Sherman Scripts Collection, 1909-1920 | Rare Book & Manuscript Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Title: 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.

Theater

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

Box and Folder Listing

Series 10: Scripts by unknown authors

Box 2

Folder 37: [Missing title page], undated

From Bennett’s Dramatic Exchange in Chicago, Illinois. Characters include: Henry “Squint” Adams, Jimmy Saunders, Jerrold Brandon, Cliff Harmon, Gerald “Gerry” Brandon, Mrs. Sarah Smart, Minnie Smart, and Molly Bayne. Author unknown.

Folder 38: “American European Minstrels”, undated

Folder 39: “Arizona Sweethearts”, undated

Folder 40: “Amy”: a comedy drama in four acts, undated

Possibly by Miron Leffingwell.

Folder 41: Assorted monologues, undated

Folder 42: “Beyond Pardon”, undated

Possibly by Miron Leffingwell.

Folder 43: “Blanche and the Orange Girl”, undated

Folder 44: “Brother for Brother”, undated

Folder 45: “Captain Impudence”, undated

Folder 46: “The Church Lady”, undated

Folder 47: “Convict’s Stripes”, undated

Folder 48: “The Counterfeiters”: a tabloid comedy drama in three acts, undated

Folder 49: “The Curse of Drink”, undated

Possibly by C.E. Blaney.

Folder 50: “The Danger Signal” or, “The Red Light”, undated

Possibly by Henry Demille.

Folder 51: “Dora Thorne”, undated

Folder 52: “Down on the Farm”, undated

Folder 53: “Dr. Bill”, undated

Folder 54: “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”, undated

Stamped with “play exchange” on cover. Possibly by Nelson Compston.

Folder 55: “Du Barry”, undated

Handwritten on front cover, “Property of Whitney Collins.” Possibly by Miron Leffingwell.

Folder 56: “The Electric Doll”, undated

Possibly by Nelson Compston or Helen F. Bagg.

Folder 57: “The Enchanted Hat”: a Weber & Fields famous musical burlesque in one scene, undated

Folder 58: “Fabio Romani”, undated

Possibly by Charles W. Chase.

Folder 59: “For Fair Virginia”, undated

Folder 60: “The Fortune Hunter”, undated

Box 3

Folder 1: “The Georgia Minstrels”, undated

Folder 2: “The Ghost of Wilbur Jimson”, undated

Folder 3: “The Girl and the Game”, undated

Folder 4: “The Golden Giant Mine”, undated

Folder 5: “The Golden Rule”, undated

Folder 6: “Grit the Newsboy”, undated

Folder 7: “Grizzly Adams”, undated

Folder 8: “Guilty Without Crime”: a drama in five acts, undated

Folder 9: “Her Cowboy Visitor”, undated

Folder 10: “Her Lord and Master”, 1909

Possibly by Clarence Black.

Folder 11: “How D’Ye Like the Place?”, undated

Folder 12: “I.O.U.”, undated

Bottom of script is stamped “6 23 94.”

Folder 13: “Kerry Glow”, undated

Folder 14: “King Dodo”, undated

Folder 15: “La Belle Russe”, undated

Possibly by David Belasco.

Folder 16: “Land of Living”, undated

Folder 17: “Little Orphan Annie”, undated

Cover stamped with The Producers Play Company, Chicago, Illinois name and address.

Folder 18: “Little Red Riding Hood”, undated

Folder 19: “Maloney’s Wedding”, undated

Folder 20: “A Manager’s Troubles” or “Razor Jim”: absurdity in one scene, undated

Folder 21: “Monte Cristo”, undated

Folder 22: “Moonshiner’s Daughter”, undated

Folder 23: “My Lord Smith”, undated

Folder 24: “A New Year’s Dream”, undated

Handwritten “1906” on cover.

Folder 25: “Our Candidate”, undated

Folder 26: “Over the Hills to the Poor House”, undated

Possibly written by Robert Sherman. Stamped with Robert Sherman’s name and address. Also stamped with American Theatrical Agency name and address.

Folder 27: “Peck Bad Boy and His Pa”, undated

Folder 28: “Plain Molly”: a play in four acts, undated

Folder 29: “Primrose and West Minstrels”, undated

Folder 30: “The Princess of Patches”, undated

Folder 31: “The Private Secretary”, undated

Folder 32: “Professor Edwin Price’s Musical and Dramatic Entertainment”: arranged especially for the use of high class amateur societies, and adapted to parlor or stage, undated

Folder 33: “Putting it Over”, undated

Title only handwritten on cover.

Folder 34: “A Quiet Evening at Home”: a comedietta in one act, undated

Folder 35: “The Red Cross Nurse”, undated

Folder 36: “The Royal Mounted”, undated

Folder 37: “A Royal Slave”: a romance of Mexico in five acts, undated

Folder 38: “Sealed Lips”, undated

Folder 39: “Second Book of Gags for Comedians, Monologists, and Entertainers”, undated

Folder 40: “Shamus O’Brien”, undated

Folder 41: “The Signal of Liberty”: a melodrama in four acts, undated

Folder 42: “The Spoilers”, undated

Folder 43: “A Texas Ranger”: an atmospheric frontier drama, undated

Folder 44: “Thorns and Orange Blossoms”, undated

Folder 45: “A Touch of Nature”, undated

Folder 46: “True Irish Hearts”, undated

Folder 47: “Under Two Flags (Elsner version)”, undated

Folder 48: “Van Allen’s Wife”, undated

Folder 49: “Way Out West” or “The Favorite Son”, undated

Folder 50: “A Woman of Society”, undated