The Frontispieces

On the first page inside any of JK Green’s playbooks was the frontispiece print. This print depicted the last scene within the play and showed how to set up the characters ready for the final act.

Most of the original plates for these survive at Pollock’s Toy Theatre Museum, with a few exceptions. The only plays that I haven’t seen a frontispiece plate or print are for “Jonathan Bradford”, “Red Rover” and “Woodman’s Hut”. The latter was not published in full by Green, in fact only the title sheet plate has survived and it is not known that any more plates were produced by Green, therefore it is highly likely that no frontispiece or playbook was ever produced by Green. So few examples of Jonathan Bradford exist, that is it highly unlikely that a complete set could be made. Therefore it is also highly unlikely that a playbook was created for this play by Green. None is know to exist. I am sure however that one exists for Red Rover, I just haven’t seen one yet.

Redington used the plates to create his famous “Juvenile Drama” or commonly known as the “Yellow Label”. The original plate for this also resides at Pollock’s Toy Theatre Museum, with ornate scroll work and a blank space for the frontispiece to be inserted using the lithographic stone. In most cases two such images were created and then cut. The label was glued to a clever Victorian device to wrap the contents of a complete play. Firstly several large sheets of paper were taken and held closely together. This was then folded, with the folds heavily creased to make an envelope to hold the sheets for a play. The examples I have seen have held together very well considering their age.

Here is a list of all the plays together with the known whereabouts of the original plate and whether or not I have seen the frontispiece in a playbook and/or on one of Redington’s Yellow Labels.

Play	Plate	Playbook	Print/Pull	Yellow Label
Jonathan Bradford
Miller & His Men	PTM(Copper)		Lithographic Print	Yes
Douglas	PTM	Yes	Lithographic Print	Yes
Robert Macaire	PTM	Yes
Red Rover
Forty Thieves		Yes
Brigand	PTM		Lithographic Print	Yes
Harlequin Guy Fawkes	PTM	Yes	Pull from Plate
State Secrets	PTM	Yes	Pull from Plate
Lord Mayor’s Fool				Yes
Wreck Ashore	PTM	Yes
Blue Beard	PTM		Pull from Plate
Wapping Old Stairs		Yes
Lord Darnley		Yes		Yes
Jack Sheppard		Yes
Play	Plate	Playbook	Print/Pull	Yellow Label
Rookwood	PTM		Pull from Plate
Children in the Wood			Pull from Plate	Yes
The Waterman	PTM		Pull from Plate
Black Eye’d Susan	PTM	Yes	Pull from Plate
Aladdin	PTM		Pull from Plate	Yes
The Maid & the Magpie	PTM		Pull from Plate
Silver Palace	PTM		Lithographic Print	Yes
Harlequin & the Giant Helmet	PTM(Copper)	Yes
Blue Jackets	PTM		Pull from Plate
Battle of Waterloo			Modern Print
Woodman’s Hut
Harlequin Riddle-me-ree	PTM	Yes	Pull from Plate
Harlequin Robin Hood	PTM	Yes	Pull from Plate
Cinderella	PTM	Yes	Lithographic Print	Yes
Therese	PTM	Yes (No Frontispiece)	Pull from Plate
The Forest of Bondy	PTM	Yes
Play	Plate	Playbook	Print/Pull	Yellow Label
The Flying Dutchman	PTM	Yes (Reprint)
Harlequin & St George	PTM	Yes	Pull from Plate
Timour the Tartar	PTM	Yes	Pull from Plate
Sleeping Beauty	PTM		Pull from Plate
Belphegor the Conjuror	PTM	Yes
Richard the Third	PTM		Modern Print
Blackbeard the Pirate	PTM	Yes
Mary the Maid of the Inn	PTM
Harlequin & Oliver Cromwell	PTM	Yes	Pull from Plate
Uncle Tom’s Cabin	PTM	Yes	Pull from Plate
Whittington & His Cat	PTM		Lithographic Print	Yes
Life of a Soldier		Yes
The Corsican Brothers	PTM		Lithographic Print	Yes
Tom Thumb	PTM	Yes	Pull from Plate
Battle of Alma	PTM	Yes	Pull from Plate
Jack the Giant Killer	PTM	Yes	Lithographic Print	Yes
Battle of Balaclava & Inkerman	PTM	Yes	Pull from Plate
Rob Roy	PTM	Yes
Dred	PTM	Yes	Pull from Plate
Sixteen String Jack	PTM	Yes	Pull from Plate
The Daughter of the Regiment	PTM			Yes
Goody Goose	PTM	Yes

All Pollock’s Toy Museum (PTM) plates are zinc unless otherwise stated.