Selections from the Sidney P. Albert — George Bernard Shaw Collection
The John Hay Library
Brown University
May 27- June 11, 2006
In 1991 the Brown University Library acquired a collection of George Bernard Shaw material formed by Sidney P. Albert, professor emeritus of philosophy at California State University – Los Angeles . The collection is rich in manuscript material, including autograph and typed letters, post cards, notes, inscriptions and signed photographs as well as costume designs and a fragment of music in Shaw’s hand. There are more than 2,000 books by and about Shaw and a strong collection of ephemera – pamphlets, “rough proof” rehearsal copies of plays, programs, press clippings, film stills, posters, publicity photographs, recordings, photographs of Shaw’s 1933 visit to Hollywood, and publications of Shaw societies in London, New York, Los Angeles and Tokyo. More than 200 periodicals containing pieces by or about Shaw round out the collection.
Brown University Library also holds the correspondence between Shaw and his American publisher, Dodd, Mead & Company. That purchase, including 15 letters, original contracts, sketches and photographs of Shaw, and more than 100 files covering contracts and reprint rights, provides a picture of Shaw as a businessman who composed his own contracts and championed the economic cause of writers.
The exhibit also includes a selection of posters from Shaw productions at Trinity Repertory Company in Providence. Trinity has recently donated its archives to Brown University Library.
This exhibit is based on the one presented by Jean Rainwater from September 25-October 6, 2000, which itself drew from Jennifer B. Lee’s, which was mounted from May 5-July 28, 1995. I wish to acknowledge the excellent work they did in bringing this material together, and thank them and the staff of the John Hay Library, who made it possible for me to create the current exhibit on the occasion of the International Bernard Shaw Conference, June 8-11, 2006, sponsored by Brown University and the International Shaw Society, celebrating the “Sesquicentennial Shaw.” Additional material may be viewed in the digital exhibit The Quintessential G. B. S.
For further information, please contact Stephen_L_Thompson@brown.edu

Saturday, May 27, 2006, 10:30 a.m.
Lownes Room, John Hay Library,
Prof. Emeritus, Don B. Wilmeth, Dept. of Theatre, Speech & Dance
A brief glance at the life, unique persona, politics, and writings of this prolific Irish writer and idea monger, examined in the context of his time and ours. Is Mr. Shaw still relevant? Or has he become an anachronism, no longer speaking to us?
The presentation will correspond to an exhibit at the John Hay Library drawn from the Albert-Shaw Collection, and will serve as an overture to a major international Shaw conference at Brown a week from the forum.

A Friends of the Library event – Join the Friends!
Monday, May 15, 2006, 7:30 p.m.
Salomon Hall 101
Main Green, Brown University
Following Mr. Gopnik’s talk, a reception and book signing will be held in the John Hay Library, 20 Prospect Street.
Guests will have an opportunity to visit the Yoken Archives located on the 3rd floor of the John Hay Library.
Mr. Gopnik’s visit to Brown University is part of the Mel and Cindy Yoken Cultural Series.
Adam Gopnik has been writing regularly for The New Yorker since 1986. His special interests include France, particularly Paris, art, particularly American painting, and children, particularly his own. His book Paris to the Moon began in the “Paris Journals” he wrote for the magazine from 1995-2000, prompting Le Monde to regard Gopnik as a “witty and Voltairean commentator on French life.” His forthcoming book Through the Children’s Gate will be based on the “New York Journals” he has written for the magazine in the years since. He has won the National Magazine Award for Essays and Criticism an unprecedented three times, as well as the George Polk Award for magazine reporting.
For further information contact hay@brown.edu