Guide to the Abraham Goldfaden (1840-1908) Collection RG 219

Processed by David Rogow and Eleanor Mlotek with the assistance of a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Additional processing by Rachel S. Harrison as part of the Leon Levy Archival Archival Processing Initiative, made possible by the Leon Levy Foundation.

YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
15 West 16th Street
New York, NY 10011
Email: archives@yivo.cjh.org
URL: http://www.yivo.org

Electronic finding aid was encoded in EAD 2002 by Rachel S. Harrison in May 2011. Description is in English.

Collection Overview

Title: Guide to the Abraham Goldfaden (1840-1908) Collection RG 219

ID: RG 219 FA

Extent: 2.0 Linear Feet

Arrangement:

The collection was arranged in 1979 by Eleanor Mlotek with the assistance of a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Originally, the inventory was written in Yiddish. Additional processing was completed in May 2011.

The collection is arranged in series, according to type of material. Some folders contain a variety of materials, particularly when those items are fragmentary and untitled, although there are also folders with multiple titled materials. The correspondence is filed by correspondent’s name according to the Yiddish alphabet. There are many letters from Goldfaden to others, which Shatzky received from various sources. There are fewer folders listed in the English finding aid than in the Yiddish finding aid, although all of the materials appear to have been maintained. The folder organization follows that of the English finding aid. The collection is divided into the following series.

Languages: Yiddish, German, French, English, Hebrew, Russian, Polish, Spanish

Abstract

This collection contains manuscripts of some of the earliest Yiddish plays, correspondence between playwright, poet, and director Abraham Goldfaden, the father of Yiddish theater, and various actors and writers, as well as some family correspondence, newspaper clippings on Goldfaden and his impact on Yiddish theater, articles by Goldfaden on a variety of topics, and various other theater materials, such as title pages of plays, programs and song sheets. The collection illustrates Goldfaden’s great and ongoing influence on Yiddish theater.

Scope and Contents of the Materials

The major portion of the Abraham Goldfaden Collection consists of original papers of Abraham Goldfaden relating to his career in the Yiddish theater, including manuscripts of plays, poems and articles, correspondence with members of the Yiddish theater, some copied in a notebook, newspaper clippings, playbills, and front pages of published plays. The materials were gathered by the historian Jacob Shatzky in connection with his work on the history of Yiddish theater. Shatzky wrote and edited a number of theater publications for the YIVO in the 1920s and 1930s, including Goldfaden-bukh (Goldfaden Book), Hundert Yor Goldfaden (One Hundred Years of Goldfaden) and Arkhiv far der Geshikhte fun Yidishn Teater un Drame (Archive of the History of Yiddish Theater and Drama), and he used many of the materials in this collection for his work. In addition to original documents from Goldfaden, there are also items either about Goldfaden or copies of Goldfaden’s writings and correspondence written out by Shatzky. Because of the artificial manner in which the record group was formed, it was decided to register it in the YIVO Archives as a “collection” rather than as “personal papers.” A majority of this collection is in Yiddish. The materials date from 1872-1956. The collection is 2.5 linear feet in five manuscript boxes.

Historical Note

Abraham Goldfaden was born in Starokonstantinov, Volhynia (Ukraine) on July 12, 1840 to Khayim Lipe, a watchmaker and a follower of the Haskalah, and Khane Rivke Goldenfodem. He received a Hebrew education from the Kazyoner Jewish school, which was government-run, as well as learning Russian, German and secular subjects. As a child, he is purported to have imitated the performances of wedding jesters and Brody singers so well and to such a degree that he acquired the nickname Avromele Badkhen, "Abie the Jester." In 1857 he entered the Rabbinical Seminary in Zhitomir in order to avoid conscription into the tsarist army, where he studied to become a teacher. Here he studied with Abraham Ber Gottlober, who introduced him to Yiddish literature. While in the seminary he was encouraged to compose Hebrew lyrics, and his first Hebrew poem was published in 1862 in Hamelits (The Advocate). His first Yiddish published poems appeared in Kol Mevasser (Voice of the Messenger) in 1863, the same year that he played the title role in Shloyme Ettinger’s Serkele. A volume of Hebrew writings, Tsitsim u’Frakhim (Blossoms and Flowers), was published in 1865. Soon after, he began writing and publishing Hebrew and Yiddish songs, including Dos Yidele (The Little Jew), in 1866 and Di Yidene (The Jewish Woman), a collection of poems, and Tzvey Shkheynes (Two Female Neighbors) and Di Mume Sosye (Aunt Sosya), comedic plays, in 1869.

In 1868 Goldfaden moved to Odessa. His cousin Joseph Kisselman, a pianist, helped him set his poetry to music. He married Perele (Pauline) Verbl, daughter of the maskilic poet Eliyohu-Mordkhe Verbl, that same year. He taught in Jewish Crown schools in Simferopol and Odessa in the years 1867-1875, continuing to write all the while. In 1875 Goldfaden left Russia, first traveling to Munich, where he originally planned to study for a doctorate, then to Lemberg (Lvov), where he and Yitskhok Linetski started a newspaper, Yisrolik. The paper was banned in Russia in February 1876.

Goldfaden traveled to Czernowitz (Chernivtsi) in 1876, where he published Dos Bukoviner Israelitishe Folksblat (The Bukovina Jewish Folks Journal). Here he came into contact with the Broder singers, who were singing and acting out Yiddish songs in Romania, including some of Goldfaden’s own. He performed some songs and short sketches at Shimon Mark’s wine garden in Iasi, Romania, although he was quite poorly received. It was at that point that he conceived of the idea of combining songs and impersonations with dramatic dialogue and plot, an idea that culminated with the staging of Di Rekrutn (The Recruits) in October 1876 in Botosani, near Iasi. The play, about the difficulties of a recruit in the army, was in part inspired by the recruiting tactics of press gangs for the Russo-Turkish War. This is generally accepted as the first performance of a professional Yiddish theater. He traveled to Galatz (Galati), Romania, where, encouraged by enormous acclaim, he put together a group of performers, including wandering minstrels and cantors’ assistants, including Zelig Mogulesco, Leyzer Zukerman and Moyshe Zilberman, and perhaps the first Yiddish actress, Sara Segel (Sophia Goldstein-Karp), and toured Romania and Russia putting on his own plays and short theater pieces, based on the Russian and German theater models. He wrote the plays and the songs that the troupe performed, directed and instructed the actors on the mechanics of how to act and designed the scenery. He was an all-around theatrical impresario. His goal was to present a theater that was accessible to the Yiddish-speaking public, based, however loosely, upon their own lives yet also to elevate his audience to an appreciation of more sophisticated theater. His earlier plays were generally operettas and light comedies, but his later plays took on more serious, and often historical subjects, including Doctor Almasada, Shulamis and Bar Kokhba, about the revolt of 132-136 CE, written after the wave of pogroms that followed in the wake of the 1881 assassination of Czar Alexander II.

On the invitation of Jacob P. Adler in 1879, Goldfaden and his company traveled to Odessa, where they were greatly successful, before being banned by the censor. After his appeal of the ban, he received permission to perform throughout the Russian Pale of Settlement, which he continued to do for several years and even started another company with his brother Naftali in Kishinev (Chisinau). His success gave rise to many other theatrical enterprises, including a rival company set up by Israel Grodner, who had originally been in Goldfaden’s company but had left in the wake of Mogulesco’s success. Yiddish theater expanded at a rapid rate until 1883, when the Russian government banned all performances in Yiddish.

Goldfaden continued to write and publish poems for the next few years until 1885, when he and a troupe traveled to Warsaw, where they were allowed to perform in German, and where Goldfaden was involved with Zionist circles. The troupe was, briefly, very successful in Warsaw, particularly with the historical plays such as Shulamis (1880) and Bar Kokhba (1887). Goldfaden went on to Lodz and then to New York and the American “provinces” in 1887, where he was less successful theatrically, although he did whatever he could to make money, continuing to write new material, briefly publishing a twice-weekly newspaper, Di Nyu-Yorker Ilustrirte Tsaytung (The New York Illustrated Newspaper), from October 1887-July 1888, and founding a drama society and school, “Lira.” He also gave poetry readings and speeches, even arranging benefit performances for his own benefit. Goldfaden soon returned to Europe, where he produced and directed his established plays, primarily in London, Paris, Lemberg, and Vienna, as well as continuing to write new ones, including Meshiakhs Tsaytn (Messianic Times) that gave a less-than-optimistic view of Jewish life in America. He was in Romania from 1892-1896 with a new company as the director of the Jigniţa theater, but he continued to struggle to make a living, particularly as his plays were often performed without his consent, from which he received no royalties. He was the Paris delegate to the World Zionist Congress in London in 1900, where he was warmly welcomed and in the same year, the Yiddish world celebrated his 60th birthday. This included many warmly-written newspaper articles by the likes of Nahum Sokolow, Reuben Asher Braudes, Reuben Brainin, and others, as well as a great celebration in London, where a fund was established to support him and his wife for a year. Goldfaden then resumed writing his autobiography.

Upon the invitation of his brother, Goldfaden returned to the United States in 1903. Although he was too sick to undertake very much, he periodically published articles in Di Yidishe Gazeten (The Jewish Gazette). He was warmly welcomed by the young Zionists of the Theodor Herzl Club and in 1906, they put on his one-act Hebrew play, David b’Milkhamah (David in the War), the first Hebrew-language play to be performed in America. Goldfaden’s last play, Ben Ami, oder Der Zun fun Zayn Folk (Ben Ami, or The Son of His People), loosely based upon George Eliot’s Daniel Deronda, was produced by Boris Thomashefsky at the People’s Theatre on December 25, 1907, and was quite successful. Goldfaden died in New York on January 9, 1908, having written over 60 plays, among the most successful of which were Shmendrik (1877), Der Fanatik, oder Di Tsvey Kuni Lemels (The Fanatic, or The Two Kuni Lemels) (1880), Shulamis (1880), Doctor Almasada (1882), Bar Kokhba (1887), and Ben Ami (1907). The New York Times referred to him as "the Yiddish Shakespeare" as well as "a poet and a prophet." Between 75,000-100,000 people are said to have attended his funeral procession from the People's Theater in the Bowery to Washington Cemetery in Brooklyn.

Subject/Index Terms

Clippings - Newspaper clippings, Documents - Correspondence, Documents - Manuscripts, Dramatists, Yiddish, Goldfaden, Abraham, 1840-1908, Jewish actors, Jewish composers, London (England), New York (N.Y.), Paris (France), Photographs, Playbills - Programs, Poland, Romania, Russia, Shatzky, Jacob, Theater, Yiddish, Theatrical producers and directors, YIVO Archives

Administrative Information

Access Restrictions: Permission to use the collection must be obtained from the YIVO Archivist.

Use Restrictions: Permission to publish part or parts of the collection must be obtained from the YIVO Archives. For more information, contact:YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16th Street, New York, NY 10011 email: archives@yivo.cjh.org

Acquisition Method: The collection was donated to the YIVO Archives by Jacob Shatzky in 1946.

Separated Materials: There is no information about materials that are associated by provenance to the described materials that have been physically separated or removed.

Related Materials: Other materials by and about Goldfaden and his plays, including correspondence, can be found in the archival collections: Sholem Perlmutter RG 289, Play Collection RG 114, Maurice Schwartz RG 498, David Hirsch RG 1225, Esther-Rachel Kaminska Theater Museum RG 8, Music (Vilna Archives) RG 7, Gabriel Zarzhevsky RG 407, Music RG 112, Molly Picon RG 738, Yom-Tov Spilman RG 397, Morris Feder and Eliezer and Rose Zhelazo RG 803, and the Folksbiene Theater RG 512, among others. There are also biographies of Goldfaden by Jacob Shatzky, Nahum Auslaender, Nachman Meisel, Zalmen Zylbercweig, and many others, books about him and his plays, his place in Yiddish theater, manuscripts of his plays, and many other materials.

Preferred Citation: Published citations should take the following form:Identification of item, date (if known); Abraham Goldfaden Collection; RG 219; folder number; YIVO Institute for Jewish Research.

Box and Folder Listing

Browse by Series:

Series 1: Plays and Other Writings for the Stage, 1879-1906, undated,
Series 2: Correspondence, 1894-1907, undated,
Series 3: Series III: Theater Materials, 1872-1929, undated,
Series 4: Series IV: Articles by Goldfaden, 1905-1906, 1927, undated,
Series 5: Series V: Articles about Goldfaden, 1903-1908, 1926-1956, undated,
Series 6: Series VI: Biographical and Bibliographical Materials, 1900-1908, undated

Series 1: Plays and Other Writings for the Stage 1879-1906, undated

This series contains handwritten and typed manuscripts of Goldfaden’s plays and songs, notices and records about plays and other theatrical materials, including title pages of plays and a list of Goldfaden’s plays.

Folders: 55

Folder 1: Rekrutn (Recruits) undated: 2 acts, incomplete, 20 pgs., manuscript
Folder 2: Rekrutn (Recruits) undated: 2 acts, incomplete, 18 pgs., manuscript
Folder 3: Breindele Kozak (Breindel the Cossack) undated: dream play in 4 acts, one act incomplete, page from first act, manuscript
Folder 4: Breindele Kozak (Breindel the Cossack); Di Shtume Kale (The Mute Bride) undated: (in one notebook, folder labeled 4, 4A) dream play in 4 acts, incomplete, 53 pgs., manuscript; comedy in 3 acts with music and dance, incomplete, 29 pgs., manuscript
Folder 5: Di Shtume Kale (The Mute Bride) undated: comedy in 3 acts with music and dance, only a few pgs., manuscript
Folder 6: Dvosie di Pliotkemakherin (Deborah the Gossipmonger) 1879: comedy in 5 acts, censored in Odessa, 46 pgs., manuscript
Folder 7: Dvosie di Pliotkemakherin (Deborah the Gossipmonger) undated: comedy in 5 acts, 65 pgs., manuscript
Folder 8: Di Kaprizne Tokhter, oder Kabzenzon un Hungerman (The Capricious Daughter, or Pauper-son and Hunger-man) 1881: melodrama in 4 acts, 5 scenes, St. Petersburg, 46 pgs., 4 pgs. Crossed out, censored copy
Folder 9: Der Podrachnik (The Contractor) undated: about the Russo-Turkish War, operetta in 4 acts, 8 scenes, 46 pgs., manuscript
Folder 10: Der Podrachnik (The Contractor) undated: operetta in 4 acts, 8 scenes, 75 pgs., manuscript
Folder 11: Todres Bloz (Todres, Blow) undated: 3 acts, 50 pgs., manuscript
Folder 12: Der Ferkoyfter Shlof, oder Bankir Tiran (The Bartered Dream, or The Tyrant Banker) 1879: melodrama in 3 acts, 11 scenes, music and dance, translated from German, censored in Odessa on 11 Sept. 1879, 28 pgs., manuscript
Folder 13: Der Ferkoyfter Shlof, oder Bankir Tiran (The Bartered Dream, or The Tyrant Banker) undated: melodrama in 3 acts, music and dance, translated from German, 42 pgs., manuscript
Folder 14: Der Soten, oder Dos Tsente Gebot: Loy Sakhmoyd (Satan, or The Tenth Commandment: Thou Shall Not Covet) 1883: comedy in 5 acts, 15 scenes with song and dance, 101 pgs., Odessa, copyright 1888, manuscript
Folder 15: Loy Sakhmoyd: Dos Tsente Gebot (Thou Shall Not Covet: The Tenth Commandment) 1892: comedy in 5 acts with song and dance, 94 pgs., copied in Bucharest by the prompter Yitzhak Abramovich, 15 June 1892, manuscript
Folder 16: Loy Sakhmoyd: Dos Tsente Gebot (Thou Shall Not Covet: The Tenth Commandment) undated: comedy in 5 acts with song and dance, 56 pgs., act one missing, manuscript
Folder 17: Ashmedai, oder Dos Tsente Gebot (Satan, or The Tenth Commandment) undated: comedy in 5 acts with song and dance, illustration by Goldfaden, 111 pgs., manuscript
Folder 18: Ashmedai, oder Dos Tsente Gebot (Satan, or The Tenth Commandment) undated: comedy in 5 acts with song and dance, written in various scripts, at the end of the notebook are scenes from the same play, manuscript
Folder 19: Ashmedai, oder Dos Tsente Gebot (Satan, or The Tenth Commandment) undated: act 3 only, 29 pgs., manuscript
Folder 20: Der Fanatik, oder Tsvey Kuni Lemelekh (The Fanatic, or The Two Kuni Lemels) 1882: operetta in 4 acts, 9 scenes, censored in St. Petersburg, 8 April 1882, 49 pgs., manuscript
Folder 21: Akeydas-Yitzhak (The Sacrifice of Isaac) 1894: historical drama in 4 acts with music, stamped: Trupa Israilita A. Goldfaden, 10 April 1894, Bucharest, 68 pgs., manuscript
Folder 22: Der Sambatyon (The Sambation River) 1881: comedy in 4 acts, 10 scenes, St. Petersburg, 27 Oct. 1881, censored on 28 Oct. 1881, 67 pgs., manuscript
Folder 23: Der Sambatyon (The Sambation River) undated: comedy in 4 acts, 10 scenes, 46 pgs., typed manuscript
Folder 24: Der Sambatyon (The Sambation River) undated: comedy in 4 acts, 10 scenes, 46 pgs., typed manuscript
Folder 25: Der Sambatyon (The Sambation River) undated: comedy in 4 acts, 10 scenes, 42 pgs., typed manuscript
Folder 26: Der Sambatyon (The Sambation River) undated: comedy in 4 acts, 10 scenes, 42 pgs., typed manuscript
Folder 27: Der Sambatyon (The Sambation River) undated: comedy in 4 acts, 10 scenes, 42 pgs., typed manuscript
Folder 28: Der Sambatyon (The Sambation River) undated: comedy in 4 acts, 10 scenes, 42 pgs., typed manuscript
Folder 29: Der Sambatyon (The Sambation River) undated: comedy in 4 acts, 10 scenes, 42 pgs., typed manuscript
Folder 30: Ahasvuerosh (Ahashueros) undated: operetta in 5 acts, 77 pgs., manuscript
Folder 31: Ahasvuerosh (Ahashueros) undated: operetta in 5 acts, 60 pgs., manuscript
Folder 32: Rotshild (Rothschild) undated: drama, 2 acts only, 48 pgs., manuscript
Folder 33: Yehuda haMakabi (Judah the Maccabean) undated: historical drama in 5 acts (4 acts?), with song, the last few pgs. written in a different script, written in Paris?, 39 pgs., manuscript
Folder 34: Yehuda haMakabi (Judah the Maccabean) undated: historical drama in 5 acts (4 acts?), addendum to the play?, second variation?, added dialogue and couplets, 31 pgs., manuscript
Folder 35: unidentified play undated: drama, 3 acts incomplete, written in Lvov?, 51 pgs., manuscript
Folder 36: Rabbi Yosselman undated: musical comedy in 5 acts, pages missing, 52 pgs., various other acts in the same notebook, 50 pgs., manuscript
Folder 37: Rabbi Yosselman, oder Di Gzeyres fun Elzas (Rabbi Yosselman, or The Decrees in Alsace) 1891: historical opera in 5 acts, Lvov 1891?, 109 pgs., manuscript
Folder 38: Rabbi Yosselman undated: muscial drama in 5 acts, some acts and pgs. are missing, transcribed in Paris?, 73 pgs., manuscript
Folder 39: Alofern (Holofernes) undated: 4 or 5 acts?, transcribed in Lvov, 82 pgs., manuscript
Folder 40: Meshiakhs Tsaytn (Messianic Times) 1891: musical true-life drama in 5 acts, 24 scenes, censored by the Polish police in Lvov, Dec. 1891, 96 pgs., manuscript
Folder 41: Meshiakhs Tsaytn (Messianic Times) undated: musical true-life drama in 6 acts, 30 scenes, 76 pgs. and 19 pgs., manuscript
Folder 42: Ben Ami, oder Der Zun fun Zayn Folk (Ben Ami, or The Son of His People) 1906: national-patriotic musical drama in 4 acts with prologue and epilogue, originally created and specially written for my people, 79 pgs., manuscript
Folder 43: Ben Ami, oder Der Zun fun Zayn Folk (Ben Ami, or The Son of His People) 1906: only 2 acts with a prologue, pages and 2 acts missing, 42 pgs., manuscript
Folder 44: Ben Ami, oder Der Zun fun Zayn Folk (Ben Ami, or The Son of His People) 1906: 2 acts with a prologue, 2 acts missing, 54 pgs., manuscript
Folder 45: Uriel Acosta undated: by Karl Gutzkow, translated a second time from the Russian and adapted by Goldfaden for the New York Yiddish public, with music, 5 acts, acted in New York, 46 pgs., manuscript
Folder 46: Uriel Acosta undated: by Karl Gutzkow, translated from the Russian and adapted by Goldfaden, 5 acts, 10 scenes with chorus, 57 pgs., manuscript
Folder 47: Der Tsigeynerbaron (The Gypsy Baron) undated: grand opera in 3 acts by Johann Strauss, adapted by Goldfaden, acts incomplete, some scenes are missing, 60 pgs., manuscript
Folder 48: Hamenatseyekh Dovid (David the Conqueror) undated: fragments of a play in Hebrew, 16 pgs., manuscript
Folder 49: Shulamis undated: only one half page of the play, dialogue between Shulamis and Absalom
Folder 50: Notebook with songs undated: 234 pgs., manuscript
Folder 51: Songs, clippings, manuscript undated: L'Milkhomah (To the War), song printed in "The Jewish Gazette," Paris, 1 July 1898, clipping; Der Yidisher Pasport (The Jewish Passport), poem, printed in Paris?, 29 June 1898, clipping; Dos Farblondshey Shif (The Lost Ship), ballad, printed in Paris?, 15 Aug. 1898, clipping; several verses of a poem, on a piece of paper, manuscript; Dor Haflagah (The Generation of the Tower of Babel), in a small notebook, manuscript
Folder 52: Yudele un Yisroelik undated: essay about Goldfaden's relation to the Yiddish theatergoers in the form of a dialogue, manuscript
Folder 53: Notes on various theater productions undated: about furniture and other requisitions for a play; page with notes in Hebrew and Yiddish, handwritten
Folder 54: Songs translated into French undated: Rozhinkes mit Mandlen (Raisins and Almonds), Shabes, Yontev, un Rosh Khoydesh (Sabbath, Festival, and New Moon), Flaker Fayerl Flaker (Flicker Little Fire, Flicker), Got ze Aleyn (Gd Alone Sees), manuscript
Folder 55: List of Goldfaden's plays undated

Series 2: Correspondence 1894-1907, undated

This is a series of correspondence, mainly copies of letter written by Goldfaden to various actors and writers, although there are a few original letters. Many of these appear to have been written out by Jacob Shatzky. The series is arranged according to the Yiddish alphabet.

Folders: 23

Folder 56: Adler, Jacob (Kovner) 1903: to Brooklyn, NY, 19 Oct. 1903, original and copy
Folder 57: Unidentified correspondents 1894, 1901-1903: mostly from Paris, originals and copies, fragments, multiple versions of letters; two photostats of a piece of a letter from New York possibly to the Perkoffs in London; letter to Yossele in Braila from Galati, Romania, 27 Sept. 1894, copy sent to YIVO from Isaac Schwartz in Iasi; mostly undated
Folder 58: Berman (cantor) undated: no place specified, 2 copies
Folder 59: Goldfaden, Pauline undated: from Paris, probably to Yosef Weinstock in Budapest, possibly 1892 or 1903, 2 copies and original
Folder 60: Goldfaden, Abraham 1902: from Paris, to his brother Naftali, copy
Folder 61: Dubinsky 1904-1906: to Boston, from New York, 3 originals and 2 typed copies
Folder 62: Dinesohn, J. 1899: from Paris, 4 Jan. 1899, copy
Folder 63: Seifert, M. 1903: from Paris, July 1903, copy
Folder 64: Torczyner 1900: from Paris, to America?, 5 May 1900, 20 Nov. 1900, 6 Dec. 1900, copies
Folder 65: Landau, S.R. 1897: from Paris, Nov. 1897, original
Folder 66: Levinson 1900: to Boston, from Paris, 15 Jan. 1900, typed copy
Folder 67: Mazin, R. 1903: to London, from Paris, May? 1903, copy
Folder 68: Minikes, Hanan 1897: to New York, from Paris, 5 Dec. 1897, 2 copies, newspaper clipping from Minikes' Khanike Blat (Chanukkah Page)
Folder 69: Nordau, Max 1900: from Paris, 15 Jan. 1900, copy
Folder 70: Perlzweig, A. 1903: to London, from Paris, 27 Feb. 1903, copy
Folder 71: Perkoff, Isaac 1903-1907: to London, from Paris and New York, 20 April 1905, 14 Jan. 1903, 1904, 30 May 1907, copies and a postcard
Folder 72: Cohen, J.M. 1903: to London, from Paris, 5 March 1903, copy
Folder 73: Cohen, J.J. 1903: to London, from Paris, in The Jewish Review, 5 March 1903, original and copies
Folder 74: Katzenellenbogen 1903: to New York, from Paris, 14 June 1903, copy
Folder 75: Klein, Rabbi J. 1903: to Budapest, from Paris, original and copies
Folder 76: Scheur, Mendel 1903: to London, from Paris, copies
Folder 77: Sarasohn 1902-1903: to New York, from Paris, copies
Folder 78: Notebook of letters 1902-1903: from Paris, 45 pgs., given to YIVO by Jacob Shatzky, handwritten copies of letters written to Sarasohn, Perkoff, Naftali Goldfaden, Perlzweig, Scheur, Seifert, Mazin, Katzenellenbogen, The Jewish Review, etc., written in several handwritings

Series III: Theater Materials 1872-1929, undated

The theater materials in this series comprise articles about Goldfaden, title pages of his works, photostats, programs, flyers, statutes of a Zionist organization founded by Goldfaden, a visiting card, and a receipt.

Folders: 17

Folder 79: Letters from Galicia 1924: by L. Dreikurs, in Literarishe Bleter (Literary Leaves), no. 29, Warsaw, 21 Nov. 1924, copy
Folder 80: Shulamis on the Hungarian Stage 1926: by S.J. Dorfson, in Parizer Bleter (Parisian Leaves), no. 123, 24 April 1926, copy
Folder 81: Abraham Goldfaden in Rumania 1927: by S.J. Dorfson, in Yudish Teatr (Yiddish Theater), an organ of Union of Yiddish Actors in Vienna, no. 1, Vienna, Jan. 1927, copy
Folder 82: Abraham Goldfaden in Lemberg 1929: by Israel Gesund, in Der Morgen (The Morning), no. 704, Lvov, copy
Folder 83: Di Yidene (The Jewish Woman) 1872: 2 title pages, Odessa
Folder 84: Meylets-Yoysher, oder Rabbi Yosselman (The Defender, or Rabbi Yosselman) 1900: 2 title pages, opera in 5 acts, 23 scenes, New York
Folder 85: Shmendrik, oder di Komishe Khasene (Shmendrik, or The Comical Wedding) 1907: title page, comedy in 3 acts, Warsaw
Folder 86: Bobe mit dem Eynikl, oder Bantsie di Kneytlekhleygerin (Grandmother and Grandchild, or Bantsie Who Makes Things Worse) undated: title page, melodrama in 3 acts with song, New York
Folder 87: Doktor Almosado (Doctor Almasada) undated: photostat of title page
Folder 88: Di Tzvey Kuni Lemels (The Two Kuni Lemels); Shulamis undated: page of the magazine Tealit, with reproduction of the title pages of the 2 plays
Folder 89: Shulamis 1885: photograph of an advertisement, Kielce, in Polish
Folder 90: Di Tzvey Kuni Lemels (The Two Kuni Lemels) undated: program, presented by the Yiddish Progressive Theater Group in New York
Folder 91: Song about Goldfaden undated: printed as a flyleaf
Folder 92: Statutes of the Society Bkhirey Tzion (Chosen of Zion) in Paris 1900: founded by Goldfaden, manuscript and copy
Folder 93: Lists of names and numbers undated
Folder 94: Goldfaden's visiting card undated: from when he lived in Brooklyn, NY
Folder 95: Receipt undated: signed by Goldfaden, stating that he received a copy of a contract with Jacob Adler, as well as other papers, from the lawyer Abraham Schomer, original

Series IV: Articles by Goldfaden 1905-1906, 1927, undated

This is a series of article written by Goldfaden on various topics, mostly in unpublished manuscript form, as well as a list of Hebrew words used in Yiddish.

Folders: 13

Folder 96: Dor Holekh v'Dor Bo (From Generation to Generation) undated: several examples of an article about education, pgs. missing, manuscript
Folder 97: Di Dertziung funem Nayem Do (The Education of the New Generation) 1905: New York, 6 Oct. 1905, 1 pg., manuscript
Folder 98: Vu iz Ahingekumen di Yidish Dertziung (What Happened to Jewish Education) 1906: New York, clipping
Folder 99: Article on the problem of Jewish culture undated: manuscript
Folder 100: Unidentified article undated: manuscript
Folder 101: Article about antisemitism undated: manuscript
Folder 102: Sotzializm un Antisemitizm (Socialism and Antisemitism) undated: article translated from French by Goldfaden, manuscript
Folder 103: Articles about Judaism, edicts against Jews and antisemitism undated: manuscript
Folder 104: Tsemakh's Rede tsu di Kinder (Tsemakh's Talk to the Children) undated: about pogroms, exile and return to one's own land, 2 copies, in Yiddish and Hebrew, manuscript
Folder 105: Article about the rise of Zionism in Russia and about emigration to the USA and Palestine undated: manuscript
Folder 106: Article about Jewish education undated: manuscript
Folder 107: Articles on the history of Yiddish theater and Jewish music 1927, undated: 2 copies of The Biography of Yiddish Theater, one in a notebook and one clipping from Hanan Minikes' Yom-Tov Bleter (Birthday Leaves), New York, 1927; fragments of other articles on Yiddish theater and music; manuscripts
Folder 108: Dictionary undated: Hebrew words used in Yiddish, manuscript

Series V: Articles about Goldfaden 1903-1908, 1926-1956, undated

These are articles written about Goldfaden and his impact on Yiddish theater, both while he was still alive and after his death, including celebrations of his 100th birthday and the various anniversaries of the Abraham Goldfaden Theater. These include articles about Goldfaden in the English, Hebrew and Spanish press.

Folders: 21

Folder 109: Morgn Zhurnal (Morning Journal) 1940: series of articles by Dr. A. Mukdoni, about Goldfaden and the Yiddish theater, New York, July-Aug. 1940
Folder 110: Freiheit (Freedom) and Morgn-Freiheit (Morning Freedom) 1926-1928: by Kalman Marmor, Gurstein, A. Judicki, New York
Folder 111: Der Emes (The Truth) 1928: Moscow
Folder 112: Haynt (Today) 1927: Paris
Folder 113: Naye Presse (New Press) 1939: Paris
Folder 114: Forverts (Forward) 1930: by Zalmen Zylbercweig and Joseph Rumshinski, New York
Folder 115: Eynikeit (Unity) 1946: by Uri Finkel, Moscow
Folder 116: Der Tog (The Day) 1930: by Moshe Gross, New York
Folder 117: Haynt (Today) 1929: by Yehoshua Thon, Warsaw
Folder 118: Davar (Word), Haaretz (The Land), Mishmar (The Guard) 1940, 1946, 1951: Israel Hebrew press
Folder 119: El Matutino (Morning Newspaper) 1940: in Spanish, Buenos Aires
Folder 120: Haynt (Today) 1930: by Nakhman Meisel, Warsaw
Folder 121: Dorem Amerike (South America) magazine undated: review of the Goldfaden Book, published by the Jewish Theater Museum on the 50th anniversary of the Goldfaden Theater
Folder 122: Moment 1939: on Goldfaden's 100th birthday, Warsaw
Folder 123: Vanguard 1929: about Yiddish theater and Goldfaden, in English
Folder 124: Folksshtime (Voice of the People) 1956: by Yitzhak Turkow, on the 30th anniversary of the Goldfaden Theater
Folder 125: Yidisher Tageblat (Yiddish Daily Newspaper) 1903: about Goldfaden's coming to America, New York
Folder 126: Der Tog (The Day) undated: end of an article
Folder 127: Obituaries in the American English press 1908: handwritten copies
Folder 128: Obituaries in the Hebrew press undated: handwritten copy of an article
Folder 129: Photostat of Goldfaden's gravestone undated

Series VI: Biographical and Bibliographical Materials 1900-1908, undated

These are biographical articles written about Goldfaden by Nachman Meisel, Reuben Asher Braudes and Adolph Heinrich Landau.

Folders: 3

Folder 130: Contribution to the Biography of Abraham Goldfaden undated: by Nakhman Meisel, typescript
Folder 131: Article on Goldfaden's 60th birthday 1900: by Reuben Asher Braudes, Di Velt (The World), no. 28, Vienna, 3 copies
Folder 132: Paper about Goldfaden 1908: by Adolph Heinrich Landau, special reprint and title page, Vienna, in German