Augustin Daly (1838- 1899), playwright, adaptor and critic, is considered one of America's greatest theatrical managers. Daly's first original work was the wildly successful melodrama Under the Gaslight (1867). He opened his first New York theater, The Fifth Avenue, in 1869, and a few years later established Daly's Theatre on Broadway with a stock company in which John Drew and Ada Rehan were stars, and many other nineteenth century luminaries appeared from time to time. Some stars, like Clara Morris, left the fold, but others, like Ada Rehan, John Drew, Mrs. Gilbert, and James Lewis stayed with him for years.

The library's Daly's Theatre records include ten volumes of business records connected with the daily operations of the theater from 1872 through 1899, including income and expenditures, rosters of personnel, attendance books for members of the company, salary accounts, receipt books and one volume with directions for the settings for various plays.