IX. Harvard Theatre Collection

Historical Note on Classification

Much of the Harvard Theatre Collection books, particularly the older and "rare" items, were classed in the locally-devised TS Classification.  In the recent past, "rare" materials were always classed under the TS classification scheme and most of the recent imprints (and some older materials), and all music scores, were classed into LC.  As of Dec. 2008, catalogers were allowed to classify an item under TS or LC, choosing whichever is most expeditious and sensible: generally class music in LC, and if book subject material falls comfortably into TS, class it there, and if not, class it in LC.  However, starting FY22, Houghton Library will implement using accession numbers as call numbers for all materials cataloged by the Rare Book Section.  Refer to Section VIII. Classification for details.

Size designations

For flat items shelved under the new accession number scheme, follow the guidelines provided on Houghton Library Size Designations wiki.

Operatic/Musical production materials:

When you see any kind of format indication like "Soufflierbuch," "Regiebuch," "Stage Manager's Guide," or similar indications in other languages, these are materials which were often published as a part of well-known productions, or as a guide to traveling or rental productions.  Like librettos, under RDA these constitute new works, but they exist in a family which could be considered expressions of each other.

1. Librettos (or scores) whose text conforms to a particular production, but there is not extensive description of the scene, nor blocking (directions for actors to move on the stage).  You could not reproduce set designs, nor blocking from this.
   Add 240 & 650s per usual for the libretto or score format; reproduce any indications of “Soufflierbuch” etc. in the 250.
2. Librettos (or scores) whose text conforms to a particular production, with extensive description of the scene (usually at beginning of each scene) but no actual blocking.  You could reproduce the specific sets, but not blocking.
   Add 240 & 650s per usual for the libretto or score format; reproduce any indications of “Soufflierbuch” etc. in the 250, PLUS:
   650 Opera $x Production and direction
   650 Operas $v Stage guides.
3. Librettos (or scores) whose text conforms to a particular production, with extensive description of the scene, with actual blocking.  From this, you could reproduce the entire production, but without actual costumes.
   Add 240 & 650s per usual for the libretto or score format; reproduce any indications of “Soufflierbuch” etc. in the 250, PLUS:
   650 Operas $v Stage guides
   650 Opera $x Production and direction
   655 7 Acting editions (with appropriate subfields) $2 rbgenr
4. Librettos (or scores) whose text conforms to a particular production, with extensive description of the scene, with actual blocking.  Includes set and costume designs, floor plans.  From this you could allegedly reproduce the entire production.
   Add 240 & 650s per usual for the libretto or score format; reproduce any indications of “Soufflierbuch” etc. in the 250, PLUS:
   650 Operas $v Stage guides
   650 Opera $x Production and direction
   655 7 Acting editions (with appropriate subfields) $2 rbgenr
   655 7 Scenography (with appropriate subfields) $2 aat
   and/or
   655 7 Costume designs (with appropriate subfields) $2 aat
5. And finally, librettos (or scores), with extensive MANUSCRIPT description of the scene, with actual MANUSCRIPT blocking.  Might be interleaved.  Includes MANUSCRIPT set and costume designs, floor plans.  From this you could allegedly reproduce the entire production.
   Add 240 & 650s per usual for the libretto or score format; reproduce any indications of “Soufflierbuch” etc. in the 250, PLUS:
   650 Operas $v Stage guides
   650 Opera $x Production and direction
   655 7 Scenography (with appropriate subfields) $2 aat
   and/or
   655 7 Costume designs (with appropriate subfields) $2 aat
   655 7 Promptbooks (with appropriate subfields) $2 rbgenr

Cataloging librettos:

Cataloging librettos in RDA remains problematic. Many operas (and other musical works with text) have music and text created by the same entity, and this situation has not been handled well under the new rules. For some guidance from the Library of Congress on this issue (which includes their interim policy), see the addition at the bottom of this page.

1. Main entry

When cataloging in RDA, main entry should be under the librettist (RDA 6.27.1.2, 19.2.1.3), with an authorized access point representing the related work (RDA 25.1.1.3), like source material, books, plays, etc. 

Our local practice in DCRMB (when not as RDA hybrid) has been to list under the composer if neither composer nor librettist is mentioned (and we are certain of the attribution).  Pasticcios might go under the title as main entry with added entries for all of the composers, unless one was clearly overseeing the production: for more information, see RDA 6.28.1.3.

Treat ballet librettists as you would opera librettists for designators and relationships.  RDA defines a librettist as an “author of a libretto of an opera or other stage work, or an oratorio” and ballets are stage works.

2. Typical information included in a libretto record

• • The number of acts in our first 500 (e.g. “In 5 acts with prologue”) if that information isn’t covered by the 245.
  • First performed in city at theatre, date. See (or Cf. in non-hybrid DCRMB) source (from the item if at all possible; from Grove music online, etc. if not)
  • If music is included, how much and in what sort of notation (for example, "Includes music (black notation, set in movable type) on pages x-y").
  • Is the libretto in hand from that first performance, or do we know which performance this particular libretto is from?
  • Is there a cast list, and if so, does it include performers, and are they from a specific performance?
  • Is there a translator listed?  Does Loewenberg. Annals of opera clarify?
  • Does the libretto include unusually extensive stage directions or set descriptions?  With pre-1750 librettos, does it include stage directions at all?
  • If the composer isn’t mentioned on the title page, is s/he mentioned at end of cast list, or elsewhere in preliminaries?  
  • Check preliminaries for other important production personnel (translators, etc.) who can then be listed bracketed in 245 with 500 explanation.
  • Sometimes in older librettos, particularly those published in France, important cast information follows the prologue, or can be found at the beginnings of separate acts. Check everywhere.

3. Standard phrases for notes

• • Cast list on title-page verso; includes performers. OR: No cast list.
  • Librettist's name from cancel slip on title page.
  • Line borders. [use for text etc. printed within a line border throughout]
  • Numbered by leaves, but written on both sides of leaves.
  • Publisher's advertisement with musical incipits on pages [x]-[y] (or in RDA, on unnumbered pages x-y).
  • Publisher's catalog in preliminaries.
  • Singers from first performance indicated in caption titles of individual arias.
  • Title page within illuminated border.
  • Parallel pagination on facing pages.
  • "Représentée pour la première fois à Paris, sur le Théâtre royal de l'Opéra comique, le 20 janvier, 1890": preliminaries; includes performers.  Where possible, quote specific printed information rather than paraphrasing.

4. Form/genre headings

655 7$$aRental library copies$$zFrance$$zParis$$y19th century.$$2local$$5the

655 7$$aTax stamps$$zFrance$$zParis$$y19th century.$$2 aat$$5the

655 0$$aLibrettos$$zFrance$$zParis$$y1903.  (Don’t include “United States” unless you don’t know anything else)

655 7$$aPage proofs (Printing)$$zFrance$$zParis$$y1904.$$2rbpri$$5 the

655 7$$aTranslations$$zCzech Republic$$y20th century.$$2aat$$5the

655 7$$aSubscription lists (Publishing) $$z England $$z London $$y 1770. $$2 rbpub

5. Access points for related works

Use 700 “|i Libretto based on (work):” for the immediate source.

Use 700 "|i Based on (work):" for twice removed source material, or for "loosely based on" source material.

6. Standard phrases for holdings records

• • Extensive performance annotations, consistent with those found in scores owned by …
  • 561  Subscription library copy of L. Grus, with name and address gilt-stamped on front cover.—Add 710 for former owner.
  • 561  Subscription library copy of Rouart-Lerolle, with its label on front cover and stamp on title page. — Add 710 for former owner.
  • Pages mounted on stubs.
  • Scant manuscript annotations by J.-M. Martin in preliminaries.

7. TS Classification of opera librettos - Do not follow; Houghton no longer use the local classification scheme.

The document TS Classification instructs that  we are to build a TS number for an opera libretto by following the initial 8 with: ".1-.784 by uniform title / .1-.784 by main entry + 4-digit year." Thus, TS 8206.708 1844 for a libretto for Verdi's Ernani, published in 1844.

Under RDA rules, the creator of a libretto is the librettist (in AACR2, main entry for a libretto was by composer). We will continue to use existing TS numbers by composer where appropriate but, when obliged to generate new numbers, will do so under the name of the librettist.

Libretto note from Valerie Weinberg at LC, 8 October 2014:

The libretto issue keeps coming up. There seems to be a reluctance to move forward and start updating some of these types of headings to RDA not only because of the resulting massive file changes but also because there might be some sense that the treatment of librettos could still change under RDA. Personally, I keep hoping someone will have an epiphany that makes AACR2 21.28A1 Footnote 7 work conceptually under RDA (examples omitted):

“7. Alternative rule. Enter a libretto under the heading appropriate to the musical work. Make an added entry under the heading for the librettist. If the libretto is based on another text, make a name-title added entry under the heading for the original.

If, however, a libretto is published without reference to its musical setting, enter it under the heading for the author of the libretto.

Enter a collection of librettos for works by one composer under the heading for the composer.”

Another proffered solution to the libretto problem, and it just might be RDA compliant, is to treat librettos as parts and code them as $p. Now that we are all getting the hang of RDA, perhaps it is time to reopen the libretto discussion once again and see if there is a brilliant solution out there somewhere that resolves the libretto dilemma.

Finally, these are LC’s interim guidelines for librettos:

Due to the intense retroactive BFM required by RDA instructions for creator access points of operas, musicals, etc. (6.27.1.2, 6.27.4.2, 6.28.1.2, 6.28.1.10, 6.28.3.5), MBAS, in consultation with PSD, has devised the following interim* instructions for constructing and updating these access points.

If the creator of an opera, musical, etc. is responsible for both music and libretto, we will not follow the RDA instructions to differentiate access points for the music and for the libretto via qualifiers "(Opera)" and "(Libretto)".  Instead, we will continue to structure and record these access points as we did under AACR2.

For newly created access points

• follow AACR2 for structure
• do NOT code the authority record "rda"
• employ new MARC fields as applicable
• include 667 note reading: "This AACR2 1XX field should be used in RDA records pending a formal review of RDA instructions for composer-librettist authorized access points."

For unavoidable 1XX changes to existing access points

• follow AACR2 for structure
• do NOT code the authority record "rda"
• employ new MARC fields as applicable
• include 667 note reading: "This AACR2 1XX field should be used in RDA records pending a formal review of RDA instructions for composer-librettist authorized access points."

Acting editions

Use the RBMS genre term, Acting editions.
Historically, we have subdivided by place of publication, and century. However, the newly integrated RBMS CV does not allow subdivisions.

An Acting Edition is a printed edition of a play, intended for the use of actors rehearsing the play, that includes things like stage directions and other instructions for actors. They are portable, so actors can easily carry them around, and cheap, so you can afford to buy enough copies for your entire acting company.

As a genre the acting edition really came into being in the 19^th century when amateur theatrical productions became a popular thing, but there are certainly pre-19^th century editions which you could arguably call acting editions – that’s a judgment call. The major publisher of acting editions in the US is Samuel French, who had bought up almost all of his competitors by the mid 19^th century. In England, Thomas Hailes Lacy similarly achieved dominance, and 1872 Lacy was bought up by French, becoming the London based company of Samuel French Ltd., which is distinct from the New York based company of Samuel French (which was briefly known as Samuel French and Son or T.H. French in the late 19^th century).

Promptbooks

Use the RBMS genre term, Promptooks.

Historically, we have subdivided by place of publication, and century.  However, the newly integrated RBMS CV does not allow subdivisions.

The definition of Promptbooks is trickier, as the term has been used to mean different things at different times, and nobody can even agree on whether to spell it as two words or one. However, RBMS has settled on spelling it as one word with the following scope note: “Use for plays with manuscript production annotations.”

So a promptbook is the text of a play, which could be printed or manuscript, that has manuscript annotations, which may include stage directions, lighting cues, cuts, alterations, scenic designs, etc.

Players’ parts

Use the Houghton local genre term, Player’s parts
Subdivide by place of publication and century only if the information is different from the information on the bib record.  Add the library code, "$5 hou"; add only for printed material

Use this local genre term for performers' “sides”: actors' individual scripts, containing only their own dialogue and cue lines. We own many typescript and manuscript sides, which should be treated as single-items manuscripts. Sides should also receive a 240, with a |g Parts [when more than one side is present] or “Parts for …” [for a single side].

Some examples:

For a full set of parts:

1001_ |a Jones, J. S. |q (Joseph Stevens), |d 1811-1877, |e author.
24010 |a Captain Kyd. |g Parts

For a single part in a record without main entry:
1300_ |a Austerlitz. |g Part for Philippe Marcel

Parts in a translation:
1001_ |a Anicet-Bourgeois, |c M. |q (Auguste), |d 1806-1871, |e author.
24010 |a Docteur noir. |l English. |g Part for Fabien

Determining date of publication for undated acting editions (mainly Samuel French and T.H. Lacy)

Many of the acting editions published by Samuel French in New York, and by Thomas Hailes Lacy in London, can be dated to within a few years on the basis of the street address given in the imprint. In combination with further internal evidence, such printed dates in cast lists, or copy specific features, such as dated inscriptions, it is sometimes possible to narrow it down to a single year.

Note that Samuel French, Samuel French & Son, T.H. French, T. Henry French, Samuel French, Inc, all refer to the New York based firm. The London based firm of T.H. Lacy became Samuel French Ltd. following the 1872 takeover by French. Samuel French Inc. and Samuel French Ltd. are thus distinct entities, and each has its own name authority record.

Street addresses used by the London firm of T.H. Lacy, later Samuel French Ltd., with historical notes.
Source: Truly yours: one hundred and fifty years of play publishing & service to the theatre. London; New York: Samuel French, c1980.

After 1830        Wellington St. no. 1, later Wellington no. 17.

1859                the firm moves to 89 Strand

1872                T.H. Lacy firm is absorbed by Samuel French. The London based company is henceforth known as Samuel French Ltd.

1900                The building at 89 Strand is demolished. The firm moves “two hundred yards into the street opposite” to 26 Southampton St.

1931-1974       The firm occupies the “greater part of no. 27 [Southampton St.] as well.”

Street directory information for the New York firm of Samuel French and other New York publishers of acting editions.

Source: Stoddard, R. E. (1971). NOTES ON AMERICAN PLAY PUBLISHING, 1765-1865.Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society, 81(1), 161. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezp-prod1.hul.harvard.edu/docview/1305095260?accountid=11311

Reporting Houghton and Harvard Theatre Collection Holdings to RISM (Répertoire international des sources musicales)

1. Create RISM record in Muscat.
2. When record number has been auto-generated upon saving, add to Alma and Connexion records in 510 field, taking care to use current RBMS SCF in the $a and to present the number in the $c as digits alone for an online-only record (no A/I or B/I designation, for instance) or with letter followed by digits for a record originating in the print catalogue.
3. If the item was described very differently in RISM to how it appears in Alma and Connexion, incorporate these changes into Alma and Connexion. particularly those changes involving new discoveries.
   
4. Check Isham's wiki on RISM for the updated instructions.
   

HISTORICAL REFERENCE ONLY (DO NOT FOLLOW):

Items shelved under the previous classification scheme used the following size designations for shelving:

For flat objects classed in LC: