemingly Impossible," in Faculty of Arts and Sci­ encesNewsletter, Vol. 2, No. 1 (Winter 1989), p. 5. (An article about Marian Schoon, Head of the Reference Section in the Research Services Division of Widener Library, and the Widener reference staff.) Stoddard, Roger E. "American Bibliographical Notes: Fifth Addenda to Wegelin's Early American Poetry," in Proceedingsof the American Antiquarian Society, Vol. 100, Part 1 (1990), pp. 251-3. (These notes supplement the compiler's earlier bibliographical work on the same subject. Roger Stoddard is Curator of Rare Books in the Harvard College Library.) ____ . "Real books imagined, imaginary catalogue realized: for a bookseller and his friends," in VoorAnton Gerits (Amsterdam: 1990), pp. 68-79. (In this article con­ tributed to a festschrift for an Amsterdam bookseller, the author whimsically pre­ pared a catalogue of items "n. f. s." drawn from the materials in an exhibition at Houghton Library, Materialsfor the Study of Publishing History, mounted in June 1980.) ____ . Joan St. C. Crane, and John Lancaster; Sidney Howe, general editor. The Harvard Library Bibliography: Supplement 75

Parkman Dexter Howe Library, Part VII. 87 p. Gainesville: The University of Florida, 1990. (Mr. Stoddard wrote the section on "The Thomas Bailey Aldrich Collection.") Union List of Japanese Periodicalsin the East Asian Libraries of Columbia, Harvard, Princeton, and Yale Universities. 185 p. Published by the East Asian Libraries at Columbia, Har­ vard, Princeton, and Yale Universities, 1989 (second edition). (This computer­ generated publication is an updated version of an earlier edition printed in 1985. Included are 2,286 titles of trade periodicals and non-trade academic journals in the humanities and social sciences published in Japan and received by libraries at the institutions named in the title. Entries are arranged alphabetically by romanized title, followed by the title in Japanese (and the title in English, if it appears in the publication). Each entry also includes the place and frequency of publication, and a summary holdings statement for each library. The compilation and publication of this Union List were supported by a grant from the Japan-United States Friendship Commission, a U.S. government foundation.) Ware, Susan. Amelia Earhart 1897-1937. 10-page pamphlet with cardstock cover. Cam­ bridge: Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America, 1990. (A biographical sketch, with reflections, printed on the occasion of the donation of The Microfilm Edition of the Amelia Earhart Papers by the Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America to the National Air and Space Museum at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. Susan Ware, Associate Professor of History at New York University, is an Honorary Vis­ iting Scholar at the Schlesinger Library for 1990-1991, where she is writing a book on popular heroines and feminism that focuses on Amelia Earhart.) Wendorf, Richard. The Elements of Life: Biography and Portrait-Painting in Stuart and Geor­ gian England. 308 p. + xxi, one color plate, 76 halftones, clothbound. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1990. (This work addresses the provocative subject of the relation­ ship between literary and painted biography during a period especially rich in both forms. Richard Wendorf is Librarian of the Houghton Library. Before coming to the Houghton Library in September 1989, Mr. Wendorf was Professor of English and Art History at Northwestern University, where most of his later courses were listed jointly in the departments of English and Art History.) Wengrow, Arnold. Robert Redington Sharpe, The Life of a Theatre Designer. 48 p., soft­ bound, with 5 color photographs and 10 halftones. Cambridge: The Harvard The­ atre Collection of the Harvard College Library, 1990. (A catalog of the exhibition of the same name, on display at the Harvard Theatre Collection from 9 July through 15 September 1990. This tour de force is a carefully documented, illustrated life of the promising young theater designer, 1904-1934, who was robbed and murdered in the New York City subway before his 30th birthday. At the back is a checklist of 27 works exhibited, most consisting of more than one item. The foreword is by Jeanne T. Newlin, Curator of the Harvard Theatre Collection. Publication was made pos­ sible by support from the University Research Council, University of North Caro­ lina at Asheville, and from Joseph N. and Martha Clapp Freudenberger of the Committee for the Harvard Theatre Collection. Arnold Wengrow was Assistant Curator of the Harvard Theatre Collection from 1966 to 1968 and is now a professor at the University of North Carolina at Asheville.) Wolfe, Richard J. Marbled Paper: Its History, Techniques, and Patterns. 336 p., 350 color illustrations, 80 black-and-white illustrations. Baltimore: University of Pennsylva­ nia Press, 1990. (For 250 years after its introduction to Europe around 1600, the method of decorating paper known as marbling reigned supreme as the chief means of embellishing the fine work of hand bookbinders. Marbled papers also adorned everything from wall coverings to stationery and were used for many decorative purposes in the home. Yet the techniques and art of the marblers' craft remained obscure, and today it is a craft practiced by only a few artisans and many hobbyists. In this book, Mr. Wolfe, who has been a practicing marblist for over 25 years, reconstructs the rise and fall of the craft and offers the most comprehensive account 76 HARVARD LIBRARY BULLETIN

available of its history, techniques, and patterns. Richard J. Wolfe is Curator of Rare Books and Manuscripts in the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine and Joseph Garland Librarian of the Boston Medical Library.) Zapatka, Mark. "Lewis Hine and the Southern Drought: A Visual Testimony of the Southern Depression," in History of Photography,(October-December 1989). (Lewis Hine was a pioneer American photographer whose documentary photography combined social awareness with an artistic sensibility. Mark Zapatka is Assistant for Readers' Services at the Byzantine Library at Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC.) Zoran, Gabriel. Past and Present in Hebrew Literary Translation:A Lecture and Exhibition Catalogue. Cambridge: Harvard University Library, 1990. (Reprinted from the Har­ vard Library Bulletin. Funded by the Ida Davidson Mintz Judaica Fund.) MY HARVARDLIBRARY YEARS, 1937-1955

A Sequel to Random Recollections of an Anachronism

~ KEYES DEWITT METCALF EDITED BY EDWIN E. WILLIAMS

Eighteen years in the life of the world's largest university library and of its director, an outstanding librarian, are covered in this volume of autobiography, which was completed shortly before the author's death in 1983. The Metcalf years brought to Harvard the, first separate undergraduate library in a university (Lamont Library), an innovation copied by many other institutions. They also produced a building program, a revolution in per­ sonnel policies, and experiments in library cooperation that are landmarks in Harvard library history. As adviser to the Library of Congress and other federal libraries and as a leading authority on library architec­ ture, Metcalf contributed to librarianship throughout the world. His legacy is enduring.

Harvard College Library $25.00 cloth Harvard University Press ti75th · 350th 79 Garden Street ANNIVERSARY Cambridge, MA 02138