Latvia: Riga City Theatre Materials in the Stock of the National Library of Latvia – Historical Evidence and Findings

Abstract

The materials of the Riga City Theatre (1782–1919) travelled a long way for a long time until they ended up in the collection of the National Library of Latvia. Their processing and cataloguing were started in 2019. The cataloguing process has ended, and the collection is now open for research. This article describes the types of materials that can been found in the collection—books, sheet music and other documents, the contents of the collection, the represented theatre and music genres and authors, as well as the historical evidence found—autographs, notes left by directors, prompters, conductors, and other theatre artists. Rare editions and manuscripts found, as well as first editions, are also discussed. The collection, as a historical source, provides new opportunities for further research of the activities of the Riga City Theatre and its artists, especially as this theatre can be viewed not only narrowly as a German cultural phenomenon in pre-independence Latvia, but much more broadly as a cultural institution that has successfully entered the European theatre scene.