Special Collections Finding Aids

Bayreuth Fans - Ephemera

Accession: SC1998.37

Location: M2A 6,5

Size: .25 feet

Biography: None.

Provenance: The fans presumably were once owned by an attendee at the Bayreuth Festivals, where there existed a custom of having performers autograph the fans. Handwritten lists with typed transcriptions accompany the fans; the typescripts are on the letterhead of the Bohemian Club of Chicago. No other provenance is known.

Scope and Content: The fans bear autographs of major and minor conductors and performers as well as notable attendees at the Bayreuth Festivals from 1901 to 1914, as indicated on the handwritten lists that accompany the fans. Among the approximately 110 autographs are such names as Richard Strauss, Felix Weingartner, Max Reger, Cosima Wagner, Siegfried Wagner, and Ferruccio Busoni.

Associations: The Watanabe Special Collections department maintains a Letter File with autograph letters and signatures of many composers and musicians.

Restrictions: none

Series: 1

Series Name: Ephemera

Series Description: The series consists of three fans autographed by performers, conductors, and attendees at the Bayreuth festivals from 1901-1915, along with handwritten and typed transcriptions of the signatures.