Edwin Booth (1833-1893) was born Edwin Thomas Booth, the fourth son of prominent tragic actor, Junius Brutus Booth. He was named after another great tragic actor in Booth's circle, Edwin Forrest. The next son to be born to Booth would be John Wilkes. All his life Edwin had an observant, thoughtful, melancholy disposition (Winter, Biographical Sketch 9), according to William Winter, critic and biographer of the time. In 1846, Edwin's education came to a standstill as he was called upon to act as his father's companion while he was touring. The elder Booth was not capable of staying sober or taking care of himself while away from Edwin's mother; Edwin became a soothing and loyal chaperon to his father, and also gained his father's skill in playing great tragic roles. In 1849 at the age of sixteen, he first stepped on stage to relieve the stage manager of the role of Tressel in Richard III. He continued after this to play in other small and large roles alongside his father. In 1852, Junius Brutus Booth Sr. died and Edwin continued to perform in the Western states and even toured to Australia and Hawaii with Laura Keene, but his father's penchant for hard drinking and carousing rubbed off on him. Returning East in 1856, his experience building both farcical and tragic roles over the preceding years brought him almost immediate fame and recognition. He toured extensively and married Mary Devlin in 1860, a lady with whom he was very much in love, but his drinking strained not only their marriage but also his acting career on many occasions. Only her death in 1863 brought Edwin to the bottom of the pit and the end of his drinking addiction. He returned to the stage a changed man and created his now lasting portrayal of Hamlet of which he was most known. Other important and known roles in his repertoire were Richard III, Sir Giles Overreach (A New Way to Pay Old Debts), Richelieu, Shylock, and Lear. On April 14, 1865, he had just finished a performance of Hamlet in Boston when word reached him that his brother, John Wilkes, also an actor, had shot President Lincoln in Ford's Theatre in Washington D.C. Edwin retired from the stage in mortification and grief. In January 1866 he returned to the stage as manager of the Winter Garden Theatre in New York, reviving Hamlet and many of his other roles. This playbill is from Boston Theatres presentation of Booth in A New Way to Pay Old Debts on April 24, 1867. Just a month before this performance, the Winter Garden Theatre had burnt down and Booth had determined to build his own theatre in New York. While construction was underway, Booth appeared in other cities around the country to raise the funds for his venture. The Boston Theatre was managed by his brother Junius Brutus, and he spent much time there. Booth played the antagonist main character of Sir Giles Overreach in Massingers Renaissance play about a villainous entrepreneur who greedily extorts land from the aristocrats in his province. In the end his plans are foiled by his daughter and the clever machinations of one of the dissolute gentry and he goes mad. The play combined the best of the Shakespearean style and verse with the wit and themes of the upcoming Restoration and the melodrama of Booths day, making the play an almost always sure hit. Artistic role(s) represented: Dame Ellen Terry (Actor).