The play was first published in 1873. The file contains materials related to rehearsal and performance, including a published copy (Berlin: B. Behr's Buchhandlung, E. Bock, 1878; Moser's Lustspiele, erster Band), which has been annotated as a prompt-book; a handwritten scenario; a handwritten item (letter) that served as a prop; and 9 handwritten role books, for the following parts: Dr. Scheffler, Advokat; Bertha, seine Frau; Commerzienrath, Bolzau; Wilhelmine; Ludmilla; Dr. Steinkirch; Hartwig; Brimborius, Festordner; and Schnake, Vereinsdiener. (The character list in the published copy shows 2 additional roles: Franz, Diener bei Bolzau; and Diener bei Scheffler.) The published book also contains another play by Moser, Die Sünderin, Lustspiel in einem Akt. (That play bears no annotations, and the collection does not include any other materials related to it.) The published copy as well as several of the role books are marked (with a label or by hand) as the property of Theodor Bloch, who was active in German-language theater in Philadelphia, first as an actor and later as a prompter, from at least the early 1870s until the mid 1890s, and who also ran a theater lending library. Names of actors and actresses noted on the covers of the role books generally seem to reflect about three different casts in Philadelphia over time, possibly all of them dating from the early to mid 1890s. (Some of the names also correspond to a cast list noted in the published copy next to the list of characters; that cast dates from around 1894.) Some of the role books, as well as the scenario, could date from a somewhat earlier period. At least one actor's name (Niemann) would likely relate to a performance in the early to mid 1880s; and in some instances it is apparent that names from an earlier cast have been erased. The role book for Brimborius is signed and dated on the last page "17 Febr. '92 / F. W.," apparently by the same person who wrote it out, possibly Fritz Weilenbeck, who acted in German-language theater in Philadelphia from at least 1875 to 1896. The role book for Dr. Steinkirch, which bears the names of at least six different actors, is stamped with the name "Guido Ferrari" and an street address that could be in Philadelphia; it is also labeled by hand as the property of Bloch. A few jottings on the back cover of that item include several words written with Hebrew characters that appear to be in Yiddish. See also a theater newspaper in folder 704 advertising a performance of the play in Philadelphia in Oct. 1885 (no cast listing).
