William A. Speck collection of Goetheana : general ephemera 1766-1999

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William A. Speck collection of Goetheana : general ephemera 1766-1999

The William A. Speck Collection of Goetheana: General Ephemera is an artificial collection of miscellaneous, non-book materials long associated with the Speck Collection but previously uncataloged. The collection demonstrates how Goethe and his works entered into the popular culture in the late nineteenth century and early decades of the twentieth. The collection includes a few items relating directly to Goethe, such as pens that he used and his grandfather Textor's seal, as well as items intended for the tourist market, probably purchased in the streets of Weimar around the turn of the twentieth century. Printed ephemera in the collection includes inflation money from the 1920s, or “Notgeld,” printed with quotations from Goethe and illustrations from his works; advertising trade cards and other advertising materials; posters; cigar boxes; matchbooks; stationery; postcards; photographs of actors in Goethe-related roles; and wall hangings. Three-dimensional items include figurines of characters from Faust, plaques featuring Goethe's image, a fragment of his house, pressed flowers from his garden, and a lock of Schiller's hair.

3.13 linear feet (12 boxes) + 21 broadside folders

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Related Entities

There are 5 Entities related to this resource.

Textor, Johann Jost 1739-1792

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6rp5zfv (person)

Schiller, Friedrich, 1759-1805

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w67p8zn1 (person)

Dramatist and poet. From the description of Friedrich Schiller collection, 1883-1941. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 70980966 German poet and dramatist. From the description of Autograph letter signed "Sch." : Weimar, to W.G. Becker, 1804 Feb. 20. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 270634316 From the description of Wilhelm Tell. Act I, Scene 4 : [n.p.] : autograph manuscript unsigned, [ca. 1804]. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 270635377 From the des...

Goethe-Haus (Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6pm3jwn (corporateBody)

Speck, William A. (William Alfred), 1864-1928

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w69602pg (person)

William A. Speck, the son of German immigrants, was born in New York City in 1864. A pharmacist by profession, he amassed the largest Goethe collection outside of Germany. In 1913, he and his collection came from Haverstraw, New York to Yale, where he served as curator of the Speck Collection until his death in 1928. For further biographical information on William A. Speck and a general history and description of the Speck Collection, see the finding aid for the William A. Speck Collection of Go...

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von, 1749-1832

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6cd1pv7 (person)

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (b. August 29, 1749, Free Imperial City of Frankfurt-d. March 22, 1832, Weimar) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, and natural scientist. He is often ranked with Shakespeare and Dante as one of the three most important poets in history. Goethe gained early fame with The Sorrows of Young Werther, published in 1774, but his most famous work is Faust, a poetic drama in two parts....