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Title: Leland Opera House, Albany, Ny Broadsides in Bound Volumes 1876-1181
Description: Albany, NY, Leland Opera House, 1877. Hardcover. Two bound Volumes. Deteriorating 3/4 red leather, with red leather imprinted label centered in the front of green cloth-covered board covers. Both with the signature of J.W. Albaugh on the ffep. Albaugh was the manager and Leasee of the theater building from 1876 until 1881. He was also a frequent participant in the plays which were performed there. Various paginations. A pair of physical volumes containing individual issues of two-sided handbills presenting and documenting the activities and offerings at the Leland Opera House in Albany, NY. These handbills have mastheads and names, which morphed as time passed. The initial issues of this handbill are titled "The Opera" and begin around September 1, 1877. They are numbered and dated usually, beginning with Vol. 1, No. 2 (the first sheet is not numbered and has the word preliminary printed within the page), but with 4 issues, followed by a 2-page related score of "Dear Hearth and Home" words by George Cooper, Music by J.R. Thomas), followed by issue No. 3 advertising a performance for Sept. 13, 14, 15. The next issue has a title change to "The Ray" with a new masthead and numbered "4." The numbering for the various issues is not always consistent, with multiple sequential issues (based on performance dates) having the same issue number. It appears the numbers were based on the week of the performing season, rather than the actual place in the overall sequence, allowing for multiple sheets with the same issue number within that given week. There are 18 issues of "The Ray" within the Vol.1. Serial Vol. 2 begins with the week ending November 10, 1877 sheet. There are 7 individual and independent sheets with mastheads labeled as Issue 1. The first issue No. 2 is dated week ending Nov. 17, and is followed by 4 more. Issue No. 3 is for week ending Nov. 24, and has 1 issue only. No. 4 is for week ending Dec. 1, and has 5 issues. There are three issues with No. 5 for the week ending Dec. 8. There are 3 issues for the week ending Dec. 15. 6 issues for week ending Dec. 22. 1 issue for week ending Dec. 29, 1877. The issues for the first week of 1878 (ending Jan. 5 and being No.9 of Vol. 2) number 1, There are 5 sheets for No.10, ending the week of January 12. Serial Volume 3 begins with the issues for the week ending Jan. 19, of which there are 4 being numbered 1. No. 2, for the week ending Jan. 26, contains 2 sheets. No. 3 is represented by 1 sheet. No No. 4 has 1 sheet. No. 5, for the week ending Feb 16 has 2 sheets.No. 6 for the week ending Feb. 23 has 2 sheets. No. 7 has 2 sheets. No. 8 has 2 sheets. No. 9, for week ending March 16, has 3 sheets. No. 10 has 1 sheet. Volume 4 begins with the issues for the week ending March 30, 1878 in No. 1, which has 1 sheet. No. 2 has 1 sheet. No. 3 has 2 sheets. No. 4, for the week ending April 20, has 1 sheet. No. 5 has 3 sheets. No. 6 has 5 sheets and ends May 4. No. 7 has 2 sheets. No. 8 has 1 sheet. No. 9 has 4 sheets. No. 10 has 2 sheets. Vol. 5 begins with the week ending June 8, and has 1 sheet. It is the last entry in this volume. The second physical volume begins with Serial Vol. 5, no. 2 for the week ending August 31, 1878, which has 1 sheet. This entire volume shares the same pagination qualities and difficulties as the previous volume, and ends with the Serial Vol. 10, issue 10 from June 21, 1879. Also with the issues in this volume, there appears on the backside of each sheet a statement that "The Ray is published daily by W.O. Root is the Only Programme used by The Leland Opera House." One of the remarkable and endearing qualities of these handbills is the quantity of illustrated and graphic advertising that adorns the borders of the front and the entirety of the rear. The sheets in the first volume are crisp and quite tender. The sheets in the second bound volume seems to be printed on slightly better paper, and are similarly clean and bright, with more occasional printing errors than those found in the other volume. Altogether rare, likely unique and vital in the study of actors and acting in the Capital Region of New York State in the late 1870s, as well as the commercial enterprises that existed and advertised their wares and services. Research indicates only a scant few issues of either of these titles present in libraries. Good+, internally VG or better on very thin paper. Very occasional defect to sheets, all are complete .

Keywords: Theater / Ballet ; Leland Opera House ; ;


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