Edgar Allan Poe Parents Theatre Ad In 1806...
Item # 725816
April 17, 1809
BOSTON GAZETTE, April 17, 1809
* Edgar Allan Poe's father & mother theater ad
* Advertisement for the showing of "Hamlet"
* Boston debut of actor John Howard Payne
* Eliza Arnold Hopkins Poe & David Poe Jr.
The top of page 3 under "Boston Theatre" is a notice for the performances of "HAMLET", with Mr. Poe as "Laertes" & Mrs. Poe as "Ophelia" re. the parents of Edgar Allan Poe.
And this particular performance was the debut of actor John Howard Payne in Boston. (see image)
Complete with 4 pages, nice condition.
background: The April 17, 1809, performance of Hamlet at the Boston Theatre was a watershed moment for American culture, marking the local debut of John Howard Payne, the first American-born actor to achieve genuine "superstar" status. Known as the "American Roscius," the 17-year-old Payne’s portrayal of the Melancholy Dane challenged the era's reliance on imported British talent and proved that the young United States could produce its own world-class artistic prodigies. Furthermore, the event is historically linked to the family of Edgar Allan Poe; his parents were members of the theater’s resident company at the time, and the performance occurred in the city of Poe’s birth just three months after he was born, highlighting a rare intersection between the dawn of American professional acting and the roots of its most famous Gothic writer.
* Edgar Allan Poe's father & mother theater ad
* Advertisement for the showing of "Hamlet"
* Boston debut of actor John Howard Payne
* Eliza Arnold Hopkins Poe & David Poe Jr.
The top of page 3 under "Boston Theatre" is a notice for the performances of "HAMLET", with Mr. Poe as "Laertes" & Mrs. Poe as "Ophelia" re. the parents of Edgar Allan Poe.
And this particular performance was the debut of actor John Howard Payne in Boston. (see image)
Complete with 4 pages, nice condition.
background: The April 17, 1809, performance of Hamlet at the Boston Theatre was a watershed moment for American culture, marking the local debut of John Howard Payne, the first American-born actor to achieve genuine "superstar" status. Known as the "American Roscius," the 17-year-old Payne’s portrayal of the Melancholy Dane challenged the era's reliance on imported British talent and proved that the young United States could produce its own world-class artistic prodigies. Furthermore, the event is historically linked to the family of Edgar Allan Poe; his parents were members of the theater’s resident company at the time, and the performance occurred in the city of Poe’s birth just three months after he was born, highlighting a rare intersection between the dawn of American professional acting and the roots of its most famous Gothic writer.
Category: Pre-Civil War
