98 



BOOTH, EDWIN THOMAS. 



alone on the stage in the last act of " Richard 

 II," by a stage-struck lunatic. After a summer 

 vacation he resumed work Oct. 6, 1879, at Ford's 

 Opera House, Baltimore, and played two ex- 

 tremely profitable engagements in New York, 

 closing there with a four weeks' season at Booth's 

 Theater. He then arranged for another profes- 

 sional tour in Europe, and on the occasion of 

 his departure was given a public breakfast at 

 Delmonico's, New York, at which were assembled 

 some of the most famous men of the country. 

 He sailed June 30, 1880, accompanied by his 

 wife and daughter. After a short period of 

 pleasure-seeking travel he appeared in London, 

 at the Princess's Theater, as Hamlet. His series 

 of one hundred and nineteen nights at this 

 theater was not as spontaneously patronized as 

 were the plays of Henry Irving, who was then 

 in the full tide of popularity. A very success- 

 ful series of performances of " Othello " was 

 given at the Lyceum Theater, then, as now, under 

 the management of Mr. Irving, with Mr. Booth 

 and the great English actor alternating Othello 

 and lago, May 2 to June 19. The illness of Mrs. 

 Booth prevented the carrying out of a design to 

 visit other cities in England, and Mr. Booth re- 

 turned to New York about the end of June. 



The season of 1881-'82 began at Booth's Thea- 

 ter, New York, Oct. 3, and was interrupted by the 

 death of Mrs. Booth, Nov. 13, 1881. On May 

 31, 1882, he sailed again for England and ful- 

 filled several engagements in the English prov- 

 inces, beginning at Sheffield, Sept. 11, and clos- 

 ing at Birmingham, Dec. 16. On Dec. 27 he 

 left London for Berlin, where he played at the 

 Residenz Theater for four weeks to very enthu- 

 siastic and appreciative audiences. Prom Berlin 

 he went to Hamburg, Hanover, and Bremen, 

 and met with equally generous receptions. He 

 appeared at the Stadt Theater, Vienna, March 

 30, and played to crowded audiences until April 

 7. At the close of each of his German engage- 

 ments Mr. Booth was presented with a silver 

 crown, wreath, or other tokens of regard, by 

 the artists of the companies with which he 

 played. His German engagement was one of 

 the most successful and pleasant of his life. He 

 returned to his home, which he had now estab- 

 lished in Boston, and resumed work as a travel- 

 ing star at the Globe Theater in that city, Nov. 

 5, 1883. The following season began at the Bos- 

 ton Museum Nov. 17, 1884. On May 7, 1885, 

 he played " Macbeth " with Madame Ristori at 

 the Academy of Music, New York. 



In 1885-'86 he played only a short time. His 

 daughter Edwina was married, May 16, 1885, to 

 Mr. Ignatius Grossman, and his mother died in 

 New York, Oct. 22, 1885, in her eighty-fourth 

 year. Four performances were given' at the 

 Academy of Music, New York, April 26, 28, 30, 

 and May 1, 1886, in which Booth and Salvini 

 played together, the first as Hamlet and lago and 

 the second as Othello and the Ghost. During 

 the summer of this year Mr. Booth entered into 

 a business association with Lawrence Barrett, 

 which continued without interruption until the 

 latter's death. At Buffalo, N. Y., Sept. 13, 1886, 

 Mr. Booth, supported by a company especially 

 engaged by Mr. Barrett, who continued playing 

 with his own company, began what proved to be 

 his most profitable and extensive engagement. 



The tour embraced the principal cities of the 

 Union, from Boston to San Francisco, and from 

 Minneapolis to San Antonio. During this tour 

 he played Sir Giles Overreach and Richard III 

 for the last time. The profits of the season, 

 which closed May 15, 1887, were $450,000. At 

 Buffalo, Sept. 12, 1887, began the well-known 

 association of Lawrence Barrett with Mr. Booth 

 in the latter's repertory. They continued to play 

 together throughout the country, with the usual 

 vacation during the summer months, until Sept. 

 30, 1889, when Mr. Barrett resumed his place at 

 the head of a separate company, and Madame 

 Modjeska was associated with Mr. Booth's sup- 

 port during the season of 1889-'90, which closed 

 on May 10, 1890, in Buffalo. 



In January, 1888, Mr. Booth procured the in- 

 corporation of The Players, a club organized with 

 the object of promoting social relations between 

 actors and patrons of the drama. He endowed 

 the club with the gift of a completely fitted club- 

 house, No. 16 Gramercy Park, New York, in the 

 purchase and furnishing of which he expended 

 $175,000. While he was playing an engagement 

 at the Fifth Avenue Theater, New York, the 

 house of The Players was opened by Mr. Booth 

 and an assemblage of the ablest men of American 

 dramatic, literary, artistic, and social life. It is 

 notable that on this occasion the three then old- 

 est living American actors were present E. S. 

 Connor (1809-'91), John Gilbert (1810-'89), and 

 James E. Murdoch (1813-'93). 



While about to go upon the stage as lago on 

 the evening of April 3, 1889, at Rochester, N. Y., 

 Mr. Booth was visited by a slight stroke of pa- 

 ralysis, which so impeded his articulation that 

 he could not play. With a short rest his ailment 

 yielded to treatment, and he rejoined his com- 

 pany at Cleveland, Ohio, April 15, and acted con- 

 tinuously for the remainder of the tour, which 

 took him again to the Pacific coast, where the 

 season ended at Portland, Ore., June 24, 1889. 



Booth and Barrett were again seen together 

 for seven weeks, beginning Nov. 3, 1890, in Bal- 

 timore, Philadelphia, Boston, and Providence, 

 and after an interval of rest Mr. Booth resumed 

 with Mr. Barrett at the Broadway Theater, New 

 York, March 2, 1891. Mr. Barrett died suddenly 

 on March 20, and Mr. Booth, whose health had 

 grown very precarious, ceased acting as it 

 proved, forever with a performance of " Ham- 

 let " at the Academy of Music, Brooklyn, April 

 4, 1891. For two years he lived quietly in his 

 home at The Players. On the morning of April 

 19, 1893, he was found unconscious in his bed, 

 and thereafter he lingered with but brief periods 

 of relief from pain until the early morning of 

 June 7, when he passed away. A quiet funeral 

 service, conducted by Right Rev. Henry C. Pot- 

 ter, took place at the Church of the Transfigura- 

 tion, New York, on the morning of the 9th, and 

 at sunset on the same day his remains were 

 placed by the side of his first wife's, in Mount 

 Auburn Cemetery, Boston. On Nov. 13, 1893, a 

 memorial of his birthday was held, under the 

 direction of the Board of Directors of The Play- 

 ers, in the Madison Square Garden Concert-hall, 

 New York. Addresses in his honor were given 

 by Joseph Jefferson, his successor in the presi- 

 dency of the club, Parke Godwin, Henry Irving, 

 and Tommaso Salvini ; an elegy, composed for 



