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Theatrical ad includes Edgar Allan Poe's father...
Theatrical ad includes Edgar Allan Poe's father...
Item # 722162
January 26, 1809
BOSTON GAZETTE, Jan. 26 1809
* Edgar Allan Poe's father theater ad (David Poe, Jr.)
A curious literary item here as the top of page 3 has an advertisement for the "Boston Theatre" for the performance of: "PURSE", a theatrical performance, with one of the actors being Edgar Allan Poe's father ("Mr. Poe) playing "Theodore" (see image)
News of the day and other interesting advertisements. Four pages, a little wear along the right margin, a few small foxing sports, generally nice.
AI notes: In early 1809, David Poe, Jr.—already a regular actor on the Boston stage—was listed in a performance of Purse, on Friday, January 27, 1809, at what appears to have been the Federal Street Theatre in Boston.
At the time, both he and his wife (Eliza Poe) were part of a working theatrical company whose income helped support their young family (their son Edgar Allan Poe had been born earlier that month).
Despite this record of performance, however, there is no surviving script, published edition, or plot summary for Purse — the play is essentially lost to history. Indeed, while a handful of 19th‑century newspaper notices document the casting, none provide details about the drama’s content, and Purse does not appear in major bibliographies of early American plays as a preserved work.
Category: Pre-Civil War
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