Carte de visite of Edwin Booth (1833-1893) produced by J. Gurney & Son Photographic Artists in New York. Booth's signature is superimposed underneath his picture by the photographer. Photographer information is located on the back side of the card.
Object narrative
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, but returned in January 1866, beginning the second portion of his career which would see the erection of his own theatre in New York and many more successes.
This carte de visite is a photograph of Booth circa 1860.
Type
Text
Original format
Portrait photo
Original publisher
[Place of publication not identified] : [publisher not identified]
Language
en
Contributing institution
Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives, UNCG University Libraries
Source collection
MSS255 Robert C. Hansen Performing Arts Collection
Series/grouping
10.1.1: Photographs, Cards, Caricatures/Satire and Other Pictoral Materials -- Photographs -- People
[Identification of item], Robert C. Hansen Performing Arts Collection, 1753-2006 (MSS255), Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives and Manuscripts, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, NC, USA.
NO COPYRIGHT - UNITED STATES. This item has been determined to be free of copyright restrictions in the United States. The user is responsible for determing actual copyright status for any reuse of the material.
Object ID
MSS255.088.010
Digital publisher
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, University Libraries, PO Box 26170, Greensboro NC 27402-6170, 336.334.5304
[Identification of item], Robert C. Hansen Performing Arts Collection, 1753-2006 (MSS255), Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives and Manuscripts, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, NC, USA.
