Barclay S. Leathem began teaching in the English Department at Western Reserve University (WRU) in 1921 while a law student. (He received his law degree in 1924.) He moved to the Speech Department in 1927 to teach the first theatre classes at WRU.

Barclay Leathem in the classroom, Western Reserve University, ca.1940

In 1931 Leathem became head of the Dramatic Arts Department in the Graduate School when the graduate program in Drama and Theatre was established. Leathem, Frederic McConnell, and Arthur White (WRU faculty member) had proposed this new graduate program -- a joint program between WRU and the Cleveland Play House.

With McConnell, Leathem was involved in the work of the National Theatre Conference (NTC). The NTC office was housed on the WRU campus beginning in 1937. Leathem served as Executive Secretary 1938-1959. In 1940 he traveled across the country visiting colleges and community theaters. An account of Leathem's trip is covered in the October 1940 issue of the NTC Quarterly Bulletin.

"Travel Notes" October 1940 issue of the NTC Quarterly Bulletin

Leathem also served as chairman of the investigation of royalties and play releases. The hope was to make better plays available for amateurs and to educate public school teachers to their use. He also oversaw several projects for the NTC, including the playwriting competition for GIs, the Tryout Studio where new graduates of university and theatre programs would perform before agents and others, the Bulletin quarterly publication, and the play lists for shows performed in army camps during World War II.

Special thanks to Helen Conger, Archivist, Scholarly Resources & Special Collections, Kelvin Smith Library, for creating the content for this post.

For more information about the Cleveland Play House Archives contact the Kelvin Smith Library Special Collections.

The post-World War I era saw a number of significant changes in the national professional theatre dynamic, most notably the end of road company empires, the rise of motion pictures, and the collapse of the big stock companies. At the same time came the rise of the non-commercial theatre in cities big and small and the development of theatre studies at the university level. Together, these changes ended the traditional relationships between playwrights, agents, and American theatres by the mid-1920’s.

Frederic McConnell directing a CPH production ca.1945. Photograph by Gordon Connor

The organizers of the National Theatre Conference (NTC) stepped into this changing scene in hopes of protecting and developing the interests of non-commercial theatres. Conceived among the faculty and graduates of nascent university theatre programs and strengthened by the rising power of the little theatre movement, the NTC began working as a small group of volunteers who shared their knowledge and experience with colleagues who had traditionally looked to New York for every cue. Their core concept of developing professionalism on a peer-to-peer basis revolutionized the world of not for profit theatre and ultimately helped insured the success of the movement.

As a graduate of Carnegie Tech, one of the earliest theatre education programs in the country, and with a national reputation based on his successful administration of the Cleveland Play House, Frederic McConnell represented the new breed of theatre professionals driving the NTC. He took early leadership roles in the group and from his address to the first conference attendees in 1925 though his retirement from the Play House in 1958, McConnell helped steer the NTC toward achieving it’s goals.

NTC regions map ca.1933. McConnell territory shaded in blue.

Organized on a regional plan, the NTC divided the country into several sections, each represented by a regional director. Without pay, these individuals agreed to provided a consistent level of support, advice and professional development to small theatres in such complex areas as negotiations for production rights and royalties and securing plays for production. Promoting development of new plays and identifying new sources of playwriting talent came under the regional directors prevue as well. The NTC filled an urgent need for professional literature in the field with an aggressive publishing program and regional directors worked as liaisons in commissioning or reprinting works by trusted authors on all phases of theatre work and supporting the development of theatre libraries. Lastly, the NTC, through the efforts of its regional directors, maintained and made available employment registers, business directories of reliable resources for theatre equipment and standards for theatre architecture.

Through McConnell’s devotion to the NTC, the Cleveland Play House became the regional center for the exchange of knowledge, experience and resources in non-commercial theatres as well as the growing number of theatre programs at the university level. Early funding for the NTC came from foundation grants, which were administered from rent-free offices in New York; resources that dwindled as the depression deepened throughout the 1930’s. Through the generosity of Western Reserve University [a CWRU predecessor institution], the NTC took up residence on campus at no cost and with considerable support from faculty member Barclay Leathem who worked in tandem with McConnell for many years to put the finances, products and services of the NTC to good use in the theatre community.

National Theatre Conference logo circa.1933

For more information about the Cleveland Play House Archives contact the Kelvin Smith Library Special Collections.

The rare book holdings include one of the most beautiful color seashell books ever published, Conchology, or, The natural history of shells, by George Perry, which appeared in 1811. In the opening paragraph of his Introduction he states: "The study of Shells or testaceous animals, is a branch of natural history which, although not greatly useful to the mechanical arts, or the human economy, is nevertheless, by the beauty of the subjects it comprises, most admirably adapted to recreate the senses, to improve the taste or invention of the Artist, and, finally and insensibly, to lead to the contemplation of the great excellence and wisdom of the Divinity in their formation." The introduction which also explains the arrangement of the work into two sections, univalves and bivalves, is followed by sixty-one exquisite, hand colored aquatint plates. The plates are signed as being published by William Miller, a prominent Scottish line-engraver who was best known in his day for his reproductions of the works of J.M.W. Turner. In the introduction credit for the original drawings and engravings is given to a Mr. John Clarke. It is very likely that the work was done by George Perry, who was a skilled artist, and others who were less skilled than he was. Antiquarian booksellers relate that Perry's Conchology is the only seashell book with aquatint illustrations but another has been identified. The work was printed at London by William Bulmer, one of the best printers of the time, who strove to improve the standards of English typography.

Although Perry was a distinguished English naturalist, the work was criticized during his lifetime for its use of vibrant pastel colors and shell forms that were not always true to life. His choice of nomenclature was also criticized but many of the generic and specific names he used are now accepted and used today.

Perry's text was based on the work of Linnaeus and the Frenchmen Jean Guillaume Bruguière, a zoologist whose main interest was snails and Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, who wrote a major work on the classification of invertebrates. The plates illustrate specimens from Australia, New Zealand, the South Seas, Pacific Ocean and Tahiti. Many of the shells that appear in the illustrations formed part of the collections of private individuals. It is thought that some of the shells were from a collection that belonged to Elizabeth Bligh, whose husband was William Bligh, captain of the Bounty when its crew carried out its famous mutiny in 1789.

This monumental work comes to the rare book collection from the library of Dr. Jared P. Kirtland (1793-1877). Kirtland was a physician and naturalist who was born in Connecticut and moved to Ohio in 1823. He founded the first scientific organization in Cleveland, the Cleveland Academy of Natural Sciences, which was formally established in 1845. This Academy was the forerunner of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. Kirtland's contributions also include his establishment of the Cleveland Medical College which became the Western Reserve University School of Medicine.

For more on the Conchology see
George Perry's molluscan taxa and notes on the editions of his Conchology of 1811 by Richard E. Petit

For more information about the copy held by the Department of Special Collections at the Kelvin Smith Library contact us at 216-368-0189.

Plate 25: Conus

The Women’s Committee of the Cleveland Play House was founded to further the interests of the Play House, initially serving as liaison between the theatre and the public. The first Women’s Committee meeting was held in the Brooks Theatre in May 1932 at the request of the Board of Trustees. At that time several committees were formed to assist Play House personnel in the areas of subscription sales, promotional and social events.

Admission ticket to Women's Committee fundraising event.

These early assignments quickly expanded to encompass twenty-one committees devoted to such tasks as event coordination, ushering, children’s theatre efforts, marketing campaigns and major fundraising drives which essentially relieved the Play House of the expense of administrative staff in the hard times of the 1930’s. Their stated goal was “To assist in every way possible in any way help was needed” which resulted in the cultivation of a dedicated and multi-talented volunteer work force supporting every operation of the theatre for eighty years.

Fundraising was an important function of the Women’s Committee and their aim was to have fun doing it. Planning and executing countless luncheons, balls, benefit performances, fashion shows, comedy revues, gift shops, tours and commemorative publications over the lifespan of the committee raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to aid the theatre and spread good will throughout the community. Over time, the group laid the foundation for a Men’s Committee to broaden the volunteer base among Play House members. Perhaps best known for establishing and managing the Play House Club in the 1960’s, the Men’s Committee also engaged in a wide array of projects designed to support the Play House.

Men's Committee social event invitation.

In October 2012, membership of the Women’s Committee closed the first chapter of their history with the Play House by organizing one last luncheon, the proceeds of which were combined with the balance of their treasury to create the Women’s Committee of The Cleveland Play House Endowment Fund.

Contact Special Collections for details about our current exhibit of Cleveland Play House Archives material.

Working in a Preservation Department of a university library is a challenging and rewarding job. One of the most enjoyable activities involved with this profession is the conservation of rare and historic bindings. I recently had the opportunity to restore the damaged binding for a unique book with ties to the Cleveland area-Charles W. Wason's "Letters of a Trip Around the World".

Charles Wason, 1854-1918, was born and raised in Cleveland. He moved to New York state to attend Cornell University and returned to Cleveland following his graduation. He eventually became President/director of several electric, telephone and railroad companies. He traveled with his wife around the world and as a result of his travels developed an avid interest in China. With the assistance of Arthur W. Clark, a rare book dealer in Cleveland at the time, he actively collected a vast number of books and journal articles about China which he donated upon his death in 1918 to Cornell University Library, establishing the Cornell East Asia Collection.

Although he donated his incredible collection (9,500 books, 1,200 pamphlets, 550 manuscripts) to Cornell, the Special Collections of Kelvin Smith Library is fortunate to hold a book of his personal letters to his two daughters, hand-written during his trip around the world in 1902-03. These original letters and printed souvenirs were beautifully bound by the Rowfant Club of Cleveland. The book was bound in full green goatskin leather with decorative endsheets and gold tooling. Over the years, the book's leather deteriorated and the covers became detached. A Cleveland couple with an interest in this book funded its repairs through the Adopt-A-Book program of Kelvin Smith Library.

In order to restore the binding, new leather similar to the original was pared down (thinned with a knife) to create hinges for attaching both the front and back covers.

The spine was gently lifted with a special knife at both sides, just barely enough to insert the new leather hinges, which were also attached just beneath the original leather of the front and back covers. The leather hinges were glued with wheat paste, which is made in the department and is easily reversible. Great care was taken not to damage the already fragile original leather when working on the book.

The book's brittle leather spine was very scuffed, flaking and damaged; it was dyed to exactly match the original leather and treated with a leather consolidator. Finally, a custom clam-shell box was created to protect and house the book. The box was lined with Microchamber paper that will help preserve the binding by absorbing the harmful acids inherently present in the leather and paper.

This book can now be safely handled and used by visitors to Special Collections. It was gratifying to work on this wonderful book, and the library is very grateful to the couple who provided the funding to achieve the restoration.

The biography of Charles W. Wason was based on information provided by the Cornell University site-"Historical Journey of the Wason Collection on East Asia"

Information about the restored book "Letters of a Trip around the World" was provided by the Adopt-A-Book donors.

Book before restoration

Book after restoration

Inside of book before treatment showing detached boards

Inside of book after treatment

Spine before treatment showing deteriorated leather

Spine after treatment

Custom-made protective box

Open custom-made box with book inside

Our postings on the great publishers and printers continues with the house of Elsevier. The Elseviers were a Dutch family of printers, publishers and booksellers who flourished in Holland for over one hundred years from about 1585 until 1712. They were one of many fine printing establishments that conducted business in more than one city. During the period they were in operation Holland was a maritime world power and enjoyed what has come to be known as the Dutch Golden Age. Literature, science and the arts flourished with painters of the era including Rembrandt and Vermeer. It was also the golden age of the Dutch book trade. Elsevier books were attractive and well made, inexpensive and sold all over Europe. The founding member of the establishment was Louis Elsevier (1546-1617) who was most likely born at Louvain in Belgium. He left there around 1565 and went to Antwerp where he worked a short time for Christopher Plantin. After working for Plantin he moved from place to place until he settled in Leiden in 1580. At that time Leiden was the most important city in Holland next to Amsterdam. After initial failures at bookbinding and printing he made his first attempt at publishing in 1582 with I. Drusii Ebraicarum Quaestionum. He was given space at the University of Leiden in 1587 and published for himself and for the school.

During the last quarter of the sixteenth century and the first half of the seventeenth century the University of Leiden grew to become one of the finest schools in Europe. It attracted an international faculty with some of the foremost scholars of the day including Joseph Juste Scaliger, Claude Saumaise and Daniel Heinsius. Almost half of the student body came from foreign countries including Norway, Ireland, Spain, Poland, Turkey and Persia. The Elseviers maintained a relationship with the University for most of the seventeenth century and it is very likely the students took their books back home with them.

In addition to the Leiden office, subsidiary branches were set up during Louis's lifetime at The Hague and Utrecht. The shop at The Hague was in operation from 1590 until 1665 and was located in the Great Hall. The shop at Utrecht was not as important as the one at The Hague and less is known about the business conducted there. It is known that the shop was established in 1600 by Joost, the fourth son of Louis, at the sign of the Red Goose.

When Lewis died in 1617 his business at Leiden was taken over by his hiers. The Leiden establishment achieved its greatest prominence under the direction of Bonaventure (1583-1652)and Abraham Elsevier (1592-1652). Abraham was the son of Matthias (d. 1640) who was one of the founding Louis's sons. Bonaventure was Matthias's brother. Abraham had a son Isaac (1596-1651) who established his own printing business and produced work for his father, uncle and other booksellers. In 1629 Abraham and Bonaventure began a series of duodecimo books, small pocket size editions, of the Latin classics that made the Elsevier name famous. The volumes produced in this series didn't come to an end until 1665. They produced another series of small books known as "The Republics" between 1626 and 1649 which gained immediate popularity. Each volume in the series was devoted to the history, economy, geography and other facts about a country in Africa, Asia, Europe or the Near East. These books may be considered the precursors of modern day travel guides. Some texts were reprints of older titles like Contareni's book on Venice and others included only excerpts from older works. There were also newly commissioned titles issued in the Republics series.

Around 1655, after management of the Leiden shop passed out of the hands of Bonaventure and Abraham, the main Elsevier establishment became the one based at Amsterdam. It was under the direction of Louis (1604-1670), the son of the founder of the family business, and his cousin Daniël (1626-1680). Since they were not affiliated with a university it was not as necessary for them to print books about theology and the classics. Their publications included the works of Erasmus, Bacon, Molière and Descartes among others. When Daniël died in 1680 he was one of Europe's famous publishers and with his death the Amsterdam house came to an end. The era of the Elsevier publishing dynasty as a whole came to a rather undistinguished close at Leiden with the death of Abraham in 1712. Abraham (1653-1712) was the great-great grandson of the founding father Louis. Abraham did not apply himself to the responsibility of maintaining the business that was still located on the premises of the University of Leiden. In fact, the senate of the University complained in 1711 about the chickens and dogs kept around the shop that were making too much of a mess and too much noise.

The subjects most published by all the Elseviers were religion and theology followed by law, politics, the classics, French plays and belles lettres. They were also known for their books published in non-Roman alphabets. The years the Elseviers were in business coincided with a period of intense study of Semitic languages in the Netherlands. They sometimes published under a fictitious imprint or anonymously if the books were about religious or political subjects that could have been detrimental to their business reputation. As a whole the family members did not have the best educations and were not scholars. The quality of their texts was dependent upon the caliber of their proof-readers and by the time of the Elseviers the era of the scholar proof-reader had for the most part ended. However, in the main, their texts were well edited and reliable and intended for the scholarly and educated classes. Although they are best known for their small format books, duodecimos like the Republics and classics series, the Elseviers also published larger books, octavos and folios. No matter how one chooses to evaluate their small books the Elseviers deserve credit for providing good books at affordable prices. The worth of these may be judged from the tendency of many other contemporary printers and publishers to imitate or forge their productions. Some of the more learned members of the day were not greatly enthusiastic about the small Elsevier books but others valued them highly. Indeed, one Sir Thomas Browne who died in 1682 had stipulated in his will that "on my coffin when in the grave I desire may be deposited in its leather case or coffin my Elzevir's Horace … worn out with and by me."

The Elsevier name came into use again in 1880 when Jacobus Robbers named his publishing company "Elsevier." He even used the printer's device that Isaac, the printer at Leiden, had used. An old man stands underneath an elm tree which is considered the tree of knowledge. The motto, "non solus," means "not alone." The Elsevier name is still with us today as a part of the Reed-Elsevier conglomerate which is one of the major publishers of healthcare and scientific literature.

Sources:
Davies, David William, The World of the Elseviers, 1580-1712. The Hague: Nijoff, 1954.

Glaister, Geoffrey Ashall, Encylopedia of the Book.. New Castle, Del.: Oak Knoll Press; London: British Library, 1996

Hartz, Sem, The Elseviers and their contemporaries: an illustrated commentary. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1955.

Lyons, Martyn, Books: a Living History. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2011.

Steinberg, Sigfrid Henry, Five Hundred Years of Printing. London: British Library; New Castle, DE: Oak Knoll Books, 1996.

Traister, Daniel, "The Elsevier Republics" in The Elsevier Republics: Guide to the Microfiche Edition Bethesda, MD: Congressional Information Services,Inc., 1988.

Image 1 above: Engraved title page from Casparis Contareni's De republica Venetorum libri quinque published at Leiden in 1628. One of the titles from The Republics series.

Image 2 above: Engraved title page from volume one of the works of Cicero published at Leiden in 1642. One of the titles from the Latin classics series.

Image 3 above: Printer's device used by the Elseviers from the title page of Dan. Heinsii De tragoediae constitvtione liber. In qvo inter caetera tota de hac Aristotelis sententia dilucide explicatur. Editio auctior multo. Cui & Aristotelis De poëtica libellus, cum ejusdem notis & interpretatione, accedit. Lvgd. Batav., ex officinâ Elsevirianâ, 1643.

For more information contact the Department of Special Collections at the Kelvin Smith Library at 216-368-0189

Special Collections is the repository of a collection of over 5,000 bookplates from a handful of collectors who pursued that fascinating hobby. Begun with a gift in memory of their daughter Lucia to Western Reserve University by Mr. & Mrs. Paul Lemperly in 1917 the collection continued to grow through the 1980’s with gifts from Clara Prentis Sherwin, Alice S. Tyler and Elizabeth M. Richards.

As we have recently started to re-examine this collection it has become clear that an extension of the gifts bestowed by our small group of collectors has been uncovering tiny examples of work by local artists which we might not otherwise have come to know.

Seen here are five bookplates created by Cleveland artist Kalman Kubinyi for prominent Clevelanders, probably in the 1930’s. Kubinyi wove representative elements of his clients’ lives into miniature designs which they used to define their personal libraries.

Though the Cleveland Play House struggled early on to find it’s financial and managerial footing, there was never a lack of artistic talent available to produce first class promotional material for a wide variety of productions each season. By 1922, the number of hand-drawn programs and playbills had been augmented by professionally typeset works by local printers. The Play House was the recipient of two beautiful works of art by master printer Horace Carr in the playbills he created for The Tragicall History of Doctor Faustus (March 31st to April 9th, 1922) and The Tragicall History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (January 12th to 29th, 1923)

Carr, Cleveland’s most celebrated printer, enjoyed an international reputation as an innovative and meticulous creator of typeset works. He was an active participant in the Cleveland art scene from the establishment of his Cleveland printing business in 1893 to his death in 1941. Carr was a student of the earliest printers and a devotee of the practices developed in the hand press period as well as those refined in the works of William Morris. Of note in the playbills featured here is Carr’s signature use of the Caslon typeface and pleasing arrangement of text and ornamentation to convey the spirit of the Elizabethan stage of Marlowe and Shakespeare.

For more information about the Cleveland Play House Archive please contact Special Collections or visit the Cleveland Play House web site.

Our processing efforts received a boost this summer through the work of three students, Mike Muth, Michael Wilson, and Char'ta Cleggett.

Michael and Char'ta were part of University Circle, Inc's Future Connections program, a summer internship program for rising high school seniors. Mike joined us as an intern in Kent State University School of Library and Information Science's Circle Undergraduate Internship Program.

Together, our students contributed over 160 hours, during which they:
• Physically processed over 20 linear feet of photographs of the Cleveland Play House's 860 productions from the 1917 through 1985 seasons.
• Created item-level descriptions of nearly 950 photographs.
• Digitized over 155 photographs.

Besides this very high level of productivity, Mike, Michael, and Char'ta asked stimulating questions and made helpful suggestions for improving our processing procedures.

The Preservation Department of Kelvin Smith Library’s Scholarly Research and Special Collections team received the phone call on Wednesday, June 13th, a perfectly normal day. Workmen on the roof were performing maintenance on an air-conditioning unit when suddenly a water pipe burst, sending water cascading through the ceiling and onto a portion of the first 7 compact-shelf ranges of the library’s circulating collection on the third floor. The water also soaked a nearby women’s rest room and one of the library’s two elevators, but our concern in Preservation in such a situation was to quickly assess and recover the affected books. Time is extremely critical in a wet book/paper situation as mold can develop after only 24 hours.

Luckily for us we have an excellent up-to-date Disaster Plan in place that covers exactly this type of situation, including step by step instructions so there is no panic and everyone knows exactly how to proceed.

Assuring the safety of people always comes first in any disaster situation!
• Before entering the affected area, it was determined by Plant Services staff that there was not any shock hazard from wet electrical components.
• Before any staff entered the area, Plant Services removed wet ceiling tiles that were crumbling and falling so that no one could suffer injury from the falling debris, which can be quite heavy especially when wet.
• The water was not originating from a waste pipe, but was “grey water”, regular water that has passed through a ceiling and a roof, so it is still not really clean. Staff was reminded repeatedly to wash their hands after they were done handling the wet materials.
• Yellow caution tape was applied to the affected areas on both sides of the stacks and the movable shelving in that area was locked, preventing patron access.

After human safety issues were adequately addressed, the book salvage began in earnest! Plastic sheeting (kept on site in KSL and also from our offsite disaster supply cache) was brought from its designated locations and was draped over the nearby still-dry shelving areas to prevent them from becoming wet, as well as over the wet shelving units after the books were removed.

Over 1,000 books were removed from the shelves and placed on carts. They were then brought to a staging area on the second floor where student workers and volunteer staff were mobilized to sort the books according to degrees of wetness; the soaked books were packed in plastic milk crates (also brought from our disaster supply cache) and taken to a local freeze dry facility (already identified in our Disaster Plan)

The damp books were surface-wiped/dried with rags and then stood up and fanned-out on 13 tables with fans on each end. Because so many people volunteered, this took only 2-3 hours.

Meanwhile, Library Administration staff contacted the University’s insurance and one special account was set up to charge all expenses related to the incident. The leak was repaired by Plant Services staff and the shelving area cleaned up. Fans were left running on each side of the affected stacks to dry them out, keep the air moving and to reduce humidity in the area. Administration dealt with the elevator and the rest room damage.

The following day, staff and students carefully checked each book and if thoroughly dry, placed them on book carts. Almost all of the damp books were dry after 18 hours. Preservation staff checked random books with a moisture meter to confirm that they were dry and had acceptable moisture content for books and paper. (The moisture meter was a joint disaster supply purchase of the Kelvin Smith Library and the MSASS Harris Library.) The few books that were still damp were consolidated and continued to be dried on one table. Books that were dry but were water-stained, needed repairs or had cockled paper needing to be flattened were identified and placed on another cart to go to Preservation for treatment. The dry undamaged books were taken to the sorting room to be re-shelved. The tables used to dry the books were cleaned and disinfected as were the formerly wet shelves in the stacks. Fans and empty book carts were returned to their original locations. Preservation staff took temperature and humidity readings in the wet stack area and set up a recording hygrothermograph (an instrument that records and measures temperature and relative humidity over a week’s time) to make sure the humidity does not get too high. If it does become too high, dehumidifiers are available with the disaster supplies located in a different building.

The Disaster Plan works very well. Because we had the necessary recovery supplies stored nearby, and had clear direction, there were no books lost- and over 1000 books were dried returned to circulation within a 24 hour period. The much appreciated staff and student help was a very critical factor in the quick recovery time. Everyone really pulled together in the face of an emergency for the common good. As far as disasters go, it doesn’t get much better than this!

For more information on library disaster recovery or emergency planning, please see our website or contact the Preservation Department, sxg7@case.edu.

Among the items selected for display at the March 26th event announcing the donation of the Cleveland Play House Archive to the Kelvin Smith Library were several wooden printer’s blocks used in the creation of early publicity pieces for the organization. Of these, one block (below) resonated with exhibit creators and visitors alike. That item, with the simple heading: "You Are Cordially Invited to a Marionette Evening" was the work of Cleveland artist John Lorin Black (possibly 1894-1963).

image detail on reverse of printer's block. Cleveland Play House Archives

Here's what we have learned about our interesting artifact to date:

On March 15, 1918, the Play House puppet group presented two short marionette plays; Shadowy Waters by William Butler Yeats, and, The Soul of Chopin adapted from Liszt's Life of Chopin. Black designed the set and served as a reader for Shadowy Waters in addition to creating the announcement on the aforementioned printer's block. The following amusing description of the evening is from chapter nine of Julia Flory's The Cleveland Play House: How it Began.

"The scene of this first play was the deck of an ancient ship with a golden sail against a purple sky. I was up on the bridge this time manipulating the strings of the queen with "hair the color of burning" while statuesque Martha Yeager, perched nearby, read the lines and provided the forlorn "keening." There was much keening, much Gaelic gloom, weird beauty, poetic grief.

The other manipulators were Emma Joseph, Blanche Nicola, Marian Morris, and Helen Joseph, while the zealous readers were Harry Mereine, Ralph Silver, Lorin Black (Johnnie) and Ray W. Irvin.

With some embarrassment I now chronicle that, after many weeks of these rehearsals in unmitigated gloom, the reaction of the cast was natural and complete. When the final curtain fell, a group of them grasped hands and dashed down to the Roxy (Burlesque) Theatre as an antidote."

Black was a Cleveland artist whose work is occasionally found at auction and/or cited as being held in the Cleveland Museum of Art. Black signed his Play House piece with his initials "JLB" but later signed his paintings Lorin Black. According to contemporary reports in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Black had several entries accepted in the CMA May Show in the late 1920's and early 1930's. He is also listed on the Cleveland Arts Prize web page as a Cleveland region/WPA artist though his work is not represented in KSL Special Collections WPA Artwork holdings.

Little else is known about Black's later career and details about his personal life are also sketchy. Readers with information to share about John Lorin Black are encouraged to leave comments on this post.

In early March we welcomed photographer, Laura Webb, and CWRU Think Magazine's Tricia Schellenbach and Melissa Evans Persensky to Kelvin Smith Library for a sneak preview of some of the gems in the Cleveland Play House Archives. It was a fascinating glimpse at how skilled photographers set up near-studio conditions using an astonishing array of portable lights, reflectors, cameras, stands, lenses, and other equipment. We witnessed what must be the writer's and designer's version of rapid development as Tricia and Melissa designed the layout and wrote the text on the spot. The result of the morning's work is a photo essay about the collection in the spring/summer 2012 issue of Think

Think Cleveland Play House photo essay PDF

The Department of Special Collections begins a series of postings highlighting the great printers and publishers with Christopher Plantin of Antwerp. Plantin turned Antwerp into the most important center for book production during the second half of the 16th century and he is one of the greatest names in the history of publishing. Born in France around 1520, he learned the printing trade in Paris at the time the work of the printers of France reigned supreme. He settled in Antwerp in 1549 and set up a business as a book binder and bookseller. Antwerp was an attractive location because of its prosperous printing trade known for producing quality work. Plantin's career as a book binder came to a premature end when his right arm was injured when he was attacked by a band of drunken men who mistook him for someone else.

The Plantin Press was established in 1555 and issued as its first work the Institution d'une Fille de Noble Maison. Soon after he established his printing establishment he surrounded himself with a group of scholars, linguists and engravers. By 1576 there were 22 presses in operation. This was production on a massive scale compared to the average printing shop of the day which employed two to six presses at most. The Biblia regia, a massive, eight volume polyglot Bible produced between 1568 and 1573 in Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Syriac and Aramaic, is considered to be Plantin's masterpiece. It was to be financed by King Philip II of Spain but he never supplied the funds he had promised and as a result Plantin was nearly financially ruined by the venture. This same Philip appointed Plantin court printer in 1570 and named him supervisor of all Dutch printing.

During his lifetime Plantin produced nearly 2000 titles at the sign of the Golden Compass and published in a wide variety of subjects including the classics, Bibles, dictionaries, medical books and emblem books. He also advanced the process of music printing and published the work of contemporary Dutch and Flemish botanists, geographers and cartographers. Plantin's types were French and he purchased types and strikes at the sales of Simon Colines' and Garamond's material. He commissioned Robert Granjon to design several series of types and engaged Guillaume Le Bé for his Hebrew type. Plantin employed more type cutters in his foundry attached to the printing house. The works of the press influenced trends in book illustration of the time. Plantin's establishment was the one chiefly responsible for spurring the popularity of the extravagant engraved copper plate title pages that spread over Europe (For more on this subject see: Christopher Plantin and Engraved Book Illustrations in Sixteenth-Century Europe. Karen L. Bowne and Dirk Imhof. Cambridge ; New York, N.Y. : Cambridge University Press, 2008). The famous device used on his title pages after 1557 consists of a compass that is usually held by a disembodied hand in a circle which is accompanied by his personal motto "Labore et Contantia," By labor and constancy. The device also incorporated elaborate borders, foliage, human and animal figures, and architectural shapes which were subject to frequent change.

Plantin headed one of the most prosperous business
establishments of the time that stretched as far as north Africa where his agents sold his Hebrew Bibles to the Jewish congregations. However, his life was far from easy. Early on, in the year 1562, he escaped to Paris. It is thought he feared for his life because he was a member of a secret sect called "The Family of Love" and indeed, since three Antwerp printers had been executed for heresy his fears were not unfounded. While he was away his worldly possessions were dispersed and auctioned off including some of his printing presses, type and books. He was able to return two years later with his name cleared. For ten years the fate of the polyglot Bible, which nearly ruined him, languished as the theologians of Salamanca tried to have it placed on the Index librorum prohibitorum (List of Prohibited books). There was concern that problems would arise if the Bible fell into the hands of the lay people. After Antwerp was sacked by Spanish soldiers during the revolt of the Netherlands the resources of Plantin's establishment were severely diminished but he built up again during the ensuing period of peace and prospered. In 1583 he left Antwerp again and worked as printer to the university in Leiden until 1585. His sons-in-law Francis van Ravelingen (Raphelengius) and Jan Moerentorff (Moretus) kept the establishment operating in his absence.

Plantin died in 1589, the year after the defeat of the great Spanish Armada by the British, and was buried in Antwerp Cathedral. His printing establishment was carried on by his son-in-law Jan Moretus and his heirs until the nineteen century. In 1866 the press issued its last work and the business was shut down. The unique materials that had been accumulated over the centuries were kept and the building was made into the Plantin-Moretus Museum. The city of Antwerp acquired the museum in 1876 which remains a place of pilgrimage today.

Our featured work from the Plantin Press is a book of martyrs published in 1589, the second edition of Martyrology Romanum: ad novam Kalendarii rationem, et ecclesiasticae historiae veritatem restitutum / Gregorii XIII. Pont. Max. iussu editum. Accesserunt notationes atque tractatio de Martyrologio Romano: auctore Caesare Baronio Sorano. Below is the engraved frontispiece page and title page with Plantin's device.

To view the latest list of Plantin titles identified in the Special Collections rare book holdings search author "Plantin, Christophe ca. 1520-1589" in Euclid Plus.

Image 1 above: Portrait of Plantin by Peter Paul Ruebens painted between 1612 and 1616 after a 1584 portrait from the Wikimedia Commons
Image 2 above: Plantin Device from the Pitts Theological Digital Image Archive
Image 3 above: Printing presses at the Plantin-Moretus Museum, World Heritage Sites web page

For more information contact the Department of Special Collections at the Kelvin Smith Library at 216-368-0189

The Play House was interested in education at many levels. One program which was extremely successful was The Curtain Pullers.

Originally known as The Children’s Theatre when it was founded in 1933 by Play House actress Esther Mullin, the Curtain Pullers produced plays acted by children for children. Local schools were asked to select their 2 most talented students, aged 5-12, for positions in the Play House School at no cost. From 1936-1940 the Curtain Players grew to 500 children and their productions had an audience of 6,000.

Three productions were presented each season: at Thanksgiving, during the Christmas holidays and in early spring. Many of the productions were from original manuscripts. All the students were eligible for tryouts. There was also a continuing program of creative dramatics. "The Play House feels that the objectives of creative dramatics are to give the child an avenue of self-expression, to offer a controlled emotional outlet, to help build good attitudes and appreciations, to provide opportunities for growth and social cooperation and to help develop the latent imagination of the child. To this end, the youngsters are provided with an atmosphere of freedom, understanding and enthusiasm." (1)

Alumni of the Curtain Pullers include actors Paul Newman and Joel Grey.

Here is Paul Newman at age 11 in a 1936 production of St. George and The Dragon.

This program eventually evolved into the Play House Youth Theatre.

(1) Ruth Fischer, The Cleveland Play House. The Nation's First Professional Resident Theatre Company (October 1963).

Planning for a non-profit theatre supper club, to be called the Cleveland Play House Club, was begun in the late 1950’s by the Men's Committee. Their goal was to enhance the theatre going experience and bring added income to the organization. The only requirement for membership was that the applicant be a season subscriber to the Play House.

Membership form for Cleveland Play House subscribers. 1960

The original club was located at the 77th Street Theatre facility and was designed by architect Francis K. Draz. His design converted a seldom-used rehearsal hall into a 6,000 square foot kitchen and a dining room with seating for 60 guests.

A noted feature of the club was a stained glass window with one word embellished at its center: "love." A relic from the building’s pre-Play House years as a Christian Science Church, the window was salvaged when the club was re-incarnated at the 86th Street location in time for the 1982-1983 season. The club then boasted a lounge with seating for 50 and three private dining rooms with combined capacity to seat 90. In conjunction with the launch of the new club facility and the popularity of signature club dishes prompted publication of Rave Reviews: A Cookbook of the Cleveland Play House in 1983.

For more information about Cleveland Play House Club and the Cleveland Play House Archives at the Kelvin Smith Library contact Special Collections or visit our CPH web page