The "Shakespeare Factor": The Survival of Drury Lane Theatrical Receipts

Abstract: The materiality and subject matter of a pair of theatrical scrapbooks held by the Folger Shakespeare Library (Folger MS W.b.110 and W.b.111) provide an unusual, detailed window into the inner workings of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in the first decades of the eighteenth century. Rather than the more common account books for the theater, these scrapbooks preserve the actual receipts for goods and services, complete with signatures and countersignatures of the tradespeople and theater managers. This paper explores how the "Shakespeare Factor" influenced the collecting practices of nineteenth-century antiquarians and book collectors, which in turn helped ensure the very survival of these receipts.