A guide to "The Boston Theatre" and "Spencer's Boston Theatre" which includes plays in pamphlet form published by William V. Spencer from 1855 to 1862. A source for the study of American theater, many of the numbers of the series include listings of from five to ten casts for performances, and some include biographical sketches of actors, playwrights, and managers. Isaac Wayne Olwine, a manager and actor, prepared texts and wrote prefaces for at least six of the eight numbers of "The Boston Theatre" published in 1855. Of the 216 numbers of "Spencer's Boston Theatre," the second series, Spencer must have edited most of the first 50 numbers himself, while numbers 65 to 210 were edited by John B. Wright, assistant manager of the Boston Theater. Included by the compiler is an index of playwrights, authors, and subjects of biographical notices. Based mainly on printed plays in the Harvard College Library, American Antiquarian Society, Brown University, University of Michigan, and Boston and New York Public Libraries; illus., 15 notes.