Name of repository
Houghton Library, Harvard College Library

Address
Houghton Library
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA 02138

Contact
Public Services Department: houghref@fas.harvard.edu
Department of Printing and Graphic Arts: pga@fas.harvard.edu
Harvard Theatre Collection: htc@harvard.edu

Telephone
Public Services Department: 617-495-2440
Department of Printing and Graphic Arts: 617-495-2444
Harvard Theatre Collection: 617-495-2445

Fax
Public Services Department: 617-495-1376
Department of Printing and Graphic Arts: 617-495-1376
Harvard Theatre Collection: 617-496-5786

Hours and access
The Houghton Library Reading Room is open Monday-Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., except for university holidays. All Manuscript Department materials and most Printing and Graphic Arts holdings are accessed through the Houghton Library reading room.

Materials belonging to the Harrison D. Horblit Collection of Early Photography are consulted by appointment in the Printing and Graphic Arts Study Room, Monday-Friday 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Readers seeking access to Horblit Collection materials must contact the Department of Printing and Graphic Arts in advance to discuss their needs and arrange appointments.

The Harvard Theatre Collection reading room is open Monday through Friday from 1:00 to 4:45 p.m. except for university holidays. It is always advisable to contact the curator of the Theatre Collection in advance to discuss research strategies and to make an appointment prior to the initial visit to the collection.

Description of the Houghton Library
Houghton Library is the principal rare book and special collections library of Harvard College Library. The collections include a wide range of books and manuscripts, as well as examples of graphic arts and visual materials in a variety of formats.

Department of Manuscripts:
In addition to manuscripts and archives, the Manuscript Department has responsibility for paintings displayed within Houghton Library. Additionally, many personal papers collections and business archives include substantial holdings of photographs and drawings.

Department of Printing and Graphic Arts:
The Printing & Graphic Arts collection documents the development of letterforms, from thirteenth-century manuscripts to contemporary digitized type, and all aspects of the art of the book, including design, printing, illustration, and paper. In addition to writing manuals, type specimens, and decorated papers, the collection includes extensive holdings of illuminated and calligraphic manuscripts; illustrated books from the fifteenth century to the present, including modern artists' books, and drawings for book illustration. Other collections administered by the department include the architectural drawings of H. H. Richardson and the Harrison D. Horblit Collection of Early Photography.

Harvard Theatre Collection:
Founded in 1901, the Harvard Theatre Collection is the oldest performing arts collection in the world, and one of the largest. The Theatre Collection includes dance and musical theater as well as nearly all forms of drama and popular entertainment, such as circus, magic, puppetry, pageants, fairgrounds, minstrelsy, etc. The Theatre Collection concentrates both on the history of drama as a literary form and on theatrical performance. The Theatre Collection's holdings include large numbers of original manuscripts of plays, including prompt books; documents such as letters, legal agreements, and financial records; rare books and pamphlets; original art work, including portraits and scene and costume designs; printed playbills, programs, and posters; photographs; prints and engravings, including caricatures; sheet music; and personal papers and organizational archives.

What’s in VIA?
Holdings from three of Houghton’s curatorial departments are represented in VIA.

Department of Manuscripts: All daguerreotypes within manuscript collections are described both in VIA and in OASIS. Many of the paintings displayed in Houghton Library are described in VIA by records from the University Portrait Collection as well as by records in HOLLIS.

Department of Printing and Graphic Arts: Individual photographic images that are part of the Harrison D. Horblit Collection of Early Photography are cataloged in VIA. These include more than 3,000 daguerreotypes and more than 3,000 early photographic prints. Digital images of the daguerreotypes are accessible through VIA. The books and albums illustrated with original photographs and the printed ephemera in the Horblit Collection are cataloged at the item level in HOLLIS.

Harvard Theatre Collection: Theatre Collection holdings in VIA include the entire collection of original Russian art work, which comprises approximately 650 theatrical designs and portraits. Most of these are associated with productions of Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. In addition, the entire collection of daguerreotypes, mostly of theatrical subjects, is available in VIA. Additional material from the Theatre Collection will be cataloged in VIA in the future.

How we use VIA
Department of Manuscripts: The Manuscript Department does not currently add records of its holdings to VIA.

Department of Printing and Graphic Arts: The individual photographs in the Horblit Collection are cataloged as works in VIA. The subject of the photograph is described in the title field. Index terms include, where known, the names of the persons, places, sites, or works of art depicted; the names of photographers and other associated individuals; the place where the photograph was made; and the technical designation of the photographic process.

Harvard Theatre Collection: Each individual art work in VIA is cataloged as a separate work. Descriptive information includes the names of the artist, the title of the art work, the title of the underlying dramatic work, scene, performer, and role, where applicable, the author and production details of the dramatic work, and additional information such as date, size, and medium. All names and titles are also indexed. All art works are scanned at very high resolution in order to allow the examination of the works for technique, and these high resolution scans may also be viewed through VIA.

Permissions
Images in VIA are for personal research use only. They may not be sold, lent, copied or published without the express permission of the appropriate curatorial department in Houghton Library, Harvard College Library. Information on procedures for obtaining permission to publish may be found at: http://hcl.harvard.edu/houghton/photo.html and for the Department of Manuscripts also at http://hcl.harvard.edu/houghton/departments/msdept/permission.html.

Reproductions
Reproductions for items from the Manuscript Department and the Department of Printing and Graphic Arts should be ordered through the Public Services Department; see
http://hcl.harvard.edu/houghton/photo.html.
For items belonging to the Harvard Theatre Collection (identified as part of the Repository name), order reproductions by contacting the curator of the Harvard Theatre Collection at htc@harvard.edu.

Copyright
The President and Fellows of Harvard College make no representation that they are the owner of the copyright; any researcher wishing to make use of an image must therefore assume all responsibility for clearing reproduction rights and for any infringement of Title 17 of the United States Code.