An exhibition drawn from one of the largest collections of George Bernard Shaw materials opens April 17 in the Exhibition Gallery of Cornell University's Carl A. Kroch Library.

"The Instinct of an Artist: Shaw and the Theatre," on display through June 13, includes theater programs, production photographs, letters to actors and even the original manuscript draft of the play Getting Married, all from the Shaw collection of Bernard F. Burgunder, Cornell class of 1918. The exhibit is presented by Cornell Library's Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections and curated by Ann Ferguson, the Bernard F. Burgunder Curator for George Bernard Shaw and Theatre Arts Collections.

"Shaw had an enormous impact on the development of theater and drama in the 20th century," Ferguson said. "Not only did he write plays which shattered conventional views about drama, he also directed productions of many of his plays with remarkable success. Shaw had an extraordinary instinct and passion for the theater."

In conjunction with the exhibit's opening, Shaw scholar Dan Laurence, editor of Shaw's Collected Letters and other works about the playwright, will give a public lecture, "Bernard Shaw and Bernard Burgunder: Double Genius," on Thursday, April 17, at 4 p.m. in the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections Lecture Room, level 2B of Kroch Library. Laurence had a close and longtime association with Burgunder, who died in 1986, and closely advised him on his collecting. Laurence's talk will be followed by a reception in the same location.

"Dan Laurence is one of the pre-eminent Shaw scholars in the world," said Ellen Gainor, associate professor in the Department of Theatre, Film and Dance and author of the 1991 book Shaw's Daughters: Dramatic and Narrative Constructions of Gender and many scholarly articles about Shaw. "He is without question the foremost Shaw editor," she said, noting that Laurence is an adviser to the Shaw estate.

Also, during Cornell's Reunion Weekend, Ferguson will give a lecture titled "Yours in Hot Haste: G.B. Shaw on Acting, Directing and Just about Everything Else" on Thursday, June 5, at 4:30 p.m. in Hollis E. Cornell Auditorium in Goldwin Smith Hall.

Burgunder, a businessman, began collecting Shaw memorabilia shortly after graduating from Cornell. He donated his collection to the university on July 26, 1956, the 100th anniversary of Shaw's birth, and remained a generous university contributor.

The Burgunder Collection holds more than 9,500 items, including nearly 3,000 books and all 33 British editions of Saint Joan printed between 1924 and 1950. While it covers all aspects of the artist's life, the collection is especially rich in material pertaining to Shaw's work in the theater. The exhibit will include such treasures as Shaw's rehearsal notes for Heartbreak House and his costume designs for the 1894 production of Arms and the Man.

Shaw lived an extraordinarily productive life, writing more than 50 plays, five novels, countless reviews and essays and over a quarter-million letters and postcards. While he is best known as a playwright, he took a comprehensive approach to theatrical production -- from script to casting to costume and set design.

Often controversial, Shaw's provocative plays used satire and humor to address serious social issues, such as prostitution and war profiteering. As an active Socialist, orator, critic and even vegetarian, Shaw himself was often in the spotlight.

For more information about the Shaw exhibition, contact Ann Ferguson in the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections at (607) 255-3530.