JARNDYCE 508 Jarndyce Antiquarian Booksellers 46, Great Russell Street Telephone: 020 7631 4220 (opp. British Museum) Fax: 020 7631 1882 Bloomsbury, Email: [email protected] London www.jarndyce.co.uk WC1B 3PA VAT.No.: GB 524 0890 57 CATALOGUE CCXLI SUMMER 2020 PANTOMIMES, EXTRAVAGANZAS & BURLESQUES Catalogue: Helen Smith & Ed Nassau Lake. Production: Carol Murphy & Ed Nassau Lake. All items are London-published and in at least good condition, unless otherwise stated. Prices are nett. Items marked with a dagger (†) incur VAT (20%) to customers within the EU. A charge for postage and insurance will be added to the invoice total. We accept payment by VISA or MASTERCARD, Bank Transfer and Sterling Cheque. High resolution images are available for all items, on request; please email: [email protected]. JARNDYCE CATALOGUES CURRENTLY AVAILABLE include: The Museum; The Dickens Catalogue; XIX Century Fiction, Part I A-K; Turn of the Century; Women Writers Parts I-IV; Books & Pamphlets 1505-1833; Plays, 1623-1980. JARNDYCE CATALOGUES IN PREPARATION include: 17th & 18th Century Books & Pamphlets; The Romantics, part I: A-C; XIX Century Fiction Part II, L-Z; English Language, including dictionaries. PLEASE REMEMBER: If you have books to sell, please get in touch with Brian Lake at Jarndyce. Valuations for insurance or probate can be undertaken anywhere, by arrangement. A SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE is available for Jarndyce Catalogues for those who do not regularly purchase. Please send £30.00 (£60.00 overseas) for four issues, specifying the catalogues you would like to receive. PANTOMIMES, EXTRAVAGANZAS & BURLESQUES ISBN: 978 1 910156-33-9 Price £10.00 Front cover adapted from item 469; back cover adapted from item 510 Brian Lake Janet Nassau INTRODUCTION Pantomime developed from the commedia dell’arte character of Harlequin; the ‘harlequinades’ of the early eighteenth century were mimed, with ‘slapstick & tomfoolery’. But David Garrick, at Drury Lane Theatre, successfully reworked the harlequinade with a speaking Harlequin; Henry Woodward wrote new plays based on old English folk stories like Dick Whittington, Robin Hood, and The Children of the Wood. As pantomime evolved, more domestic stories and topical satire began to replace classical tales. After Joseph Grimaldi’s performance in Mother Goose at Covent Garden in 1806, the clown began to take over from Harlequin as the star. The pantomime increased in popularity with the introduction of elaborate scenery and stage effects in the fairytale extravaganzas of James Robinson Planché, first staged at the Olympic Theatre in 1831, and the reintroduction of ‘Harlequin’ in many new guises. Until 1843, there were restrictions on the use of spoken word in performances, but the Theatres Act allowed any theatre without a royal patent to produce a play with purely spoken dialogue. Now witty puns, word play and audience participation were added to the repertoire of mime, daring chase scenes and spectacular transformations. Favourite fairytale characters, magical animals, principal boys and pantomime dames all became part of the experience. ‘Burlesques’ of the period followed the form of pantomimes and extravaganzas, but had the specific quality of caricaturing well-known, serious, plays. By the late nineteenth century, the most extravagant productions at the largest London theatres could last up to five hours and featured clever stage tricks, stunning costumes and huge casts. It became customary for pantomimes to open on Boxing Day, linking pantomime with Christmas. This catalogue consists largely of ‘word books’ for productions from the mid- eighteenth through to the mid-twentieth century. The first section lists the primary texts chronologically by title; part two records less famous pantomimes as well as extravaganzas and burlesques, alphabetically by author. Part three lists pantomime and other playbills by place & theatre, the catalogue concluding with a miscellany of associated material. Two people have made this catalogue possible: Henry Hoppe and Helen Smith. Henry sold us a large part of his pantomime collection and the following note is by him: “A long time ago the Third Programme transformed my life. On Christmas night the annual pantomime was broadcast from The Players Theatre in London. At the time I knew nothing of The Players’ tradition of editing and adapting early Victorian pantomimes in a way that made them enjoyable for a twentieth- century audience. Sadly, The Players are no more, but through their pantomimes I became acquainted with ‘pantomimists’ such as H.J. Byron and E.L. Blanchard. I was charmed by their rhyming couplets, appalling puns and pretty little ditties sung to melodies like the Londonderry Air. It was all very different to my local theatre in Windsor where 1960s’ audiences were enthralled by the beautiful daughters of John Counsell and entertainers such as Joe Brown, Bryan Burdon and Julian Orchard. These productions where written almost entirely in prose, larded with slightly risqué jokes and included the latest from the world of pop music. I wanted to know how and why the pantomime tradition had changed so dramatically. I read all the books I could find and made friends with a number of dealers in theatrical memorabilia and books. My speciality became pantomime word books and with the help of booksellers, I built up a fairly large collection. Many of these were rarities and often sold at prices which were a challenge for the pocket of a young civil servant. These ‘books of words’ provided me with a unique insight into how pantomimes responded to social changes in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries; the stiff formality of the theatre of pre- Dickensian London changed under challenge, as the uninhibited stars of the music hall laid siege to pantomime. Then came the khaki-clad stars of the Great War pantomimes who valiantly tried to cheer up the wives and children of British Tommies. Finally I saw the glamour and grandeur of the Lyceum pantomimes of the 1920’s and 30’s trying to draw audiences away from the cinema. I loved my collection and I hope it gives pleasure to others.” This is the final catalogue of Helen Smith, who worked for Jarndyce for 35 years but sadly died in 2018. One of Helen’s specialities was theatre – she worked for the V&A’s Theatre Museum, and curated a Garrick collection for the British Library – and she was responsible for nearly a dozen Jarndyce catalogues of Plays and Theatre History. She took a particular interest in the popular theatre of the Victorian era – and the musical hall, which developed from tavern entertainments of the 1830s. The final section of this catalogue includes books on pantomime history from Helen’s personal reference collection which are marked **. Brian Lake, Janet Nassau, Ed Nassau Lake April 2020 *Note on scarcity: Most of the items offered here are ephemeral; many are unrecorded, or only recorded in one or two copies on Copac (now transitioning to the unhappy acronym ‘JISChub’) The V&A has the best collection in the U.K., but the poor holdings of other major libraries show that pantomime has been a neglected area. 83 CONTENTS items I. THE MAJOR PANTOMIMES Word Books by Title 1-190 II. BURLESQUES, EXTRAVAGANZAS & OTHER PANTOMIMES Word Books by Author 191-384 III. PLAYBILLS By Theatre 385-464 IV. BOOKS ABOUT PANTOMIME Including Programmes 465-547 TITLE INDEX AUTHOR INDEX THEATRE INDEX ALADDIN I THE MAJOR PANTOMIMES Word books by Title ALADDIN A folk tale of Middle Eastern origin, Aladdin was introduced to Great Britain in One Thousand and One Nights. The first pantomime based on the tale was written by John O’Keeffe for the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, in 1788: Aladin; or, The Wonderful Lamp. A Pantomime entertainment. 1. À BECKETT, Gilbert Abbott. (Aladdin.) The Wonderful Lamp in a New Light; being an illustrated edition of the story of Aladdin. First performed at the Princess’s Theatre, on Thursday, July 4th, 1844. W.S. Johnson. Disbound. 24pp. ¶ Cambridge & Durham only. [1844] £45 2. ADAMS, Marion L. (Aladdin.) The Slave of the Lamp. A fairy-tale play. Stead’s Publishing House. (Books for the Bairns, no. 117.) 4pp ads; sl. browned. Orig. pink printed paper wrappers; dulled. 58pp. ¶ Oxford & V&A only. ‘Or, Aladdin in Japan’ on wrapper. [1905] £30 BIRMINGHAM 3. ANDERTON, John. (Aladdin.) Grand Christmas Pantomime, entitled, Aladdin. 1892-3. Book of the words. n.p. Ads. Orig. orange wrappers printed in red & black; sl. marked with minor tears at edges. 52pp. ¶ Not on Copac. The Prince of Wales Theatre, Birmingham pantomime, price 2d. The Theatre Royal, Birmingham Book of words 1896-7 is in exactly the same style. 1892 £35 4. ANONYMOUS. Aladdin; or, The Wonderful Lamp: a grand romantic spectacle, in two acts. ... John Cumberland. Front. by R. Cruikshank; marked. Disbound. 36pp. ¶ Cambridge & NLW only. Listing Covent Garden casts from 1826 and 1836 so not the version by George Soane. It may be related to the 1813 Covent Garden pantomime with the same title which was devised by Charles Farley. [1836?] £30 5. BLANCHARD, Edward Leman. Aladdin. Book of the Words (Book of the Words.) Music by Oscar Barrett. Invented, staged, and produced at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane 1885-6, by Augustus Harris. Alfred Gibbons. Illus, music, ads. Without wrappers. Disbound. 60pp. ¶ Glasgow & V&A only. 1885 £38 ‘BY THE BROTHERS GRINN’ 6. (BLANCHARD, Edward Leman & GREENWOOD, Thomas Longdon) (Aladdin.) Harlequin Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp, or The Flying Palace and Big Ben of Westminster. Written by the Brothers Grinn, and produced under the direction of E.F. Edgar. Aubert’s Steam Printing Works. Orig. orange printed wrappers; badly dusted and creased or chipped at corners. 24pp. ¶ Oxford only. Title headed: Royal Aquarium (Great Yarmouth) Grand Christmas Pantomime. 1878-79. Wrapper title is simply ‘Aladdin’. 1878 £35 BYRON, Henry James 7.