The Rev. Charles Haddon Spurgeon at Home. Study Portrait.

An 1882 book review of The Metropolitan Tabernacle and its Institutions (London: Passmore and Alabaster) and Glimpses of Home at Westwood (London: Passmore and Alabaster) published in the journal The Sword and the Trowel, written and edited by evangelist Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892), reads:

“These are two beautiful volumes of photographs, which will be specially interesting adornments for the drawing rooms of our friends. The views of Westwood are singularly charming and artistic. Mr. Tom Brine [interior designer] excels in this department. We do not suppose that a large edition of these works of art will be issued, and, indeed, we have no particular desire to see them sold except to our very special friends. To these we commend them very heartily.”

The Graphic Arts Collection is fortunate to have become one of Spurgeon’s special friends, acquiring a very rare copy of his Metropolitan Tabernacle and its Institutions. The volume offers twenty-four striking Woodburytypes, credited to the Woodbury Permanent Photographic Printing Company, and an introduction by Vernon J. Charlesworth (1839-1915), one of the Ministering Elders of the Tabernacle.

This is certainly the most luxurious book published by Joseph Passmore (1823-1895) and his partner James Alabaster (1826-1892), who printed all of Spurgeon’s sermons from 1855 forward, as well as his memoirs, journals, and numerous other publications.

Considered the largest church in London at that time, the Tabernacle opened on March 18, 1861. Designed by William Wilmer Pocock (1813-1899), the main auditorium seated 5,000 people, with standing room for another 1000. In addition, there was a Pastor’s College; the Tabernacle Almshouses and School; and the Stockwell Orphanage. Spurgeon served as the charismatic pastor of the congregation until his death in 1892.

For a brief biography of Spurgeon, see: http://www.victorianweb.org/religion/sermons/chsbio.html

The Stockwell Orphanage. The Dining Hall – Interior.

The Pastor’s College. The Library.

Below, some of the children of the Stockwell Orphanage.The Metropolitan Tabernacle and its institutions, with an introduction by Vernon J. Charlesworth (London: Passmore and Alabaster, [1882]). 24 woodburytypes. Inscribed “Jas. Harvey Esq. with the grateful love of Ch. Spurgeon, Feb. 82. Graphic Arts Collection GAX 2016- in process.

The Graphic Arts Collection recently acquired this photograph of Paul Robeson (1898-1976) taken by Carl Van Vechten (1880-1964) on June 1, 1944. Robeson is posing in his costume for a production of Othello. The print will be on view this fall at the Princeton University Art Museum in our exhibition “Remember Me” in honor of Shakespeare’s anniversary.

In August 1942, the Daily Princetonian announced that “Paul Robeson Will Appear in Othello at 8:40 in [McCarter Theater]. Margaret Webster Stages Coming Play, Seventh Production of Princeton Playgoers. Lead Player was born here. Production Had Premiere Last Monday in Cambridge, Mass.— Unlikely To Move into New York.”

“Paul Robeson returns to Princeton, where he grew up, this evening as star and titled player of Margaret Webster’s new production of Shakespeare’s Othello, which opens at 8:40 in McCarter Theatre as the seventh and next to last production of Richard Skinner’s Princeton Playgoers for this season. This week’s presentation in McCarter marks the only performance by Mr. Robeson of Othello in this area. … Margaret Webster … will play the part of Emelia. Jose Ferrer ’33 … has been cast as Iago. His wife, Uta Hagen … will be Mr. Robeson’s Desdemona. Miss Webster’s company includes Philip Huston, William Widdecombe, William Woodson, George Keane, Ernest Graves, Alfred Etcheverry, Russell Collins, John Ireys and Robert Harrison.”

“Mr. Robeson … was born and grew up in Princeton. He attended elementary school and high school here, before graduating from Rutgers University with a Phi Betta Kappa key. … Alexander Woollcott, as dramatic critic of the old New York World, said of Robeson that ‘of all the countless people I have known in my wanderings about the world, Robeson is one of the few who, I would say, had true greatness.’”

The Mudd Library holds the records of the Princeton Playgoers, 1941-1942 [Mudd AC315], including Othello. Their record notes “Princeton Playgoers, Inc. was a theater production company formed in 1942, during the wartime period when the engagements of Triangle Club were limited. The records consist of financial records, correspondence, records of ticket sales, advertisements, contracts, and other materials documenting the planning and production of plays at McCarter Theatre in the summer of 1942.”