Walther Volbach Collection on Adolphe Appia
Scope and Contents
Dates
- 1890 - 1969
Creator
Conditions Governing Access
Box 3 (microfilm reel): Use of original is restricted. Reference copies may be requested. Consult Access Services for further information.
Conditions Governing Use
Extent
2.58 Linear Feet ((7 boxes) + 1 broadside)
Language of Materials
English
Catalog Record
A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog
Persistent URL
Adolphe Appia (1862-1928)
Although he received scant recognition during his lifetime, Appia is regarded today as the father of modern stage lighting and design. His reforms of the antiquated nineteenth-century practice of stage design emphasized the significance of time and space, the relation of stage and auditorium, and the contrast of light and shadow. He devoted much of his lifework in particular to creating new productions of the operas of Richard Wagner. Appia died on February 29, 1928, in a nursing home near Nyon, Switzerland.
Appia set down his theories on stage set design in two books and several essays, but much of his writing was published only in the 1950s and 1960s. The Fondation Adolphe Appia has as its objective the publication of all his works and the furtherance of his ideas. For further biographical information, see Walther R. Volbach's Adolphe Appia, Prophet of the Modern Theatre: A Profile (1968).
Walther Volbach (1897-1996)
Processing Information
The collection is comprised of material formerly classed as MS Vault Shelves Appia.
Information included in the Description of Papers note and Collection Contents section is drawn from information supplied with the collection and from an initial survey of the contents. Folder titles appearing in the contents list below are often based on those provided by the creator or previous custodian. Titles have not been verified against the contents of the folders in all cases. Otherwise, folder titles are supplied by staff during basic processing.
This finding aid may be updated periodically to account for new acquisitions to the collection and/or revisions in arrangement and description.
- American Educational Theatre Association
- Appia, Adolphe, 1862-1928
- Appia, Edmond, 1894-1961
- Bingham, Blanche
- Chamberlain, Houston Stewart, 1855-1927
- Opera -- Production and direction
- Opera -- Stage-setting and scenery
- Photographs
- Set design drawings
- Set designers -- United States
- Set designers -- United States
- Theater -- Production and direction
- Theaters -- Stage-setting and scenery
- Volbach, Walther R. (Walther Richard), 1897-1996
- Wagner, Richard, 1813-1883 (Performances)
- Title
- Guide to the Walther Volbach Collection on Adolphe Appia
- Status
- Under Revision
- Author
- Beinecke Staff
- Date
- November 2013
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
Part of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library Repository
Location
121 Wall Street
New Haven, CT 06511
Opening Hours
Access Information
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