LibGuides: Theatre: Archival and Historical Sources

Historical Resources for Drama

The resources below contain play texts, playbills, records, posters, and other historical materials relating to theatre. Many of these sources can be searched together through OneSearch, as well as many other books on the history of drama.

Woodson Research Center Collections at Fondren Library

The Stockton Axson Collection of 18th Century British Drama

Use this OneSearch portal to search the Woodson Research Center's collection of restoration and 18th century British playscripts, representing major and minor literary figures in the fields of dramatic poetry, comedies, tragedies, and operas from 1650 to 1800.

You can also search the collection using OneSearch. On left side of the results page, select "Woodson Research Center - Axson" from the Library Sublocations menu in the facets. Click "Remember All Filters" to continue searching the collection.

The Stockton Axson digital collection

62 items from the Stockton Axson collection have been digitized, and can be searched, viewed and downloaded through the Rice Digital Scholarship Archive using the link above.

Ensemble Theatre Records, 1983-2008

The link above leads to the finding aid for this collection of records from the Ensemble Theatre, the first professional African-American theatre in Houston. The collection is stored off-site at the Library Service Center. Please request this material via woodson@rice.edu or call 713-348-2586.

Stages Theatre Records

Stages Theater records contain materials related to play production programs and other production materials from 1978-2016, press clippings, annual gala and events records, administrative records, photographs, and circa 200 audio and video recordings in analog formats such as VHS and audio cassette.

More historical drama digital collections

Black Drama, 3rd Edition (1850 to Present) This link opens in a new window
This collection includes more than 1,700 plays written from the mid-1800s to the present by more than 200 playwrights from North America, English-speaking Africa, the Caribbean, and other African diaspora countries (Adam Matthew).
British Literary Manuscripts This link opens in a new window
"British Literary Manuscripts Online presents facsimile images of literary manuscripts, including letters and diaries, drafts of poems, plays, novels, and other literary works, and similar materials (Gale)." Rice has access to the following collections: British Literary Manuscripts Online: Medieval & Renaissance and 1660-1900.

British Theatre, Music and Literature
"Features a wide range of primary sources related to the arts in the Victorian era, from playbills and scripts to operas and complete scores." From Nineteenth Century Collections Online.

Cambridge Edition of the Works of Ben Jonson Online This link opens in a new window
"Updated in spring 2015, The Cambridge Edition of the Works of Ben Jonson Online now contains a wealth of additional content, including the recently discovered diary of Jonson's 'Foot Voyage' to Scotland, extra letters written to Jonson, early attempts at a biography, further material relating to the masques and poems and numerous contemporary references to Jonson's works and reputation (Cambridge)."
Drama Online This link opens in a new window
Search or browse the library's collections in Drama Online, including play texts, filmed performances, master classes, documentaries and more.
Asian Theatre, Aurora Metro Books, British, American and Australian Theatre, Classic Spring Oscar Wilde, Drama Online Core Collection, Critical Studies and Performance Practice, Currency Press, Donmar Shakespeare Trilogy on Screen, European Theatre, Focal Press Theatre Books, The Hollow Crown, Ken Rea's The Outstanding Actor, L.A. Theatre Works, National Theatre Collection 1, 2 & 3, Nick Hern Books, Oberon Books 1 & 2, Playwrights and Practitioners, Playwrights Canada Press, Shakespeare in the Present, Shakespeare Video Collection, Shakespeare's Globe on Screen 1 & 2, Shakespeare's Heroes and Villains, Stage on Screen, TCG Books, Theatre Making and Performance Training and Theatre Performance and Practice.
Early English Books Online (EEBO) This link opens in a new window
Early English Books Online (EEBO) contains over 125,000 titles listed in Pollard & Redgrave's Short-Title Catalogue (1475-1640), Wing's Short-Title Catalogue (1641-1700), and Thomason Tracts (1640-1661). For help using the new version on the ProQuest platform visit: https://proquest.libguides.com/eebopqp
Early European Books This link opens in a new window
Currently, Rice University owns access to Collections 1-10 and 13.
"Early European Books traces the history of printing in Europe from its origins through to the close of the seventeenth century, offering full-colour, high-resolution facsimile images of rare and hard-to-access printed sources (ProQuest)."

"Collection 13 brings together a body of works focused around literature, poetry and drama from the Early Modern Period... At the heart of the collection are key literary works from classical times and print editions of selected medieval texts creating a body of works documenting the remarkable flowering of national and vernacular literatures that so characterizes the early modern period across Europe. One of the defining aspects of Renaissance and early modern Europe was its rediscovery of texts from the classical world. Collection 13 includes a selection of literary works by Greek and Roman authors ranging from giants like Homer, Hesiod, Virgil and Ovid to lesser-known figures such as the Latin poets Persius (34-62 CE) and Claudian (c.370-c.404 CE) (ProQuest)."
Eighteenth Century Collections Online (1701-1800 - ECCO) This link opens in a new window
Based on The English Short Title Catalogue, this collection includes the holdings of the British Library as well as those from more than 1,500 university, private, and public libraries worldwide.
Latino Literature: Poetry, Drama and Fiction This link opens in a new window
This collection consists of "poetry, fiction, and over 450 plays written in English and Spanish by hundreds of Chicano, Cuban, Puerto Rican, Dominican, and other Latino authors working in the United States. Among the gems of the collection are nearly 800 items (poems, novels, and plays) that have never been published before (Alexander Street Press)." This collection is part of ProQuest's World Literature Collection.

LION Drama Search
Search and view centuries of dramatic literature from global sources by play type, nationality, period, gender and other criteria

Oxford Scholarly Editions Online This link opens in a new window
Contains authoritative editions of major dramatists from the Renaissance to the Nineteenth Century.
Fondren owns access to the following modules:
● Early 17th Century Drama
● Early 17th Century Poetry
● Early 17th Century Prose
● 18th Century Drama
● 18th Century Poetry
● 18th Century Prose
● 19th Century Drama
● 19th Century Poetry
●19th Century Prose
● Medieval Poetry
● Medieval Prose
● Plato
● Renaissance Drama
● Renaissance Poetry
● Renaissance Prose
● Restoration Drama
● Restoration Poetry
● Restoration Prose
● Romantics Drama
● Romantics Poetry
● Romantics Prose
● Shakespeare
● Wiggins
Please note that certain updates to these collections may not be accessible.
Royal Shakespeare Company Archives This link opens in a new window
Company documentation, interviews, videos, set and costume designs, production notes, and more from the Royal Shakespeare Company in London, UK.
Shakespeare's Globe Archive: Theatres, Players & Performance This link opens in a new window
This archive documents the performance and construction history of the new Globe and the indoor theatre space of the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse. Includes over 200 performances through prompt books, wardrobe notes, programmes, publicity material, annual reports, show reports, photographs and architectural plans (Adam Matthew).
Twentieth Century North American Drama This link opens in a new window
20th Century North American Drama contains 1,530 plays by 223 playwrights, together with detailed, fielded information on related productions, theaters, production companies, and more. The database also includes selected playbills, production photographs and other ephemera related to the plays.