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Notre Dame fire... Edwin Booth murder attempt......



Item # 638906

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April 25, 1879

CLEVELAND WEEKLY HERALD, April 25, 1879

* Actor Edwin Booth attempted assassination
* Great fire of 1879 at Notre Dame University


This 8 page issue has news of the day with several interesting advertisements throughout.
The front page has one column headings: " Booth's Assailant" "He Expresses a Wish That he Was Charged With Murder"
Near the bottom of the front page is an article headed: "Conflagration" "Notre Dame University, South Bend, Destroyed by Fire" First report here.
Complete, minor spine wear, nice condition.

wikipedia notes: Mark Gray (attempted assassin) was a traveling salesman from Keokuk, Iowa who fired two shots from a pistol at actor Edwin Booth on April 23, 1879. Booth was playing the title role in Richard II (play) at McVickers Theatre in Chicago, Illinois, during the final act of the William Shakespeare tragedy. Gray gave as his motive a wrong done to a friend by Booth.
Gray's shots, which were fired from a distance of thirty-four feet, missed Booth, burying themselves in the stage floor. The would-be assassin was jailed at Central Station in Chicago. Booth was not acquainted with Gray, who worked for a St. Louis, Missouridry goods firm. A letter to a woman in Ohio was found on Gray's person. The correspondence affirmed Gray's intent to murder Booth.  The attempted assassination occurred on Shakespeare's supposed birthday and came at a time when Booth was receiving numerous death threats by mail.

Category: Post-Civil War