John Ball
This is the first issue of a new journal Special Collections to be published four times a year, with each issue devoted to a different subject area. The series editor is Lee Ash. An advisory board includes one Canadian member, Richard Landon, Head of the Thomas Fisher Library at the University of Toronto.
In a foreword Lee Ash states that it is anticipated that the series will attract collectors and antiquarians, as well as publishers, scholars and special collections librarians. Each issue aims to describe the major and unusual collections in the field and will usually include the holdings of the Library of Congress, if they are of enough significance. Ash continues: 'Special Collections ... will attempt to present more thorough and skillful descriptions and current analysis of library resources than are usually available through the general guides, such as those by Downs1 and my own Subject Collections 2 for example.'
The first article by Louis Rachow entitled 'Historical Introduction and State of the Art' gives a summary of the development of theatre collections and major resources. It is followed by in depth analyses of the collections of the Library of Congress; The New York Public Library Billy Rose Theatre Collection; the Players, New York; Princeton's William Seymour Theatre Collection; the University of Texas at Austin Hoblitzelle Theatre Arts Library; the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theatre Research; the Theatre Department of the Metropolitan Toronto Library and the Theatre Museum, Boothbay, Maine. All these articles are by the curators of the collections including, of course, Heather McCallum for Toronto.
There are useful articles on bibliographic control in the field by Louis Rachow and on booksellers and the performing arts with a list of addresses by James Ellis. 'Performing Arts Resources - a Directory' gives a list with addresses of significant performing arts collections in the U.S. and Canada. It updates Lee Ash's Subject Collections (1978), but it contains less information about individual collections. A list of 'Current Theatre and Drama Awards' appears out of place, as one would scarcely come to a volume about library resources to find such information. The volume ends with two items under the general title of 'Review Notes of Interest' which is to be a regular feature of each issue. The first deals with recent materials for theatre collections and the second with other publications relevant to special libraries.
The publication bears some similarity with Performing Arts Resources, 3 an annual published by the Theatre Library Association 1975-1980. In six annual issues it has dealt in depth with collections and archives in theatre, film, T.V. and broadcasting. Heather McCallum's Theatre Resources in Canadian Collections 4 (1973) is wider in scope for Canada, although it offers much briefer information. Performing Arts Libraries and Museums of the World 5 (2nd ed. 1967) is very out of date but again is broader in scope.
As an in depth summary of some of the major theatre collections in North America and a survey of current bibliography in the field the volume is a useful publication for theatre historians. However, its currency will be difficult to maintain. Since it is in a series which is to deal with many subject areas, it will be some years before the spotlight returns to theatre. The publishing information states that the volume is available on a per year subscription basis only. This will surely deter the interest, at least in purchase, of 'specialist' libraries, collectors, booksellers and scholars, unless their tastes are so eclectic as to include biochemistry, geriatrics and gerontology and science fiction, in addition to theatre.
NotesLOUIS RACHOW, ed. "Theatre and Performing Arts Collections" (Special Collections vol. 1, no. 1, Fall 1981) New York: Haworth Press, 1981. $ 19.50 per year
John Ball
1 ROBERT B. DOWNS, American Library Resources
Chicago, American Library Association, 1951. Supplements 1950-61 (1962),
1961-70 (1972)
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2 LEE ASH, Subject Collections 5th ed. N.Y.,
Bowker, 1978.
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3 Performing Arts Resources. vol. 1, 1974 - N.Y.,
Drama Book Specialists for Theatre Library Association
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4 HEATHER MCCALLUM, Theatre Resources in Canadian
Collections (Research Collections in Canadian Libraries II Special
Studies no. 1) Ottawa, National Library of Canada, 1973
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5 International Federation of Library Associations.
Section for Theatrical Libraries and Museums.
Bibliothèques et musées des arts du spectacle dans
le monde/Performing arts libraries and museums of the world. 2nd rev.
and enl. ed. Paris, 1967
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