Descriptive Summary
Information for Researchers
Biographical Note
Scope and Contents
Series Arrangement
Subject Headings
Descriptive Summary
Title: Norman D. Philbrick Working Files
creator:
Philbrick, Norman D., 1913-
Dates: 1787-1985
Abstract: The Philbrick Working Files include Norman Philbrick's correspondence with book dealers and scholarly colleagues, an
appraisal of his library, accession ledgers, invoices from dealers, newspaper and magazine clippings, mailings from his numerous
social and scholarly organizations, photographs, and other artifacts. Documents relating to the process by which Philbrick
amassed his library on the history of theatre are predominate in this collection. This collection contains some letters and
materials from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, however the bulk of materials in this collection date from the mid-twentieth
century.
Extent: 6 boxes
Repository:
Claremont Colleges. Honnold/Mudd Library.
800 N. Dartmouth Avenue
Special Collections, Honnold/Mudd Library
Claremont University Consortium
Claremont, California 91711
Collection Number: H1986.1
Languages: Languages represented in the collection: English
Physical Location: Special Collections, Honnold/Mudd Library. Claremont University Consortium.
Information for Researchers
Restrictions on Access
This collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
For permissions to reproduce or to publish, please contact Special Collections Library staff.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Norman D. Philbrick Working Files, Special Collections, Honnold Mudd Library, Claremont University
Consortium.
Acquisition Information
Gift of Norman D. Philbrick, November 8, 1986.
Processing Information
Processed by Heather Todd for Archival Studies 311, Claremont Graduate University, Spring 2009.
Accruals
No additions to the collection is anticipated.
Biographical Note
This collection was donated in conjunction with the Geraldine Womack and Norman D. Philbrick Library of Dramatic Literature
and Theatre History, which is also housed in Special Collections. Born on April 30, 1913 in Forth Wayne, Indiana, Norman Douglas
Philbrick earned his A.B. from Pomona in 1935, M.A. from Stanford University in 1942, and Ph.D. from Cornell University in
1949. He married Alice Geraldine Womack in 1941, and they had four children: Mary, Anne, Robert, and Virginia.
During Philbrick's lifetime he held posts including the executive head of the Stanford University Department of Speech and
Drama, president of the American Theatre Association, faculty positions at Pomona and Scripps Colleges, was a member of the
Board of Trustees of Pomona College, and taught at the Pasadena Playhouse.
In 1941 Philbrick began collecting what would eventually become one of the major research collections on the history of English,
American, and, to a lesser extent, French drama of the late seventeenth through the early nineteenth centuries, and continued
until his death on January 25, 1987.
Scope and Contents
The collection includes documents relating to the creation and expansion of the Philbrick Library, including correspondence
between Philbrick and numerous dealers, accession ledgers, invoices from dealers, a completed appraisal of his library, and
even a floor plan of the building he had constructed to house his library. Other materials in the collections document his
scholarly interests, including magazine articles, newspaper clippings, and pamphlets from lectures. The correspondence with
Constance Fletcher, which spans from 1969 to Fletcher’s death in 1980, contains data on Philbrick’s purchasing habits, the
items he desired for his library, as well as personal matters, such as illnesses, vacations, and marriages. Some of the materials
in the collection were not created by Philbrick, but were collected by him or added to the Working Files because they deal
with issues of moving the Philbrick Library to Special Collections.
Series Arrangement
Series 1 Philbrick Working Files
Subject Headings
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection
Philbrick, Norman D.
Theatre and performance play texts