Louis K. Anspacher

              A Torch In the Minds of His Audience

Figure

James B. Pond
PRESENTS
The DISTINGUISHED DRAMATIST PHILOSOPHER ORATOR
Louis K. ANSPACHER


Louis K. Anspacher

Anspacher is a poet with the courage of his convictions.—
NEW YORK POST.


Anspacher almost stopped the show at the Civic Music Convention in Chicago.—
CHICAGO MUSICAL LEADER.


Anspacher brings distinction to any season through his brilliant lectures in a wide range of topics.—
RICHMOND NEWS LEADER.

LOUIS K. ANSPACHER is without question one of the finest orators and best equipped publicists in America today.  Even the well-remembered orators of the past century could not have had greater success or inspired more vividly vast audiences than this distinguished philosophical dramatist who is now obliged to devote a large part of his time to the demands of his ever-widening lecture public.  No organization interested in having the best the lecture platform offers can afford to be without him.

In this day of overspecialization, Mr. Anspacher's accomplishment, in poetry, philosphy, literature and drama equip him to be what he has many times been called—a liaison officer who unites, vitalizes and humanizes culture.  His range of subjects is astounding, for he believes that philosphy and art have the same subject matter, i. e., man in relation to his destiny.  Mr. Anspacher has said that if a man thinks first and feels afterward he is likely to be a philosopher—but if he feels first and thinks afterward he is likely to be an artist.  The man who can write plays that hold audiences breathless can compose lectures of the same quality.  He is more than a writer of successful plays.  He is a scholar, a man of many parts, and a student of more than his own profession.  His varied accomplishments make him available for every kind of program.  A glance at the titles of his lectures indicates the range of his subjects.

Born in America, educated in our American public schools.  Mr. Anspacher, after winning his A.B. degree at the College of the City of New York, specialized in Philosophy and Ethics at Columbia University Graduate School, where he received his Master's Degree on his thesis upon the Kantian Philosophy.  Subsequently, he studied law at the Columbia University Law School, and then returned to the Graduate School to continue for several years his studies in philosophy, ethics and political science.

For years he was secular lecturer at Temple Emanuel, New York City.  Then he was appointed to the permanent lecture staff of the League for Political Education, New York, and likewise to the staff of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, in both of which organizations he is considered an ace and has spoken for years to their record audiences.  The series of Anspacher lectures on Sunday evenings every January at the Savoy Plaza has been for many years a social and literary event, and the Anspacher lectures in Washington during Lent have been on the calendar of the intellectually elite year after year.  For many successive seasons Mr. Anspacher has delivered a series of lectures at Columbia University Extension and at many other universities; and he has addressed most of the great lecture institutions of the country.

Mrs. Naomi Royde-Smith, an English writer visiting America last season, heard Mr. Anspacher at the Town Hall, New York, and in her recent book Pictures and People she writes: Never since I heard Henri Bergson give his presidential address to the London Society for Psychical Research before the War have I heard a more beautiful delivery.  It had all the softness and flow of English speech, with just that sharpness of American enunciation that made it crisp and vibrant.  The manner was perfect.  The matter was good solid stuff without any literary nonsense.

Mr. Anspacher's record of dramatic successes is one of the most brilliant chapters in American theatrical history.  For some years himself an actor, now the husband of the distinguished actress Kathryn Kidder, he knows the theatre from behind the scenes as well as from the viewpoint of the dramatist's study.  He is the author of such notable plays as Rhapsody, produced this season by George M. Cohan; Dagmar; The New House; All the King's Horses; The Dancer; The Rape of Belgium; Madame Cecile; That Day; The Unchastened Woman; Our Children; The Washerwoman Duchess; The Embarrassment of Riches; Tristan and Isolde and other outstanding successes.  Drama lovers are always interested in Mr. Anspacher as one of the founders of the Drama League.

Critics have said of Louis K. Anspacher that he speaks on philosophy with the tongue of a poet, and that he speaks on art with the tongue of a philosopher.  Be his subject what it may, he is ever interesting, entertaining and original.  He upholds the great tradition of the American platform.




Notable Single Lectures

DRAMA AS A SOCIAL FORCE IN A DEMOCRACY
This lecture is perhaps the most successful of Mr. Anspacher's many addresses.  It is full of entertaining anecdote, and yet has a definite message for those who see in drama only amusement.  Mr. Anspacher shows that drama is pre-eminently a social art, that great drama is that which appeals to masses rather than to the individual, and in which the audience collaborates.  Great drama must produce a mass reaction, and therefore, consciously or unconsciously, is the most potent social force in a democracy.



THE MOB AND THE MOVIES
In this highly popular address Mr. Anspacher indicates how the movies are as expressive of the American attitude of mind as is the short story packed brimming full of action.  Mr. Anspacher discusses the influence of the motion pictures upon our population in most of its important aspects, that is: As an art; an amusement; its power for good or ill; the altered architecture of the theatre; the influence of continuous music upon the fictional story; the struggle of the movies to express ideas; the international aspect of the movies.



THE SPIRIT OF MODERN DRAMA
This new lecture has already won great popularity.  Everyone is likely to suffer from the illusion that we are fallen upon degenerate days, and that the glorious past was crowded with a splendor that seems to have departed.  In nothing so much as in our memory of the theatre are we so prejudiced in favor of the past.  In this address Mr. Anspacher discusses many of the significant plays of today, and points out how in every respect the modern theatre is fulfilling the Shakespearean maxim of holding up the mirror to modern life.



DEMOCRACY & IRRESPONSIBILLITY
This address, which has been pronounced as one of the most carefully considered and constructive utterances by any American public speaker of the day, shows Mr. Anspacher as the philosopher rather than as the dramatist.  It is a serious examination of our ways of government; it shows how we are drifting into a state of government by mere numbers, instead of adhering to the original conception, which was a republic.  He shows how the present idea of a Democracy encourages demagogues and politicians; whereas on the contrary a Republic develops responsible statesmen.  It is a masterly address.




OTHER LECTURES IN MR. ANSPACHER'S REPERTOIRE

SINGLE LECTURES

PSYCHOLOGY AND MODERN DRAMA
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF IBSEN
WHAT MUSIC MEANS
RELIGION AND PSYCHICS
THE PLACE OF DRAMA AMONG THE ARTS
WOMAN; DIVINITY, CHATTEL OR MATE?
ART AND INTERNATIONALISM
WHAT IS WRONG WITH THE THEATRE?
SHAKESPEARE AS A POET—THE ENIGMA OF THE SONNETS
THE MODERN CULTURAL IDEAL
THE TREND OF MODERN AMERICAN DRAMA
THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION IN THE LIGHT OF RUSSIAN LITERATURE



LECTURE COURSES
OUR ACCELERATED WORLD (New)


MAN AND HIMSELF;
THE MORAL RHYTHM;
THE JAZZ AGE;
WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

WOMAN AS THE PHILOSOPHERS HAVE SEEN HER (New)


THE PAGAN WOMAN;
THE WOMAN OF THE BIBLE;
THE WOMAN OF THE RENAISSANCE;
THE MODERN WOMAN.

THE WONDERLAND OF MODERN PSYCHICS (New)


IN LITERATURE AND ART (An Analysis of Creative Genius); 
THE PRESENT VERDICT OF SCIENCE (An Analysis of Scientific Genius); 
WHAT THE GREAT PHILOSOPHERS HAVE SAID (An Analysis of Philosophic Genius); 
RELIGION AND PSYCHICS (An Analysis of Religious Genius).

FACING THE FUTURE (New)


NIETZSCHE AND THE PAGAN IDEAL;
TOLSTOI AND THE CHRISTIAN IDEAL;
IBSEN AND THE INDIVIDUALISTIC IDEAL;
GOETHE AND THE CULTURAL IDEAL.

GOETHE AS A LEADER OF MODERN THOUGHT (New)


GOETHE IN RELATION TO ART;
GOETHE IN RELATION TO SCIENCE;
GOETHE IN RELATION TO PHILOSOPHY;
GOETHE IN RELATION TO CULTURE.

THE MODERN DRAMA


DUMAS FILS, THE FEMINIST;
ROSTAND, THE DRAMATIST OF FAILURE;
SUDERMANN, THE DRAMATIST OF STRENGTH;
HAUPTMANN, THE DRAMATIST OF PITY;
PINERO, THE DRAMATIST OF ANALYSIS;
SHAW, THE DRAMATIST OF CRITICISM;
MAETERLINCK, THE DRAMATIST OF MOOD.

RUSSIAN LITERATURE


GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF RUSSIAN LITERATURE;
PUSHKIN AND GOGOL, THE PIONEERS;
DOSTOIEVSKI, THE APOSTLE;
TURGENIEV, THE ARTIST;
TOLSTOI, THE SEER;
GORKI, THE VAGABOND;
THE RUSSIAN ACHIEVEMENT.

THE PHILOSOPHY OF FREDERICK NIETZSCHE


NIETZSCHE AS A PHILOSOPHER;
NIETZSCHE AS A MORALIST;
NIETZSCHE AS AN INDIVIDUALIST;
NIETZSCHE AS A PROPHET.

GREAT DRAMAS OF REVOLT


PROMETHEUS BOUND, the Titan in Greece;
THE BOOK OF JOB, the Titan in Israel;
CALDERON'S MAGICO PRODIGIOSO, the Catholic Protest;
HAMLET, the Human Cry and the Resolute Sphinx;
FAUST, the Test of Evil;
SHELLEY'S PROMETHEUS UNBOUND, the Hope of Humanity.

EPOCH MAKING VIEWS OF LIFE


THE GREAT AFFIRMATION, Plato and the Greek View of Life;
The Great Denial, the Mediaeval View of Life;
THE REDISCOVERY OF TRUTH IN BEAUTY, the Renaissance View of Life;
THE WORLD AS A TEMPLE OR A PROCESS, the Modern View of Life.

Many of the above can be given singly.





Some of
LOUIS K. ANSPACHER'S
lecture appearances

League for Political Education, New York
Civic Forum, New York
Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences
Goodwyn Institute, Memphis, Tenn.
Tremont Temple, Boston
Harvard University
Columbia University
University of Wisconsin
Purdue University
Michigan Agricultural College
Lyceum Association, New Orleans
Sinai Social Center, Chicago
Philadelphia Art Alliance
Society of Fine Arts, Omaha
Connecticut College for Women
Century Theatre Club, New York
Ethical Culture Society, Philadelphia
Theosophical Society, New York
Outlook Club, Montclair, N. J.
The Athenaeum, Summit, N. J.
Drama League, Chicago
Drama League, Atlanta
Drama League, Birmingham
Drama League, Cincinnati
Women's City Club, Boston
Rhode Island Woman's Club
Rockford Woman's Club
Centennial Club, Nashville
Arche Club, Chicago
Chicago Woman's Club
Chicago Woman's Aid
Friday Club, Chicago
Book and Play Club, Chicago
Women's University Club, Grand Rapids
Ebell Club, Los Angeles
Friday Morning Club, Los Angeles
Shakespeare Club, Pasadena
20th Century Club, Buffalo
Teachers Club, Colorado Springs
University Extension Society, Newport
Toledo Club, Toledo, Ohio
Worcester Club, Worcester, Mass.
British Empire Club, Providence
University Extension Soc., Kansas City
University Extension Soc., Davenport
University of Delaware, Newark, Del.
Carnegie Library, San Antonio, Texas
College Endowment Fund, Milwaukee
Ogontz School, Ogontz, Pa.
20th Century Club, Detroit, Mich.
Contemporary Club, Bridgeport, Conn.
Century Club, Springfield, Mass.
Monday Afternoon Club, Binghamton.
Middlesex Woman's Club, Lowell, Mass.
Woman's Club, Stamford, Conn.
The Neighbors, Kenilworth, Ill.
Society of Arts, Palm Beach, Fla.
Drama Club, Evanston, Ill.
Jefferson Club, Richmond, Va.
Second Congregational Church, Waterbury, Conn.
Century Club, Amsterdam, N. Y.
Association of University Women, Los Angeles
Council of Jewish Women, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Richmond, Baltimore, St. Louis, Milwaukee, etc.
Old South Forum, Boston
Friday Evening Forum, Jersey City
Wise Center, Cincinnati
Milwaukee Open Forum
Progress Society, Rockaway, N. Y.
Rand Course, Burlington, Iowa
Kemper Hall, Kenosha, Wisconsin
Allied English Clubs, Peoria, Ill.
Women's Clubs in many cities



LETTERS OF APPRECIATION
THE LEAGUE FOR POLITICAL EDUCATION, New York.

In brilliancy of diction, originality of thought and dramatic power of utterance, Mr. Anspacher is a remarkable lecturer.  Since he first began to lecture under the auspices of The League for Political Education his audiences have steadily and rapidly increased.  His popularity is as great as it is well deserved.  I have followed Mr. Anspacher's work with close attention for many years, and I have never known him to fail to make an unusually vivid impression wherever he has spoken.—Robert Erskine Ely, Director.

GOODWYN INSTITUTE, Memphis, Tenn.

We are greatly pleased with Dr. Anspacher's address on the Drama at Goodwyn Institute.  They were especially scholarly addresses, and delivered with an enthusiasm and manner which held and pleased as well as greatly instructed his audiences.  His attractive personality won the favor of all who came in contact with him.  We were so much pleased with his addresses that we immediately informed him that we would like for him to come to Goodwyn Institute again next year.—C. C. Ogilvie, Supt.

SOCIETY FOR ETHICAL CULTURE, Philadelphia, Pa.

Mr. Anspacher's address yesterday was not only a most brilliant one, but was well suited for the platform of an Ethical Society.—S. Burns Weston.


THE PHILADELPHIA FORUM.
I was delighted with Anspacher.  He reminds me more than anyone else I know of Powys at his best, and Powys at his best is very good, indeed.  Anspacher said many good things, and he said them extremely well.  He is all that you say of him.—William K. Huff, Executive Director.

STATE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA

Few lecturers at the State University of Iowa have left such a fine impression as that made by Dr. Anspacher.  He is a man with original ideas expressed in the most effective language and made vivid by his delightful illustrations from familiar plays.  Dr. Anspacher's charming personality and his impressive presentation of subject matter were received with so much enthusiasm that we shall want to have him at the University again.—Benjamin F. Shambaugh, Chairman Senate Board of University Lectures.

ROTARY CLUB, Union City, N. J.

Each year we have about half a dozen 'repeats' of speakers for Union City Rotary.  Dr. Anspacher is the first to be put down for next year. . . . His wealth of experience in playwriting, his knowledge of the American theatre from so many angles, his finely educated brains, his charming oratory—all these qualities combined to give us a rare treat.—Hadden Ives, Director.

THE LYCEUM ASSOCIATION, New Orleans, La.

You asked how we liked Mr. Anspacher.  He made quite a hit here, both in the subject of his address and in his delivery of it.  The audience felt that it had gotten more than the value of its money in this address.—A. B. Dinwiddie, President.

BRITISH EMPIRE CLUB, Providence, R. I.

We were indeed more than delighted in having Mr. Anspacher as our guest for Lincoln's Birthday.  Everyone who had the opportunity of listening to him felt fully repaid for attending the meeting.  He simply took them off their feet, the manner in which he expressed himself on the subject of Drama as a Social Force in a Democracy.  I am satisfied in my own mind that Mr. Anspacher will receive invitations from other organizations in Providence.—Spencer H. Over.


FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, Buffalo, New York.
May I, on behalf of First Church, express to you our appreciation of the service you rendered us last Sunday afternoon.  I am certain you must have observed the keen interest manifested on the part of your auditors, and many enthusiastic expressions commending your address have come into the Church since Sunday.  What you said is sure to stimulate much thought.—Helen D. Chase.


OLD SOUTH MEETING HOUSE FORUM, Boston, Mass.
I want to thank you very sincerely for that splendid address you gave us on Sunday at the Old South Meeting House.  You synthesized the drama from the days of Aeschylus to our own time as only a scholar could do, and you interpreted the larger reaches of the drama as only a poet and a man of vision could.  Certainly those of us who heard you felt amply rewarded for coming, and a number of people have told me since that it was one of the most stimulating addresses they have ever heard.—Mary Crawford, Manager.


FRIDAY EVENING FORUM, Jersey City, N. J.
The address of Mr. Louis K. Anspacher was one of the finest ever heard in our Forum.  Not only for the quality of thought—and it was quality—but for the diction which was as lucid and pure as I have ever listened to.  I can not speak too highly of his address.—Rev.  Harry L. Everett.

BOSTON YOUNG MEN'S HEBREW ASSOCIATION.

You will undoubtedly be interested to learn that Mr. Anspacher was a tremendous hit at our meeting last night.  It was the consensus of opinion that he was one of the most interesting and inspiring speakers that we have ever had.  He has a most pleasing personality.  His talk was full of substance, and his manner of delivery in every way was a real treat.—Samuel B. Finkel.

WINTHROP COLLEGE, ROCK HILL, S. C.

We have never had a more charming speaker with us than Dr. Louis K. Anspacher.  Our people were delighted with him.  He made a warm place for himself in the hearts of all of us.  I hope very much that we can have him back again.  We thank you for sending to us such a brilliant speaker as Dr. Anspacher.—Sara R. Harcum, secretary to Pres. Johnson.

MIDDLESEX WOMEN'S CLUB, LOWELL, MASS.

Mr. Anspacher made such a favorable impression at our club last year that we would like to have him come again.—Helen W. Barnes, Chairman.

For Terms and Dates Address JAMES B. POND, 25 West 43d Street, New York