Scrapbooks

page from a Radcliffe student's scrapbook featuring an opera programTheatergoers, who had long collected souvenirs, began using scrapbooks to organize their collections when they appeared in the 19th century. A scrapbook is a bound set of blank pages that the owner can attach material to and write on. By and large the contents of theatrical scrapbooks are ephemera such as playbills, tickets, newspaper clippings, prints, and photographs. Scrapbooks created by theatrical professionals might also include correspondence and other material related to their careers and personal lives.

Searching for Scrapbooks

To search for scrapbooks, go to the Advanced Search page in HOLLIS. Select Library Catalog from the Search for: options, enter scrapbook in the first search box, and the name of the person, organization, subject, or production title you are researching in the second search box.

screenshot of a HOLLIS search for scrapbook as a keyword in the first search box and Boston theater as a keyword in the second search box