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COLLECTION Identifier: MS Thr 905

Photographs of Charles John Kean and cast

Overview

Photographs of English actor Charles John Kean and other members of casts from various stage plays in London.

Dates

  • 1856-1859 and undated

Language of Materials

Collection materials are in English.

Conditions Governing Access

There are no restrictions on physical access to this material. Collection is open for research.

Extent

.25 linear feet (1 box)

Collection includes photographs of actors in costume including: Charles John Kean, Ellen Chapman, Ellen Tree [Kean], John Ryder, Walter Lacy, and others. The originals of many of these images were probably taken by the studio of Martin Laroche.

With photographs and cartes-de-visite (card photographs) from Kean's productions of: Hamlet, Henry V, King Lear, Louis XI, The Merchant of Venice, Richard II, and The Winter's Tale.

Biographical / Historical

Charles John Kean (1811?-1868) was an English actor and theater manager. Kean managed the Princess's Theatre in London from 1850-1859. Martin Laroche's (ca. 1815-1886; real name William Henry Silvester) photographic studio was close to Kean's Princess's Theatre in London and he photographed many of the Kean actors and productions.

Arrangement

Arranged alphabetically by production title, then by title of image.

Physical Location

b

Immediate Source of Acquisition

No accession number. Source and date unknown.

Bibliography

Richard Foulkes. "The Laroche photographs of Charles Kean's Shakespeare revivals." Theatrephile Volume 2, Number 8, 1986, pages 29-33.

Processing Information

Processed by: Bonnie B. Salt

Title
Photographs of Charles John Kean and cast, 1856-1859: Guide.
Author
Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
Description rules
dacs
Language of description
und
EAD ID
hou02363

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.

Contact:
Harvard Yard
Harvard University
Cambridge MA 02138 USA
(617) 495-2440