AUTOGRAPH ALBUM. Unpaginated. Small 4to. N.p., 1870-1892. An autograph album containing signatures, many pasted in, by mostly theatrical personalities, including the great Shakespearean actor and brother of Lincoln’s assassin EDWIN BOOTH (1833-1893; “Edwin Booth, March 8, 1878”), Henry E. Dixey, Herbert A. Cripps, Joseph Wheelock, Rose Coghlan, Fanny Rice, Beatrice Cameron, THOMAS W. KEENE (1840-1898; “For I can smile & murder while I smile, Richard III, Your truly, T. W. Keene”), an ALS by American actress KATHRYN KIDDER (1868-1939; “Kathryn Kidder”), and on a single page English actor RICHARD MANSFIELD (1857-1907; “Richard Mansfield, 1892”), political cartoonist THOMAS NAST (1840-1902; “Th. Nast, 1893”) with a small sketch of a bespectacled old man in profile, initialed by Nast, and a fine signature of American scientist and inventor of sound recording, electrical illumination, motion picture cameras and other epoch-making devices THOMAS EDISON (1847-1931). Other signers include Agnes Booth, wife of J. W. Booth’s brother Junius Booth, and an excellent inscription by American actress CHARLOTTE CUSHMAN (1816-1876; “Charlotte Cushman”). Cushman quotes Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew and then adds, “‘The Drama...’ and frame your mind to mirth and merriment, which bars a thousand harms and lengthens life,” adding her own sentiment, “God conceived the world – that was poetry; He formed it, that was sculpture; He colored it, that was Painting, He peopled it with living beings, that was the Grand, Divine, Eternal Drama,” adding beneath her signature, “Ford’s Grand Opera House – 1871 – Oct. As you like it. Lester Wallace and Stock Co.” Baltimore’s Ford’s Grand Opera House was owned by John T. Ford who also operated the Washington, DC theatre where Lincoln was assassinated. The theatre opened in October, 1871, and it is likely that Cushman was in attendance, or even performed there as she was well known for her role as Rosalind in Shakespeare’s play. The first page of the book is inscribed by actress Vennie in 1876 and included is a cabinet card of the album’s owner, the minor actress Tracy White.
Edison, who held 1,093 patents at the time of his death, is credited with ushering in the age of electricity. Backed by financiers J.P. Morgan and the Vanderbilts, he developed operable electric lighting as well as alkaline batteries to power another of his inventions, the phonograph, which Edison created while attempting to record telegraphed messages. He also worked on linking his phonograph device to moving pictures and invented a camera and viewing machine (Kinetoscope) that made silent movies commercially viable.
Possessed of a vocal range which allowed her to play both male and female characters, Cushman earned notice for her portrayal of Lady Macbeth and for portraying Romeo in a production of Romeo and Juliet with her young sister. Cushman became notorious for her romantic involvement with a number of female artists and writers including, beginning in 1848, English writer and journalist Matilda Mary Hays. The couple dressed alike and lived in Rome together with other expatriate lesbians.
Nast was a prolific and influential political cartoonist whose newspaper and magazine career began in the 1850s. Best known for lampooning New York’s Tammany Hall and Boss Tweed, he also created the Republican Party’s elephant symbol and popularized depictions of the Democratic donkey, Santa Claus, Uncle Sam, and Columbia, the female personification of America. In his later years he published the short-lived Republican journal, Nast’s Weekly.
The son of a Russian operatic soprano, Mansfield rose became known for performing in Gilbert and Sullivan operas with Richard D’Oyly Carte’s opera company both in England and the United States, notably creating the role of Major General Stanley in the first performance of The Pirates of Penzance in England. He is also remembered for his portrayal of the title characters in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and was so convincing that he was accused of being Jack the Ripper. Concurrent with his acting career, during which he found popularity for his Shakespearean roles, he also worked as a theater manager and producer and was one of the first to bring George Bernard Shaw’s plays to the U.S.