The item is a published copy (Berlin: Theater-Commissions-Geschäft von H. Michaelson, 1850; "Den Bühnen gegenüber als Manuscript gedruckt"), which has been annotated as a prompt-book. It is labeled as the property of Theodor Bloch, who was active in German-language theater in Philadelphia from 1873 until at least the mid 1890s, first as an actor and later as a prompter, and who also ran a theater lending library. The title is listed in Bloch's catalog for his library, dated 1886 (see box 34). On the title page, musical lyrics contained in the text ("Couplets") are attributed to Dohm, and music is attributed to Th. Hauptner. In the context of the Learned Collection, it seems likely that the prompt-book was used in connection with the performances in Philadelphia in Nov. 1878 and May 1880 that are documented by theater newspapers (folders 703 and 691, respectively). On the page with the list of characters, barely legible notations indicate cast members--those names in general could not be placed, but one actress, "Streissgut" (as Lotte), is recognizable from the casts of other German-language plays in Philadelphia, and performed as late as 1897.
