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Collection of materials relating to Liberace

 Collection
Call Number: GEN MSS 1528

Content Description

This collection documents the American pianist, singer and actor, Liberace, largely between the 1950s and 1980s. Material includes photographs, printed material, scripts, posters, phonograph records, and ephemera relating to Liberace and his career.

Dates

  • circa 1940s-1990s

Language of Materials

Chiefly in English, some material in French, Italian, German and Spanish.

Conditions Governing Access

The materials are open for research.

Box 5 (phonograph records): Restricted fragile material. Consult Access Services for further information.

Conditions Governing Use

The Collection of materials relating to Liberace is the physical property of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. For further information, consult the appropriate curator.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Walter Reuben, 2012.

Arrangement

Collection is arranged roughly in the order received, with materials grouped together by format.

Extent

20.94 Linear Feet ((6 boxes) + 6 broadside)

Catalog Record

A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog

Persistent URL

https://hdl.handle.net/10079/fa/beinecke.liberace

Additional Description

Overview

Contains photographs, printed material, scripts, posters, phonograph records, and ephemera relating to Liberace.

Liberace

Władziu Valentino Liberace (1919-1987) was an American pianist, singer, and actor. Liberace was born in West Allis, Wisconsin on May 16, 1919. His father, Salvatore Liberace, was an immigrant from Italy. His mother, Frances Zuchowska, was Polish. From the 1950s to the 1970s, Liberace was the highest-paid entertainer in the world, noted for his signature performance style and elaborate costumes. In addition to his music career, Liberace also appeared in several television programs and films, including South Sea Sinner (1950), The Liberace Show (1952), and Sincerely Yours (1955). He died on February 4, 1987.

Processing Information

Collections are processed to a variety of levels, depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived research value, the availability of staff, competing priorities, and whether or not further accruals are expected. The library attempts to provide a basic level of preservation and access for all collections, and does more extensive processing of higher priority collections as time and resources permit.

Collections are processed to a variety of levels, depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived research value, the availability of staff, competing priorities, and whether or not further accruals are expected. The library attempts to provide a basic level of preservation and access for all collections [as they are acquired], and does more extensive processing of higher priority collections as time and resources permit.

This collection received a basic level of processing, including rehousing and minimal organization. For more information, please refer to the Beinecke Manuscript Unit Processing Manual.

This finding aid may be updated periodically to account for new acquisitions to the collection and/or revisions in arrangement and description.

Subjects

Finding Aid & Administrative Information

Title
Guide to the Collection of materials relating to Liberace
Status
Completed
Author
by Jessica Tai
Date
January 2019
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description note
Finding aid written in English.

Repository Details

Part of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library Repository

http://beinecke.library.yale.edu/
Contact:
P. O. Box 208330
New Haven CT 06520-8330 US
(203) 432-2977

Location

121 Wall Street
New Haven, CT 06511

Opening Hours

Access Information

The Beinecke Library is open to all Yale University students and faculty, and visiting researchers whose work requires use of its special collections. You will need to bring appropriate photo ID the first time you register. Beinecke is a non-circulating, closed stack library. Paging is done by library staff during business hours. You can request collection material online at least two business days in advance of your visit, using the request links in Archives at Yale. For more information, please see Planning Your Research Visit and consult the Reading Room Policies prior to visiting the library.

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