Silent Films Research at the Library for the Performing Arts: About

The term "Silent Film" describes the period of early cinema that lasted from its very beginnings in the late 1800s to the early 1930s. Due to technological issues, these films were released without sound and so a visual language and style of presentation developed that is still the basic grammar of movies today. With silent films, viewers are an active part of the filmmaking process as they have to interpret the visual storytelling and read the gestures of the performers. (Of course, silent films were rarely actually silent, as there was nearly always sound in the form of live accompaniment in the theater itself.) This visual storytelling, with intertitles that could be translated into any language, makes silent pictures the closest thing to a universal language.
 

The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center has rich and deep collections from this period of movie history. Researchers can find copies of many silent films (on 16mm film, VHS, DVD, and Blu-Ray formats), as well as Special Collections of photographs, personal papers and corporate records, clippings, original screenplays, rare books, lobby cards, posters, souvenir programs, pressbooks, trade magazines, technical handbooks, and other advertising materials that cover and inform all aspects of Silent Film history. The majority of these materials focus on productions released in the United States, but the library does hold important films and documents related to European and Asian silent films as well. Almost all our films can be checked out, while paper-based materials held in the research divisions must be used onsite. Additionally, the NYPL holds books, articles, and documentary films by silent film historians, as well as biographies and memoirs that can be discovered in our catalogs and online databases.

We warmly welcome researchers interested in our Silent Film era collections. Our reference staff is available in person at the 3rd floor Theatre, Film and Dance Reference desk during all our open hours.