The puppet plays are little booklets of play scripts, in manuscript, from the repertoires of German puppeteers in use during the 19th century. It is unusual that these scripts have survived considering the hard use they must have endured as the puppeteers toured thro...
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The puppet plays are little booklets of play scripts, in manuscript, from the repertoires of German puppeteers in use during the 19th century. It is unusual that these scripts have survived considering the hard use they must have endured as the puppeteers toured throughout the country giving performances. The important fact of their survival is that scholars can examine these scripts and discover new information about the German theater during that period of time.The only other manuscript material contained in the collection was purchased for Scherer by H. Lubke during the latter's search for the Berlin versions of the Faust puppet play during the 1880's. These manuscripts formed the repertoire of the Berlin puppeteer Schlussel from whom Lubke purchased the texts. From both physical and internal evidence, however, it is evident that the manuscripts were originally the possession of the puppeteer Froloff. This would date them from the first decades of the nineteenth century and would make them the oldest organic collection of puppet manuscripts from the Mark Brandenburg. Except for a diplomatic edition of the Faust manuscript published by Lubke, none of these texts have either been edited or recorded (from Sander L. Gilman).These puppet plays as well as over 7500 volumes from Wilhelm Scherer's library are in the Department of Special Collections, University Library, Case Western Reserve University. The Wilhelm Scherer Collection was purchased in Berlin, Germany, in January, 1887, by Professor Arthur H. Palmer, then on the faculty of Western Reserve University. As a former student of Dr. Scherer, Palmer was well aware of the importance of his personal library. Professor Palmer raised funds from fellow Clevelanders and traveled to Berlin to purchase the 12,000 volumes from Scherer's widow after his untimely death at the age of 45.
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