A collection of 19th-century playbills, posters, programmes, photographs and newspaper cuttings, 525 items in all, mainly of Edinburgh theatres of the period 1870-1900. One of the earliest playbills in the collection advertises a performance of Rob Roy in the Theatre Royal on 11 March 1829 with Charles Mackay playing Bailie Nicol Jarvie. Particularly attractive are the examples of the pictorial posters of the later part of the 19th century, featuring scenes from the plays or portraits of the leading actors and actresses. There are also a series of photographs of actors in Edinburgh pantomimes from the second half of the 19th century. It is complemented as a source of materials for the history of the Scottish stage by the Library's other collections of Scottish playbills of the 19th and the 20th century.

Organisation

The items in the collection have been catalogued individually and have the shelfmark 'Weir.'.

Acquisition

The collection was presented to the Library in 1970 by Miss Kathleen Weir, who inherited them from her father, James J Weir.

References

'Old Edinburgh Theatre Posters', M Fleming, Scotland's SMT Magazine, (December 1950), 38-41.

Online resources

Selection of theatre posters from the Weir Collection, 1870-1900