The Library’s Performing Arts Collections include manuscripts, typewritten and printed play texts, prompt-books and acting editions facilitating the study of plays from dramatic text to theatrical performance. Our William Shakespeare Printed Works has extensive holdings of published play texts date from the 17th century onwards, and include a rich collection of Shakespeariana,
Our other printed resources, such as the Street Literature Collection include playbills, theatre programmes and a selection of books on dramatic criticism and theatrical history. These range from diaries and biographies of theatrical luminaries to tracts concerning the morality of plays. We hold several series of facsimiles of early modern play texts, including the Malone Society Reprints and the Tudor Facsimile Texts.
Our archive collections range from the papers of playwrights and actors, to those of theatrical directors, designers, impresarios and critics. We have rich source material relating to the history of theatre and performance, including the modern repertory theatre movement, the Theatre in Education movement, theatre-in-the-round, and the history of individual theatres. A number of archives are also relevant to film and media studies.
The Library’s printed holdings include important editions of plays dating from the 17th century onwards. Highlights include all four folios of the plays of William Shakespeare and an invaluable collection of Restoration plays, many of which are in early 18th-century illustrated editions. The George L. Brook Drama Collection contains 19th- and 20th-century plays, many of which are scarce.
Our archive holdings include the papers of a number of Victorian dramatists. There are 51 volumes of playscripts by Henry Pettitt, for the most part manuscript and annotated; manuscript and typescript volumes of dramas by George R. Sims, with accompanying musical scores; and 15 typescript plays by Madeleine Lucette Ryley, which include translations and adaptations from novels. We also hold the papers of the playwrights and journalists C. E. Montague and Allan Monkhouse. Monkhouse was best known as a drama critic at the Manchester Guardian in the early 20th century.
The archive of the North West Playwrights, an organisation founded to promote new plays and playwrights in the North West of England, is a major resource for studies of contemporary theatre and drama writing in the region.
The Library holds valuable resources for the study of historical performance and stage management. Our English Manuscripts include Henry Irving’s copy of the Lyceum prompt book of W.G. Wills's Faust. This gives production details and records amendments to the text, from the original 1885 production to the revivals in 1894 and 1902.
The J. R. Allardyce Nicoll Printed Collection and the William Holloway Travelling Theatre Printed Collection contain a substantial number of acting editions of 19th-century plays, from publishers such as French, Lacy and Dick. These include stage directions, set descriptions, notes on costumes and instructions to actors. Other series of acting editions held include Oxberry’s New English Drama, Mrs Inchbald’s British Theatre, Cumberland’s British Theatre and Bell’s British Theatre.
We have more than 900 bills for plays and other entertainments in our printed collections, dating mainly from the first half of the 19th century. The majority relate to London theatres, but provincial venues eg Manchester and Liverpool are also represented, as well as portable and travelling theatres, mainly in Lincolnshire, Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire. The printed collections also include more than 650 theatre programmes, many of which are found in the George L. Brook Drama Collection. The programmes date mainly from the early 20th century and include performances in London, Manchester and Stratford-upon-Avon. Playbills and theatre programmes are also found within many of the archive collections.
We house the papers of a number of innovative figures in theatre. These include the theatre director, producer and designer Stephen Joseph, champion of theatre-in-the-round, and Peter Slade, a leading practitioner and campaigner on behalf of educational drama. The Theatre In Education (TIE) movement is also represented in the archives of the Tiebreak Theatre, and of the radical Pit Prop Theatre Company. The papers of Annie Horniman, pioneer of the modern repertory theatre movement, chart the early history of the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, and the entire history of the Gaiety Theatre in Manchester. The Abbey Theatre also features in the papers of Professor Hugh Hunt, along with files on plays produced at the Sydney Opera House, and the Bristol and London Old Vic Companies.
Two collections are particularly relevant to the history of British and American film and cinema.
Both archives are also indispensable for students of the British theatre.
We also hold the papers of the composer Delia Derbyshire, a pioneer of British electronic music. Derbyshire was based at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop throughout the 1960s and early 1970s, and famously produced the original theme music for Doctor Who in 1963.
The University of Manchester Library holds one of the finest collections of rare books, manuscripts, archives and visual collections in the world. These collections are mainly concentrated in the magnificent building on Deansgate, The John Rylands Research Institute and Library, in the centre of Manchester. They are also housed in the Main Library on the University campus and at the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah RACE Centre, in Manchester Central Library. This resource introduces the different types of materials found in Special Collections and explains how they can be used to support your studies. For general tips on accessing digital and physical collections and visiting our reading room please look at our other Medium resources.
You are welcome to make use of Special Collections in your learning and research.
Due to the special nature of the material, we provide access in a controlled environment and there are some restrictions on use and access, particularly for fragile material or modern archives which may contain sensitive data.
Please read our guidance pages on the web for details.
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