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King
COLLECTION: Lawrence S. King collection of opera and other music materials
LOCATION AS OF March 2002: Music Library Special Collections (compact discs,
opera video recordings, pictorial materials, memorabilia, some of the books and
scores); circulating collections (some books and scores); University Press
Building Library storage area (LP and tape recordings)
PROVENANCE: Personal collection of Lawrence Stanford King (1946-1994),
University of Illinois alumnus (1968; law school 1973) and corporate lawyer, New
York City. Donated by King's parents, Stanford and Evelyn King, after Lawrence
King's death.
WHEN ACQUIRED: 1995
DESCRIPTION: It was estimated that over 50,000 items were received, in 327
cartons, including non-music books forwarded to other units for selection and
processing. The Music Library's portion of the collection consists of about
15,000 LP recordings, over 4,000 compact discs, approximately 200 video
recordings, about 170 tape recordings, over 1,000 scores, over 75 photographs
(mainly opera singers, some signed and framed), opera libretti, numerous books
about music (including many biographies of singers), and various opera
memorabilia, including marble commemorative plates on opera topics as well as
busts of composers. The collection "...is one of the best opera collections
anywhere" (Herbert Glass, Friendscript, vol.20 no.4, p.5), and was
described by Music Librarian William McClellan as "...quite comprehensive in
terms of opera recordings available in the United States from the 1950s through
the
1980s...and the symphonic portion, comprised primarily of classical and romantic
works, provides a wide range of not only different works, but also different
interpretations of the same works." (Friendscript,
vol.20 no.4, p.4).
ARRANGEMENT: Compact discs, video recordings, books, and scores have been fully
cataloged and are interfiled by call number in circulating or Special
Collections; where practical, each item has had a special bookplate affixed
identifying it as having been part of the King donation. LP recordings are
arranged by manufacturer/serial number and are housed in the University Press
Building storage area apart from other LP holdings. King collection cassette and
open-reel tapes are located at the end of the King LP sequence. Most pictorial
materials are housed in a storage cabinet on the upper level of the Music
Library; a small packet of unframed pictorial items has been placed in the
Collections File folder ("King, Lawrence").
ACCESS/FINDING AIDS/BIBLIOGRAPHY: Fully-cataloged items may be accessed via the
online catalog. An online index of LP recordings is in preparation (as of March
2002). The Collections File folder contains inventories of tapes and visual
materials, as well as copies of cataloging entries and/or statistical summaries
for items which have received full cataloging. The Collections File folder also
includes
correspondence of Stanford and Evelyn King with Library or Music School
personnel; clippings and photographs from the King family; information as to
processing and the establishment of the Lawrence Stanford King Graduate
Assistantship; as well as publicity and other miscellaneous memos. "Music
Library receives major opera collection and new endowment", in Friendscript
(newsletter, University of Illinois Library Friends at Urbana-Champaign), vol.20
no.4, Winter 1998-1999, pp.4-5.
INDEX TERMS: King, Lawrence; Opera; Opera singers; Photographs
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