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Max Reinhardt: The Archives and Library

Located in the Bartle Library on the campus of the State University of New York at Binghamton, the Max Reinhardt Archives offers an abundance of primary and secondary sources for research on Max Reinhardt and other major figures and issues pertaining to nineteenth- and twentieth-century theater history, performance, and practice.

Central to the Archives is the collection of 150 original annotated play promptbooks (Regiebuecher), which contain Reinhardt's handwritten notes and sketches for the staging of particular productions and, as such, serve as invaluable resources in Reinhardt scholarship. In addition to the promptbooks, the Archives contain over 17,000 volumes from Reinhardt's personal library (including rare books and signed presentation copies); select furniture pieces from Schloss Leopoldskron; a large personal correspondence; important scene and costume designs (originals and photos) by renowned collaborators; actual costumes from the American Miracle roadshow; programs of European and American Reinhardt performances; critical reviews from newspapers and theater journals; and many cast photos from original productions.

Scene sketch from Goethe's Faust Scene notes from Goethe's Faust

The Archives' 14,000+ photographs and negatives constitute a significant visual repository of prominent actors and actresses as well as a visual record of twentieth-century advances in scene and costume design. The Archives also boasts a photo scrapbook collection containing 5,500 images of nineteenth-century German actors and actresses as well as a large selection of play typescripts sent to Reinhardt's dramaturgs for evaluation. The Archives maintain a modest secondary literature on recent European theater history, including major German language periodicals such as Die Schaubuehne, Neue Deutsche Rundschau, and Die Zukunft.

Scene notes Scene sketch

Click to view larger image The Archives can provide perspectives on Reinhardt's fruitful collaboration with other major figures of world theater, be they well known actors and actresses (Gertrude Eysoldt, Tilla Durieux, Lucie Hoeflich, Elisabeth Bergner, Alexander Moissi, Eduard von Winterstein, Werner Krauss, the Thimig family); playwrights (Gerhart Hauptmann, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Karl Vollmoeller, August Strindberg, Luigi Pirandello, Oscar Wilde); stage and scene designers (Norman Bel Geddes, Emil Orlik, Ernst Stern, Alfred Roller, Gustav Knina, Oskar Strnad); or composers (Engelbert Humperdinck, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Richard Strauss, Kurt Weill), to mention only a few.