A Rare Theatrical Journal: The Arthurian Theatre Magazine

A RARE THEATRICAL JOURNAL: 'THE ARTHURIAN 'THEATRE MAGAZINE The Arthurian Theatre Magazine is apparently one of the rarest items of early twentieth-century British theater history. Volume I, number 1, appeared in February 1905. Several years ago in collecting material for a projected edition of the plays of Charles Rogers, late Victorian provincial playwright, I obtained a Camden (London) Theatre program carrying a full page advertisement of The Arthurian Theatre Magazine: "bright illustrations , interesting features, attractive articles ... admittedly the. most attractive penny theatrical paper." Even allowing for editorial ~elf­ esteem it sounded like something the student of fin de siecle theater ought to examine at least casually. But local librarians could find no reference to such a publication. They suggested the Library of Congress. I wrote to them. The Chief of the Library's General Reference and Bibliography Division said that his international bibliographies did not have an entry for The Arthurian Theatre Magazine~' he recommended the British Museum. Mr. C. N. Dodd replied: I have not been able to trace The Arthurian Theatre Magazine~ although it may be the alternative title of "The Robert Arthur Theatres Illustrated Journal Programmes," twenty-one numbers of which were issued in 1907, 1908. Unfortunately the British Museum set, the only one I could trace, was destroyed during the war. However my Camden Theatre program advertising the Magazine was for "Easter Monday, April 24th." And although no year was given, calendar calculations indicated it must be 1905. Mr. Dodd's suggestion was therefore less than the complete answer. Professor Allardyce Nicoll, whose History of Late Nineteenth Century Drama 1850-1900 is the standard work on its period, wrote that despite his own "delving into masses of playbills, programmes, and similar material" up to 1900 he had no knowledge of The Arthurian Theatre Magazine - of an apparently slightly, later date. He continued, however: "The copy of the advertisement which you send me is most interesting and I certainly believe that the subject deserves further study." Meanwhile I implored Professor Dan H. Laurence of New York Uriiversity, end of the century theater scholar and editor of the Collected Letters of George Bernard Shaw, to keep my interest in mind. 129 130 MODERN DRAMA September He "covered the principal dealers in theatre materials" in. London without success. Then quite incidentally, looking for something entirely different, for himself, at Han Kyrle Fletcher Society for Theatre Research, he found the initial issue of The Arthurian Theatre Magazine and acquired it for me. When Professor Laurence showed the Magazine to Mr. G. W. Nash, curator of the Enthoven Theatre Collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum, Mr. Nash felt that he had once seen an issue of it at the Fulham Public Library-but it was now untraceable. The Enthoven Collection does, however, have an excellent representation of the "Robert Arthur Theatres Illustrated Journal Programmes "-the British Museum collection of which was destroyed during World War II. Mr. Nash's description of the Enthoven "Programmes" reads as follows: The first copy we have does not have a volume or pamphlet number. It has a coloured cover, all the subsequent issues are uncoloJ.lred, and is for September 11th, 1907. Checking back from other numbers and allowing for a weekly issues, it should be Volume One, Number Four but it is just possible that it might be the first issue. We also have Volume One, Nos. 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 17, 18, 22, 23 (the latter is for January 27th, 1908). In February the programmes seem to revert to a plain programme with advertisements; the cover is in the same type but now the title is simply "The Robert Arthur Theatres Programme" and they are unnumbered. In March, however, without reverting to the former title and magazine content the numbering of the programmes is resumed and is continued from Volume I No. 28 to No. 44. Thereafter normal numbered programmes only are issued. Robert Arthur was the "lessee and manager" of a chain of theaters at the turn of the century: six in London (Kennington, Kensington, Crown, Coronet, Fulham, and Camden) and six in the provinces (Court-Liverpool, Crown-Peckham, Royal-Newcastle, Royal-Nottingham , Her Majesty's-Dundee...