Best 1880s
Johann Strauss II’s *Der Zigeunerbaron* is a Hungarian operetta composed in 1885. Based on Mór Jókai's novel *Saffi*, it features a darker narrative compared to many of Strauss’ earlier works and achieved significant popularity. The opera tells the story of a Romani baron and his love for a young wo...
Carl Millöcker’s *Der Bettelstudent* premiered in Vienna in 1882. This operetta, a popular Viennese example of the genre, tells a student romance set in the 1880s. Its immediate success allowed Millöcker to cease his career as a conductor. The work remains notable for its contribution to operetta hi...
Johann Strauss II composed Eine Nacht in Venedig, an operetta from 1883. It’s notable as his only work staged outside Vienna and remains a popular Viennese operetta showcasing comedic elements. The piece is particularly relevant for audiences interested in late 19th-century music, specifically Strau...
Carl Millöcker’s *Gasparone* premiered in Vienna in 1884. This Viennese operetta explores themes of love and revenge within a Sicilian setting. The story centers on a bandit named Gasparone, though the character never physically appears during performances. It is notable for its intricate musical sc...
Paul Lafargue’s “The Right to Be Lazy,” published in France during the 1880s, presents a radical socialist critique of industrial society. The pamphlet argues that relentless work is detrimental to human well-being and advocates for a fundamental right to leisure. It was intended for workers, partic...
Mam’zelle Nitouche is a French operetta composed by Hervé in 1883. The work draws on his experiences as an organist and theatre composer, depicting a comedic tale set within a convent during the 1880s. It's notable for its blend of operatic elements with vaudeville traditions. The piece is primarily...
The Cambridge Footlights Revue is an annual student comedy production at the University of Cambridge, noted for launching many prominent British performers.
"Law and Authority" is an 1886 essay written by Russian anarchist philosopher Peter Kropotkin. The work critiques the concept of state-enforced law, arguing that legal systems are created by the ruling classes to maintain social control and economic privilege rather than to uphold natural justice. K...
Socialism: Utopian and Scientific is an 1880 pamphlet by Friedrich Engels, adapted from three chapters of his larger work Anti-Dühring. The pamphlet provides one of the most widely read outlines of Marxist theory, tracing the development of socialism from its utopian philosophical origins in thinker...
The Wage System is a political essay by Russian anarchist Peter Kropotkin that criticizes wage labor and proposed systems of remuneration under socialism. Kropotkin argues that individual contributions cannot be separated from society's accumulated knowledge and collective production. He therefore r...
"Rip Van Winkle" is a romantic operetta in three acts composed by Robert Planquette, adapted from the short stories of American author Washington Irving. It was commissioned for the Comedy Theatre in London and premiered in 1882, where it achieved a highly successful initial run of 328 performances....
"Prisons and Their Moral Influence on Prisoners" is an essay by Russian anarchist Peter Kropotkin, first published in 1877, in which he argues that incarceration degrades rather than rehabilitates inmates. Drawing on observations of Russian and Western European penal systems, Kropotkin contended tha...
'Dorothy' is an English comic opera with music by Alfred Cellier and libretto by B. C. Stephenson. Premiering in 1886, it achieved remarkable success with a run of 931 performances, making it one of the longest-running musical theatre productions of its era. The opera is particularly remembered for...
"Roundhay Garden Scene" is an 1888 short silent actuality film recorded by French inventor Louis Le Prince. Shot in the garden of the Whitley family home in Roundhay, Leeds, England, the footage features Adolphe Le Prince, Sarah Whitley, Joseph Whitley, and Harriet Hartley walking in a circle. Lasti...
Der lustige Krieg, translated as The Merry War, is a three-act operetta by Johann Strauss II with a German libretto by F. Zell and Richard Genee. It premiered at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna in 1881 and received 69 performances during its initial run. The work uses a comic military setting, rom...
Useful Work Versus Useless Toil is an 1885 socialist pamphlet by the English designer, writer, and activist William Morris. Morris distinguishes socially necessary and fulfilling labor from work imposed by inequality, profit, and the production of unnecessary goods. He argues that a reorganized soci...
Das Spitzentuch der Königin is Johann Strauss II's 1880 operetta about Cervantes, source of the famous Rosen aus dem Süden waltz.
Le jour et la nuit is Charles Lecocq's 1881 opéra-bouffe, a Paris Théâtre des Nouveautés success that ran for 193 performances.
Published by William Morris in 1887, this influential socialist pamphlet contrasts the misery of capitalist life with an idealized, equitable, and artistic socialist society.
Penned by Russian anarchist Peter Kropotkin in 1880, this pamphlet urges the educated youth to join the social revolutionary movement and abandon their bourgeois careers.
Simplicius is Johann Strauss II's 1887 operetta after Grimmelshausen, remembered partly through the Donauweibchen waltz drawn from it.
Rose Hill English Folly Company was an 1880s American burlesque troupe managed by George W. Rice and Charles Barton as the genre formalized.
George Franklin Cram's Chicago-based atlas, published from the 1880s onward, was a widely distributed American general reference work issued in multiple editions into the 20th century.
Don Cesar is Rudolf Dellinger's 1885 German comic operetta, premiered in Hamburg and regarded as a major 19th-century German operetta success.
