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

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.