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Creator
Liebler & Co.
Call number
*T-Mss 1937-001
Physical description
2.45 linear feet (4 boxes + 4 vols.)
Preferred Citation

Liebler & Co. Records, *T-Mss 1937-001, Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts

Repository
Billy Rose Theatre Division
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.Restrictions apply

The Liebler & Co. Records document the heyday of the organization and include correspondence, contracts and scrapbooks. Liebler & Co. was a play producing organization founded by Theodore Liebler, Jr. and George Tyler. The records span the years 1898 to 1931.

Biographical/historical information

Liebler & Co. was a play producing organization founded in 1898 by Theodore Liebler, Jr. and George Tyler, a practical printer. The company policy was to acquire plays written by famous authors both in the United States and Europe and to produce them with noted artists. Each year George Tyler made at least one trip abroad to see new plays and contract for their American production. He would also engage foreign stars of note and promise.

Until 1915, Liebler & Company were the leading theatrical producers in America. However, with the rise of the motion picture industry their business faltered.

Scope and arrangement

The Liebler & Co. records consist of papers, correspondence, contracts and scrapbooks documenting the work done by Liebler and Co. as a play producing company. Records are not inclusive and there are many gaps. Of note are the contracts and correspondence with many of the notable playwrights of the late 19th and early 20th century both from the United States and Europe. Notable names include Booth Tarkington, Paul Armstrong, Edward Harrigan, Louis Napoleon Parker, William Somerset Maugham, Maurice Maeterlinck, Frances Hodgson Burnett, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Joseph Urban, among others.

The Liebler & Co. records are arranged in four series:

  • Series I: Papers
    1900-1931
    24 folders

    This series contains bulletins of Liebler & Co., an autograph book, some financial papers and inventories, plots, and a document written by Theodore Liebler concerning a plan to organize a corporation for theater management and play production.

  • Series II: Correspondence
    1904-1931
    27 folders

    This series contains correspondence to individual writers and actors as well as letters arranged by production title regarding contracts with Liebler & Co.

  • Series III: Contracts
    1898-1931
    3 boxes

    This series consists of contracts with actors, writers, original authors and theaters concerning productions of various works represented by Liebler & Co. In a few cases, copyrights from England and the United States are included as well as some correspondence. Most of the entries are listed under production title.

  • Series IV: Scrapbooks
    1890-1909
    4 volumes

    This series contains clippings and program scrapbooks documenting Liebler & Co. productions from the late 1800s through 1909.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

The collection was donated to the Billy Rose Theatre Division of the New York Public Library by Theodore Liebler, Jr. about 1937.

Processing information

Processed by Mary Ellen Rogan.

The collection was reprocessed, cataloged and a finding aid written in May 2002.

Separated material

Scripts and some designs were donated with the Liebler & Co. Records. They have been distributed as follows:

  • Scripts have been cataloged separately and are listed in Catnyp under title.
  • Designs by Joseph Urban for Garden of Paradise are found in *T-VIM 1937-001

Using the collection

Location

Billy Rose Theatre 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

For permission to publish, contact the Curator, Billy Rose Theatre Division.

Access restrictions

Photocopying prohibited.