Overview
Correspondence, auction catalogs and other personal material of collector Howard D. Rothschild.
Dates
- Creation: 1921-1989
Creator
- Rothschild, Howard D., 1908-1989 (Person)
Language of Materials
Collection materials are in English and French.
Conditions Governing Access
There are no restrictions on physical access to this material.
Extent
7 linear feet (15 boxes)Personal and business correspondence with dancers, artists, and administrators related to Serge Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, as well as auction catalogs, financial and personal material, and other material related to collecting. Includes letters from dancers Alexandra Baldina, Hilda Butsova, Tamara Karsavina, Matilda Kshesinskaia, Lydia Lopokova, and Lydia Sokolova; actress Raymonde Delaunois; and designers Alexandre Benois, Mikhail Larionov and Natalia Goncharov).
Biographical / Historical
Howard D. Rothschild (d. 1989) was an artist and a major collector of art work related to Serge Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. His fascination with Ballets Russes began in 1916 when as a child he attended one of the company's performances in New York. Over the years he became a close friend and an anonymous benefactor of many aging Ballets Russes dancers. His collection was acquired through various auction houses in Europe and the US.
Arrangement
Organized into the following series:
- I. Correspondence
- ___A. Correspondence of Howard D. Rothschild
- ___B. Letters to others
- II. Auction catalogs
- III. Miscellaneous material
- IV. Additional material
Immediate Source of Acquisition
*2004MT-71. Gift of the Rothschild estate, 1035 Park Ave, New York, New York; received: 1990 March 23.
Gift of Richard Ford Hunter, 1035 Park Ave, New York, New York; received: 1990 October 30 and 1991 June 17.
Separated Materials
Other parts of the bequest were catalogued as:
- Howard D. Rothschild Collection on Ballets Russes of Serge Diaghilev: Drawings and prints (MS Thr 414.4)
- Howard D. Rothschild collection on Ballets Russes of Serge Diaghilev: Photographs and scrapbooks (MS Thr 414.2)
- Howard D. Rothschild Collection on Ballets Russes of Serge Diaghilev: Manuscripts and objects (MS Thr 414.1)
Ballets Russes souvenir programs, books and periodicals from the bequest were incorporated into the Harvard Theatre Collection general holdings. Provenance of each item was indicated.
Processing Information
Processed by: Irina Klyagin
Creator
- Rothschild, Howard D., 1908-1989 (Person)
- Title
- Rothschild, Howard D. Howard D. Rothschild papers: Guide.
- Author
- Harvard Theatre Collection, Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- hou00263
Repository Details
Part of the Houghton Library Repository
Houghton Library is Harvard College's principal repository for rare books and manuscripts, archives, and more. Houghton Library's collections represent the scope of human experience from ancient Egypt to twenty-first century Cambridge. With strengths primarily in North American and European history, literature, and culture, collections range in media from printed books and handwritten manuscripts to maps, drawings and paintings, prints, posters, photographs, film and audio recordings, and digital media, as well as costumes, theater props, and a wide range of other objects. Houghton Library has historically focused on collecting the written record of European and Eurocentric North American culture, yet it holds a large and diverse number of primary sources valuable for research on the languages, culture and history of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.
Houghton Library’s Reading Room is free and open to all who wish to use the library’s collections.
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