Collections Database Manuscript & Object Collect... Extensive archival and manu... Sherman Scripts Collection Finding AidTitle: Sherman Scripts Collection, 1909-1920
ID: 01/01/MSS00065
Primary Creator: Sherman, Robert Lowry
Extent: 3.0 Cubic Feet
Arrangement: This collection is divided into 10 series arranged by author. Series 1-8 contain scripts by recurring authors (those with more than three scripts in the collection), with author names as series titles. Series are arranged chronologically by year and alphabetized within each year. Authors with three or fewer scripts in the collection are organized in Series 9: Scripts by various authors, which is arranged alphabetically. Series 10: Scripts by unknown author, contains scripts without an identifiable author or publication date and is arranged alphabetically. Scripts with multiple authors are filed under the author first named on the script.
Subjects: Theater
Forms of Material: Scripts
Languages: English
Robert Lowry Sherman (1867-1952) was an American playwright who briefly wrote scripts for the Chicago Manuscript Company from 1915-1916 before entering the Navy during WWI. He then worked with tent theater companies around the United States, including George Roberson’s tent show.
The Chicago Manuscript Company (circa 1880-1922) was involved in the play piracy business of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, in which paid stenographers attended popular plays and wrote down their scripts, ideally verbatim. They were then slightly modified, copyrighted, printed, and sold or rented to American theater companies. Alexander Byers and his Chicago Manuscript Company were quite lucrative in the play piracy business. After Byers’ death, Sherman bought a portion of the Chicago Manuscript Company’s scripts to sell to film studios and University libraries across the country. Many of the manuscripts are stamped with Byers’ name and the year of copyright.
Recurring playwrights in this collection include Charles Morton, who went on to start his own theatre company, Nelson Compston, Miron Leffingwell, and Clarence Black. Many of these plays were performed in tents and opera houses in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Today, Chicago Manuscript Company scripts are scattered across repositories due to Sherman’s efforts.
Repository: Rare Book & Manuscript Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Access Restrictions: Open to researchers.
Use Restrictions:
The RBML reproductions policies can be found here:
http://www.library.illinois.edu/rbx/ReproductionServices.htm
The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted materials.
Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be "used for any purpose other than private study scholarship or research." If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of "fair use," that user may be liable for copyright infringement.
This institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order if, in its judgement, fulfillment of the order would damage materials or involve violation of copyright law.
Acquisition Source: The collection was purchased from The Theatre Museum of Repertoire America in Mount Pleasant, Iowa.
Processing Information: https://wiki.cites.uiuc.edu/wiki/display/librare/Home
Submit request (Aeon)
