Scope and Content Note
The Cole Porter Collection at the Library of Congress provides the researcher with an invaluable look at Porter's creative process and represents a large percentage of his output, particularly of his later works. Eighteen shows are included in the collection representing twenty-one productions, including film versions of stage works. Over 280 song titles are represented, some as incomplete lyric sketches only.
The Cole Porter Collection is organized chronologically based on the opening date of each show preceded by a few miscellaneous early works. In the three instances where a Broadway musical was subsequently filmed, the materials for the film have been included with the stage materials. Within each show the music and lyric materials have been organized alphabetically by song title. Other materials–scripts, research, programs, clippings, and miscellaneous items–follow in roughly the order of their closeness to the creative process of the production.
Comparatively little music is in Porter's own hand; most of the composer’s holographs are found in the materials for See America First and the Miscellaneous Music, which contains some of Porter's musical exercises and student work (probably created while he was studying at the Schola Cantorum in Paris). In later years, Porter was known to "dictate" his music, playing it out on the piano, with an amanuensis producing the actual music notation. Most of the music manuscripts are either in the hands of copyists or the hand of Porter's amanuenses. These manuscripts and those of Dr. Sirmay, a composer and musician in his own right, are considered to be the closest thing to original manuscripts for these songs as exists.
The real treasures in this collection can be found in Porter's lyric sketches for his last four Broadway musicals–Kiss Me Kate, Out of this World, Can-Can and Silk Stockings. In instances where lyric sketches were already clipped together, a letter followed by a page number in brackets has been written in pencil on the corner of each page (for instance: [A-1]). It is unclear whether there is any significance to the order or organization of these lyric sheets. Most of the typed lyric sheets are dated, providing a clear evolution of those songs as the various drafts developed. Some drafts contain changes and corrections in Porter's hand in addition to alternate lyrics for recording, broadcast, touring and London productions of the shows.
The Alphabetical Index of Song Titles lists all song titles included in the collection, the show in which they can be found, and with occasional notes regarding how complete the materials for that song are.
The Alphabetical Index of Correspondents lists the name of the correspondent, with which show materials his letter(s) may be found, and the box and folder number that includes the correspondence. With some notable exceptions, such as the letters from George S. Kaufman and Abe Burrows, the majority of the correspondence in the collection is of mostly minor significance–often requests for tickets to shows. Some of the correspondence listed represents letters from Porter to the correspondent.
Two books proved invaluable in the preparation of this finding aid: Robert Kimball's The Complete Lyrics of Cole Porter [CLCP] and Tommy Krasker and Robert Kimball's Catalog of the American Musical. A few items were found that are not mentioned in either of those books; they have been noted in this finding aid as being "previously unknown."