Archive of Playbills, Keepsakes, Announcements and related ephemera relating to the Boston Tavern Club, 1896-1933

[Boston: Tavern Club, 1896-1933]. Forty-seven assorted items of finely printed Tavern Club ephemera. Formats and content vary, including broadsides, pamphlets, announcement cards, annual reports, keepsakes, and other printed items. Condition uniformly fine; a few with brief pencil annotations.

Includes (by chronology):

1. (Handbill). Tavern Club. Narrenabend, March 29, 1895. A Rehearsal of "A Wintry Tale"...written by J.H. Parker. 22cm x 16cm.
2. (Broadside). In Tavern Club,...Anno Domini 1895..."A Rehearsal of 'A Wintry Tale'," ... bring no strangers. 30cm x 23cm on coated kraft paperstock.
3. Exhibition of Portraits of Men Given by the tavern Club at its Club House, 4 Boylston Place. 12mo pamphlet; 16pp; 1896. Pencil annotations.
4. (Handbill). Tavern Club. 1902. The Doctors' Entertainment is to be given on Wednesday Evening... signed in type, Lorin Deland (Sec.). 20cm x 13cm.
5. (Theatre Broadside). Tavern Theatre...Doctors' Night. An Entertainment conceived, planned, written, performed and paid for by the Tavern Club Doctors...A Tragic Farcelet, entitled, A Day With the Specialists... 50cm x 14cm.
6. The Tavern Tabloid. Vol. 1, no. 1 - March 31, 1902 (all issued?). 12mo pamphlet, 8pp. Includes menu and programme for "Harpin & Co."
7. Officers of the Tavern Club for the Year 1903-1904. 16mo pamphlet, 12pp. Includes full list of members.
8. Tavern Club. Narren-Abend : April 8, 1907. In the Play-room after dinner will be given a one act Drama entitled A Meeting of the Boston Bar Association... Bifolium, pictorial wrappers; 30cm x 22cm.
9. (Printed notice). To Certain Members of the Tavern Club...an Option, Expiring February 1, 1909... 28cm x 22cm.
10. (Broadside invitation). Commonwealth of Boylston Place. Greeting...you are hereby required... first day of April, 1907. 22cm x 16cm.
11. (Printed invitation). The Tavern Christmas. In the Lower Hall before dinner...a Masque by Jasper Whiting...The Campbells are Coming...Dec. 23, 1920. Bifolium, 20cm x 13cm.
12. (Printed keepsake). With the Best Wishes for Christmas... "Christmas at the Tavern Club, 1920," poem in four stanzas signed in type "J.J.C." Bifolium, 20cm x 13cm.
13. (Printed invitation). All Fools' Celebration 1921. After dinner there will be a play...by Isidore Braggiotti entitled Jessie's Experiment... Bifolium, 20cm x 13cm.
14. (Printed keepsake). With Best Wishes for Christmas... "Christmas Greeting from the Bear, 1921," poem in six stanzas signed in type "H.M.R." Bifolium, 20cm x 13cm.
15. (Printed invitation). The Annual Dinner and the Annual Meeting (1921). Bifolium, 20cm x 13cm.
16. (Printed invitation). The Tavern Christmas...in the Lower Hall before dinner...the Masque, by Daniel Sargent, entitled: The Friends of the Prodigal Son. Bifolium, 20cm x 13cm.
17. (Printed invitation). Halloween 1921. On Monday, November 21st there will be a belated Halloween celebration... in the Tavern Theatre "Pantaloon's Garden" by F. de N. Schroeder will be performed... Bifolium, 20cm x 13cm.
18. (Printed invitation). 1922. A Classical Revival. All Fools' Night will be celebrated at the Tavern... a farce in two acts entitled The Lying Valet by David Garrick... Bifolium, 20cm x 13cm.
19. (Theatrical broadside). A farce in three scenes entitled The Lying Valet by David Garrick... 29cm x 13cm
20. (Printed keepsake). With Best Wishes for Christmas...1922. "Christmas at the Tavern" poem in four stanzas signed in type "A.H."
21. (Printed keepsake). With Best Wishes for Christmas...1923. "A Bachelor's Apology for Christmas" poem in three stanzas signed in type "R.C."
22. The Fortieth Anniversary of the Tavern Club. Saturday, December Sixth, Nineteen Hundred and Twenty-Four...in the Upper Hall the Arraignment by Arlo Bates... Bifolium, 19cm x 28cm.
23. (Printed keepsake). The Tavern Christmas..1924. In the Upper Room...Punch and Judy A Play in Two Acts by Jasper Whiting... Bifolium, 20cm x 13cm.
24. (Handbill). The Tavern Christmas will be celebrated on Tuesday, December 23rd...a Masque written by Jasper Whiting entitled, Punch and Judy. 20cm x 13cm.
25. Sargent, Daniel. "The Fortieth Anniversary. Presented with compliments of the author." Poem of 5 stanzas. Bifolium, 22cm x 14cm.
26. (Printed keepsake). Christmas 1925. "Tavern Christmas 1925". Poem in six stanzas, signed in type "L.W." Bifolium 20cm x 15cm.
27. (Printed announcement). Tavern Club 1925 Autumn Salon. Bifolium, 20cm x 13cm.
28. (Programme). April 15, 1925. Jeeves - A Play in Three Acts Dramatized by W.Cameron Forbes. Single sheet, 20cm x 14cm, printed one side of sheet.
29. (Printed announcement). Tavern Club 1925 Autumn Salon. As stated in the former notice... Bifolium, 20cm x 13cm.
30. (Printed keepsake). With the Best Wishes for Christmas...1926. "The Stocking". Poem in three stanzas, signed in type "M.A. DeW.H." Bifolium, 20cm x 13cm.
31. (Theatre broadside). On Saturday, the 22 of this instant December, 1928. A Comoedy call'd Bear and Forbear...the scene designed by Mr. Aldrich. 28cm x 14cm.
32. (Printed keepsake). Merry Christmas from the Bear. [1928]. Poem of five stanzas, unsigned. Bifolium, 14cm x 9cm.
33. Carmen Tabernarium....Iterum impressum die anniversario xlv... Folio, 43cm x 26cm. Printed recto only. Musical keepsake for 45th anniversary (1929).
34. (Programme). Tavern Theatre. Forty-fifth Anniversary. The Play after dinner in the Upper Hall A Message from the Absent...written by Arthur S. Pier. Bifolium, 20cm x 13cm.
35. (Theatre broadside). December 23, 1930...the performance after dinner will commence with the Underground Railroad! 43cm x 20cm.
36. (Programme). Hallowe'en 1930...after dinner in the upper hall we will see "Taverners at Play" in 4 reels....Bifolium, 20cm x 13cm.
37. (Printed keepsake). Christmas 1930. "Christmas at the Tavern," poem in six stanzas signed in type "J.W." Bifolium, 21cm x 14cm.
38. (Printed announcement). Candidates for officers of the Tavern Club for 1931-32... Single sheet, printed recto-only; 20cm x 12.5cm.
39. (Printed invitation). The Annual Dinner and the Annual Meeting, 1931. Bifolium, 20cm x 13cm.
40. (Printed keepsake). Christmas 1931. "King Log." Poem in three stanzas, signed in type "D.S." Bifolium, 21cm x 14cm.
41. (Printed announcement). Candidates for officers of the Tavern Club for 1932-33... Single sheet, printed recto-only; 20cm x 12.5cm.
42. (Printed announcement). 1932. The Tavern Club has purchased with funds in hand the paneled room... Single sheet, printed recto-only; 20cm x 12.5cm.
43. Programme). Hallowe'en 1932. After dinner in the upper hall will be repeated the play of last Hallowe'en The Truth at Last!"...by A. Graham Carey. Bifolium, 20cm x 13cm.
44. (Printed keepsake). Christmas 1932. "Christmas at the Tavern." Poem in six stanzas, signed in type "A.S.P." [Arthur Stanwood Pier]. Bifolium, 21cm x 14cm.
45. (Printed announcement). Candidates for officers of the Tavern Club for 1933-34... Single sheet, printed recto-only; 20cm x 12.5cm.
46. (Printed invitation). The Annual Dinner and the Annual Meeting, 1933. Bifolium, 20cm x 13cm.
47. (Printed keepsake). Christmas 1933. Christmas", poem in two stanzas signed in type "J.H.F.,Jr." Bifolium, 21cm x 14cm. The Tavern Club was founded in 1884 by a group of upper-crust Bostonian artists, authors and intellectuals; conceived as a more creative and less formal alternative to the typical gentlemen's clubs of the period, the club's festivities were characterized by amateur theatricals, salons, musical performances and presentations of original poetry and prose. Among the materials collected here, roughly half pertain to the Club's dramatic productions, including programs, broadsides, and playbills. Also included are many of the Club's annual Christmas and Hallowe'en cards, most of which include original verse composed on themes pertinent to members. Many items signed only with initials and thus difficult to attribute; positively identified or named individuals include M.A. DeWolfe Howe, Arthur Stanwood Pier, Owen Wister, James L. Huntington, Loring Young, Samuel Cabot, Henry Lyman, Henry Cabot Lodge, many others.