Books and Manuscripts

Boston and New York, ca. 1862-69. Group of three 19th-century playbills for performances by American actor Edwin Booth of the theatrical Booth family, and brother of presidential assassin John Wilkes Booth. Including: The Boston Theatre, Saturday, December 20, 1862, featuring Booth as Sir Edward Mortimer in Iron Chest, and as Don Caesar de Bazan in a production of the same name; The Boston Theatre, Monday, November 24, (no year), featuring Booth as Prince Hamlet in the Shakespearean classic; Booth's Theatre, Wednesday, February 3, 1869, featuring Booth as Romeo in Romeo and Juliet, in the inaugural performance at the newly opened theater. Size varies. Creasing from old folds. In mat and in frame, 32 x 22 in. (813 x 559 mm).

Edwin Booth (1833-1893) was one of twelve children born to English stage actor Junius Brutus Booth, Sr. (1796-1852), who moved his family to Bel Air, Maryland in 1821. Junius quickly developed a reputation as one of the best actors in America, and much of Edwin's childhood was spent in and around theaters, along with his brothers John Wilkes (1838-1865) and Junius, Jr. (1821-1883) who both became successful actors in their own right. Edwin's early performances were done mostly alongside his father, but after Junius, Sr.'s death in 1852 he went on a worldwide tour across the United States, Europe, and Australia. He is most often praised for his Shakespearean characters, primarily Hamlet, a role he portrayed in 101 different productions from 1863-67, a record that would go unbroken until 1922. Edwin opened Booth's Theatre in Manhattan in 1869, an elaborate and technologically modern theater modeled after the great auditoriums of Europe. He attempted for five years to make the venture profitable, but to no avail, and went bankrupt in the nationwide financial panic of 1873. He was forced to sell the building a year later, officially ending his theatrical career.

When his brother John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Lincoln in April of 1865, Edwin was forced to abandon the stage for a number of months due to the infamy of his last name. Edwin and John had reportedly never gotten along and were contentious rivals in their acting careers, each seeking to live up to the fame of their father.

Together with:

[Lind, Jenny]
Partially-Printed Ticket
No place, Friday June 20, 1851. Cardstock ticket (no. #576) for a performance of Swedish opera singer Jenny Lind during her tour of America, with her facsimile signature. 2 x 3 1/4 in. (51 x 82 mm).

Jenny Lind (1820-1887), also known as the "The Swedish Nightingale", performed at the Tremont Temple Baptist Church in Boston on June 20, 1851. Lind was one of the most highly regarded soprano singers in Europe at the time, and undertook an extraordinarily popular tour of America from 1850-52 at the urging of famous showman P.T. Barnum.