January 10, 2024 Dataset Open Access

Theatre in Handwriting: Hamburg Prompt Book Practices, 1770s–1820s

Felser, Anna Sophie; Funke, Tobias; Göing, Hannah; Hussain, Sophia; Schäfer, Martin Jörg; Weinstock, Alexander; Bosch, Sebastian

Dataset by Anna Sophie Felser, Tobias Funke, Hannah Göing, Sophia Hussain, Martin Jörg Schäfer (Project Lead), and Alexander Weinstock (Research Associate)

Additional ink analysis by Sebastian Bosch (Manager of Instrumental Analytics at the CSMC lab)

Contact: Prof. Dr. Martin Jörg Schäfer (martin.schaefer@uni-hamburg.de)

This dataset consists of various transcriptions and explanations relating to six prompt books from the Theater-Bibliothek collection at the Hamburg Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Carl von Ossietzky. During the first funding period for the project RFD08 “Multilayered Writing in Hamburg Prompt Books and Playbooks since the 18th Century” (2019–22), part of the DFG cluster “Understanding Written Artefacts”, several prompt books from the Theater-Bibliothek collection were scanned and can now be accessed under https://digitalisate.sub.uni-hamburg.de/ using the search term “Theater-Bibliothek”. Six of them have undergone more detailed analysis in the monograph Theatre in Handwriting: Hamburg Prompt Book Practices, 1770s–1820s (M. J. Schäfer/A. Weinstock, transcript 2024). We have made a “manual” available for each of these prompt books containing metadata and explanations of technical instructions, diacritical signs, and abridgements. We have also provided additional data depending on the focus of the respective analysis:

In addition to manuals for two prompt books containing August von Kotzebue’s play Die Sonnen-Jungfrau (Theater-Bibliothek: 728, Theater-Bibliothek: 1460; cf. Chapter 4), Hannah Göing has created an overview detailing the textual differences between, on the one hand, the two written artefacts that were created in 1790 and then revised and, on the other hand, the 1791 print publication of the play.

• RFD08[HandwrittenTheatre]_Sonnenjungfrau_TextualComparison-TheaterBibliothek1460_728_print1791.pdf,
• RFD08[HandwrittenTheatre]_Sonnenjungfrau_Theater-Bibliothek728_Gebrauchsanweisung_Manual.pdf,
• RFD08[HandwrittenTheatre]_Sonnenjungfrau_Theater-Bibliothek1460_Gebrauchsanweisung_Manual.pdf]

The manuals for the prompt books containing the German adaptations of the Shakespeare plays Othello and König Lear [King Lear] (Theater-Bibliothek: 571, Theater-Bibliothek: 2029; cf. Chapter 5) have been incorporated into tables containing the revisions made to the fair copy (Theater-Bibliothek: 571, Othello) and a print edition that was transformed into a prompt book (Theater-Bibliothek: 2029, Lear). Sophia Hussain has developed the tables by discussing and completing preliminary work conducted by Anna Sophie Felser and Tobias Funke, with finishing touches provided by Hannah Göing. The tables list the different types of revisions. With respect to the textual additions, sources have been identified wherever possible.

Dr Sebastian Bosch has performed an ink analysis of Theater-Bibliothek: 2029. There are separate tables for the findings relating to the different black and red inks used; a third file includes sample pages from the written artefact.

• RFD08[HandwrittenTheatre]_ Theater-Bibliothek571_OTHELLO_Masterdatei_xls.xlsx
• RFD08[HandwrittenTheatre]-Theater-Bibliothek2029-LEAR_Masterdatei.xls
• RD08[HandwrittenTheatre]2029_black_ink.xls.xlsm
• RD08[HandwrittenTheatre]2029_red_final.xls.xlsm
• RD08[HandwrittenTheatre]2029_spots.pdf

The manuals for the two written artefacts containing the Hamburg version of Friedrich Schiller’s adaptation of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing’s Nathan der Weise (Theater-Bibliothek: 1988a, Theater-Bibliothek: 1988b; cf. Chapter 6) are accompanied by two overviews based on preliminary work done by Anna Sophie Felser and Tobias Funke and finalised by Hannah Göing. One records all the folios with cuts and retractions added to the fair copy Theater-Bibliothek: 1988a; the other lists and deciphers the enrichments made in graphite pencil in both Theater-Bibliothek: 1988a and Theater-Bibliothek: 1988b.

• RFD08[HandwrittenTheatre]_Gebrauchsanweisung-Manual_Nathan_ TheaterBibliothek 1988a.pdf
• RFD08[HandwrittenTheatre]_Gebrauchsanweisung-Manual_Nathan_TheaterBibliothek1988b.pdf
• RFD08[HandwrittenTheatre]_Streichungen_Nathan_TheaterBibliothek1988a.pdf
• RFD08[HandwrittenTheatre]_Nathan_Bleistift_in_Manuskript_und_DruckPencil-Theaterbibliothek1988a1988b.pdf

We have also stored each Excel-file as a website and compressed the respective data into ZIP-format.