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Creator
Fuller, Loie, 1862-1928
Call number
(S) *MGZMC-Res. 5
Physical description
1.58 linear feet (2 boxes, 1 slipcase)
Language
English
Preferred Citation
Loie Fuller papers, (S) *MGZMC-Res. 5. Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
Sponsor
Purchased with funds from the Committee for the Jerome Robbins Dance Division
Repository
Jerome Robbins Dance Division
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.
Portions of this collection have been digitized and are available online.

The bulk of this collection consists of the manuscript, in English, of the French translation of Loie Fuller's autobiography published by F. Juven in Paris in 1908.

Scope and arrangement

The bulk of this collection consists of the manuscript, in English, of the French translation of Loie Fuller's autobiography published by F. Juven in Paris in 1908. In stylistically different English from the manuscript, the French translation was published by H. Jenkins in London in 1913. The French edition was called Quinze ans de ma vie, and the English edition was called Fifteen years of a dancer's life.

The manuscript is arranged according to the order of the English edition and is lacking only chapter 11 and sections of chapters 6 and 21. It covers a few childhood events, but primarily the events of the years from 1892 to 1907, including experiences with Isadora Duncan (folder 20) who is not identified by name. The published English version of the autobiography loses some of the stylistic idiosyncrasies of the author's original manuscript.

The published manuscript is followed by material, mostly anecdotal, and unpublished, meant for the autobiography; outline plans for a second volume and material which would have become a part of it; two essays, America and Americans and The Boston blue-stocking; a legal document releasing her from a contract with Charles A. Hoyt and Charles W. Thomas in 1892; programs, including a holograph paste-up of her first performance in Kiel, undated, and a flyer-program presenting Gertrud Von Axen to Boston (?), undated; 12 photographs of Loie Fuller; 30 photographs of friends, admirers and fellow dancers, including Gertrud Von Axen and Dick Fuller (possibly a niece); and a portfolio of 23 watercolors presented to her by students of the Beaux-Arts on the occasion of her 550th performance in Paris, March 24, 1895.

The Loie Fuller papers are arranged in two series:

  • Autobiography

    Folders 1-24 contain the English draft of the autobiography, Fifteen years of a dancer's life, arranged according to the order of the London edition published by H. Jenkins in 1913 and lacking only chapter 11 and sections of chapters 6 and 13. Also contain material relating to the French edition, Quinze ans de ma vie, published by F. Juven in 1908. Ms. unless indicated otherwise.

  • Unpublished material

    Folders 25-36 contain unpublished material by Loie Fuller.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Paul Grinke, London. Purchased with assistance of a gift from the Committee for the Dance Collection. Material received on March 26, 1971

Processing information

Processed by Lacy H. McDearmon. Revised by Chatham Ewing.

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

Conditions Governing Use

Use microfilm, *ZBD-112. Holograph, ms., and typescript.

Alternative form available

Microfilm (1 reel ; 35mm.) of originals in Dance Collection, New York Public Library *ZBD-112.