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Creator
Bonfanti, Maria
Call number
(S) *MGZMD 43
Physical description
109 items 66 folders
Language
In Italian and English; English
Preferred Citation

Maria Bonfantí Papers, (S)*MGZMD 43, Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.

Repository
Jerome Robbins Dance Division
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.

This collection, a gift from the estate of Gwendolyn Ruddell (Miss Bonfanti's granddaughter), consists primarily of correspondence with her Italian relatives and accounts of her ballet school in New York.

Biographical/historical information

Maria Bonfanti (1847-1921), an Italian born and trained ballerina, toured the United States and Europe with great success between 1869 and 1894. She also danced as prima ballerina of the Metropolitan Opera in New York from 1885 to 1886 and maintained a ballet school in New York following her retirement.

Scope and arrangement

This collection, a gift from the estate of Gwendolyn Ruddell (Miss Bonfanti's granddaughter), consists primarily of correspondence with her Italian relatives and accounts of her ballet school in New York.|||In Italian and English.

Arrangement

The collection is organized in 10 series: Correspondence, Autographs, Intinerary for Tour, Contract, Financial Accounts, Names and Addresses, Bonfanti Advertisements, Prayer Book, Wills, and Materials Related to Internments and Cemetaries.

Administrative information

Custodial history

Gift of the estate of Gwendolyn Ruddell, 1983.

Source of acquisition

Gift. Estate of Gwendolyn Ruddell. Material received: December 1983.

Processing information

Processed by Nancy M. Shawcross.

Separated material

  • (S) *MGZMD 44 - Ruddell, Gwendolyn, d 1983. Research materials on Maria Bonfanti. 2 volumes
  • (S) *MGZMB 83-4759 - Barker, Barbara Mackin. [First Generation American Ballerinas: Rita Sangalli, Giuseppina Morlacchi, and Maria Bonfanti. n.p., c1981] 1 volume

Using the collection

Location

Jerome Robbins Dance Division
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center
40 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023-7498
Third Floor