*BOOTH FAMILY: AGNES BOOTH RARE 1886 20 PAGE SOUVENIR PROGRAM*

Description

A rare original December 1886 illustrated souvenir program for Agnes Booth, sister in law of Edwin and John Wilkes Booth, in Jim the Penman at the Madison Square Theatre, illustrated with portraits of the actors. Twenty pages. Dimensions six and a quarter by five and a quarter inches. Light wear and margins slightly irregular otherwise good. See the Booth family and Agnes Booth's extraordinary biographies below.
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From Wikipedia:
Agnes Booth
(
October 4, 1843 – January 2, 1910), born
Marian Agnes Land Rookes
, was an
Australian
-born
American
actress and in-law of
Junius Brutus Booth
,
John Wilkes Booth
, and
Edwin Booth
.
Although there are no records of Agnes Booth's birth or her family's residence in Australia,
[2]
by her own account she was born in
Sydney
,
New South Wales
. She migrated to
California
with her family in 1858, at the age of about 14.
She made her US debut in early 1858 as Agnes Land, performing with her sister Belle at Maguire's Opera House, San Francisco, attracting attention and gaining recognition and managing a season of the Metropolitan theatre in Detroit. In 1861 she married actor Harry A. Perry in San Francisco, but was widowed in 1862.
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
In 1865 she moved to
New York
where she appeared at the
Winter Garden Theatre
.
[6]
As Agnes Perry, in 1866 she joined the
Boston Theatre Company
, of which she was a member for several years. In 1867, she was married to
Junius Brutus Booth, Jr.
and she performed as Agnes Booth thereafter.
At the height of her popularity reviews of her performances were effusive. In 1874, the
News
described her as "the most finished and effective emotional actress at present on the metropolitan stage."
[1]
In 1889,
Belford's Magazine
wrote of another "great triumph" by Agnes Booth in
Captain Swift
. "For painstaking attention to detail, nicety of intonation, and powerful expression, Agnes Booth is in the front rank of leading ladies. We have seen her in many society dramas, and in each she has shown a charming appreciation of all the requirements... The mingled expression of shame, suffering and maternal love in Agnes Booth's face during [one] scene is one not soon to be forgotten.
[7]
In 1878 she played Madeleine Renaud in the
Union Square Theatre
's production of "A Celebrated Case," the program noting that she had "kindly undertaken this part in order to strengthen the cast." From 1881 to 1891, she was with the
Madison Square
Company. After 1891, she went to
Europe
, then returned to the
United States
where she resided in the artist community of
New Rochelle, New York
and resumed her work on
Broadway
in nearby
New York City
. Booth gained fame for her role in the melodrama
The Sporting Duchess
(
The Derby Winner
by
Cecil Raleigh
) along with fellow actress and New Rochelle neighbor
Cora Tanner
.
[8]
Junius Booth died in 1883, and in 1885 she married John B. Schoeffel, manager of Boston's Tremont theatre. Her last major performance was in
L'Arlesienne
in 1897.
[
The
Booth family
was an American theatrical family of the 19th century. Its most famous and well known members were
Edwin Booth
, one of the leading actors of his day, and
John Wilkes Booth
, who assassinated
Abraham Lincoln
.
The patriarch was
Junius Brutus Booth
, a
London
-born lawyer's son who eventually became an actor after he attended a production of
Othello
at the Covent Garden theatre. The prospects of fame, fortune, and freedom were very appealing to young Booth, and he displayed remarkable talent from an early age, deciding on a career in the theatre by the age of 17. He performed roles in several small theaters throughout England, and joined a tour of the Low Countries in 1814, returning the following year to make his London debut.
Booth abandoned his wife and their young son in 1821 and ran off to the United States with Mary Ann Holmes, a London flower girl. They settled on some 150 acres in Harford County near Baltimore and started a family; they had 10 children, six of whom survived to adulthood.
[1]
[2]
Junius Sr. and Edwin toured in California during the
Gold Rush
. Edwin bought an interest in the
Winter Garden Theatre
at 667 Broadway in
New York City
together with his brother-in-law
John Sleeper Clarke
. The brothers John Wilkes, Edwin, and Junius Brutus, Jr. performed there in the play
Julius Caesar
at a benefit in 1864, the only time they were seen together on a stage, playing Mark Antony, Brutus, and Cassius, respectively.
Members
The Booth Family gravesite,
Green Mount Cemetery
Junius Brutus Booth
(1796–1852) brought his
mistress
Mary Ann Holmes, who bore him 10 children, to the United States.
He also wrote many letters in fits of drunken anger and madness to President Andrew Jackson threatening assassination. He requested that two prisoners who had been sentenced to death for piracy, named De Ruiz and De Soto, be pardoned, else: "I will cut your throat whilst you are sleeping." This letter would later be recanted by Junius, stating, "May god preserve General Jackson and this happy republic."
[4]
Junius Brutus Booth Jr.
(1821–1883) was married to
Agnes Booth
. Junius Jr. never achieved the same fame as his brothers, but his third wife Agnes was popular.
Their son Sydney Barton Booth (1877–1937) was an actor well into the era of modern film
[5]
Edwin Thomas Booth
(1833–1893) came to be the foremost American Shakespearean actor of his day. He founded
The Players
, a
New York City
actors' club which continues to the present day.
Edwin's grandson Edwin Booth Grossman was a painter of some note.
Asia Frigga Booth
(1835–1888) married John Sleeper Clarke, an actor/comedian who was briefly imprisoned in the aftermath of the assassination. They then emigrated to Britain, where he became a successful theatre manager.
Creston Clarke
[6]
and Wilfred Clarke,
[7]
sons of John and Asia, were noted actors in their day.
John Wilkes Booth
(1838–1865) was a popular young star in less serious fare than his brothers.
A
Confederate
sympathizer during the
American Civil War
, during a play attended by
Abraham Lincoln
, Booth took advantage of his access to the theatre to invade the President's box and
assassinate
the President. He was killed 12 days later by
Union
soldier
Boston
Corbett.