About the Collection
Researchers wishing to document aspects of the theater business in nineteeth-century London and New York would find Thomas Goodwin's collection useful.
The in-depth coverage from 1824 to 1835 provides information about theater programming and about the careers of actors, actresses, and other performers. The collection also speaks to the dynamic relationship between theater in London and in New York City. Because of Goodwin's occupation of music librarian and copyist, issues such as the music trade, musical repertoire, and theater programming can be examined.
The collection is divided into the following series: Series I. Thomas Goodwin papers; Series II. Playbills, subseries A-C as follows: A. London playbills; B. Other English playbills; C. New York City playbills.
The Thomas Goodwin Collection was given to Oberlin College in June of 1990 by Phoebe K. Eaton, a 1937 graduate of Oberlin College. Thomas Goodwin was a great-grandfather of Ms. Eaton. Ms. Eaton resides in Old Chatham, New York.
Related classified books in the Special Collections area include the following that came with the Thomas Goodwin collection:
- Goodwin, Thomas. Sketches and Impressions: Musical, Theatrical and Social (1799-1885) Including a Sketch of the Philharmonic Society of New York From the After-Dinner Talk of Thomas Goodwin. Collected by R. Osgood Mason. New York: Putnam's, 1887. (PN2185.G6)
- Fairburn, John. Fairburn's Description of the Popular and Comic New Pantomime, Called Harlequin and Mother Goose, or The Golden Egg [by Thomas Dibdin]. London: J. Fairburn, 1807? (PR4549.D5 Z64 1807)
- Philharmonic Society of London. Concert Programs. 1828-1829. (ML42.L7 C66)