Research Catalog

Title

The Lambs' xmas gambol : Lambs' Theatre, December 26, 1897.

Author

Lambs (New York, N.Y.)

Publication

[New York : the Lambs], 1897.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

Kemble, E. W. (Edward Windsor), 1861-1933.

Description

[1] p. : ill.; 26 x 32.3 cm

Subjects

• African Americans > Caricatures and cartoons
• Theater programs > New York (N.Y.) > 20th century
• Clubs > New York (State) > New York

Genre/Form

Theater programs – New York (N.Y.) – 20th century.

Note

• Program for a one-act sketch called "His Xmas Alimony," featuring a full-page racist illustration by Edward W. Kemble of a young, smiling African-American girl in tattered clothes, with a "black" dialect caption printed beneath her portrait. Kemble was notorious for his stereotypical depictions of African-Americans.
• Title and headings printed in red.
• The Lambs' Club was founded in London, in 1869, by a group of actors led by John Hare (the club's first "Shepherd") as a dinner club for themselves and other theater professionals. The name honors the poet Charles Lamb and his wife, Mary, who opened their salon to actors. In 1874, several of the London club members moved to New York and founded the New York branch during Christmas week of that year. The club was incorporated in 1877, and shortly thereafter the London club closed. Until 1973, the Club occupied a building at 128 West 44th Street, designed by the architect Stanford White and constructed in 1904-1905. The building was added to the national Register of Historic Places on June 3, 1982.
• The "Gambols" was an amusement which parodied current dramatic productions of various genres, in many cases by professionals who burlesqued their own parts, and the Lambs' Theatre became "the center of the wit and humor of New York Bohemia." (Annals of The Lambs. London and New York, 1899).

Access (note)

• Restricted access;

Call Number

Berg Coll Framed Kemble L36 1897

OCLC

796844994

Author

Lambs (New York, N.Y.)

Title

The Lambs' xmas gambol : Lambs' Theatre, December 26, 1897.

Imprint

[New York : the Lambs], 1897.

Access

Restricted access; request permission from holding division.

Location of Other Archival Materials

The Lambs Club records are held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division at the New York Public Library.

Local Note

Berg Collection copy in contemporary wood frame and glass pane.

Berg Collection copy signed by Kemble (1861-1934), the illustrator of Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and by 28 other club members. Among those signing are playwright Augustus Thomas; actors J. G. Saville, Thomas Oberlé, George Backus, Francis Carlyle, and Nat C. Goodwin; lyricist, writer, and composer Edward Paulton; actor, photographer, and publisher Burr W. McIntosh; Shakespeare actor and matinee idol John Drew, Jr.; and John Tisson, manager of the club.

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Added Author

Kemble, E. W. (Edward Windsor), 1861-1933. Artist

Carlyle, Francis, 1868-1916. Signer

Drew, John, 1853-1927. Signer

Goodwin, Nat. C. (Nathaniel Carll), 1857-1919. Signer

Kemble, E. W. (Edward Windsor), 1861-1933. Signer

McIntosh, Burr, 1862-1942. Signer

Oberlé, Thomas. Signer

Paulton, Edward. Signer

Saville, John G. Signer

Thomas, Augustus, 1857-1934. Signer

Research Call Number

Berg Coll Framed Kemble L36 1897