JOHN WILKES BOOTH SIGNED COVER OF A PLAY PUBLICATION

JOHN WILKES BOOTH (1838-1865).  Booth was an actor, a Confederate sympathizer and the assassin of President Abraham Lincoln.

Signature. April 1858. Philadelphia.  A signature “John W Booth Arch St. Theater Philad April 1858” on the cover of a play.  It was autographed at age twenty, when he was breaking into the theater.  From August 15, 1857 to June 19, 1858, Booth performed dozens of times on the Arch Street Theater stage.  Issue number 75 (LXXV) appears to be for “The Invisible Prince; or, The Island of Tranquil Delights: A fairy extravaganza in one act” by J.R. Planché.  The play was published by William Taylor & Company of New York City.  In this era, Taylor (located at 18 Ann Street and later 151 Nassau Street) revolutionized the accessibility of theater by publishing “acting editions” of popular plays. The booklets sold for 12.5 cents and included stage directions, costume descriptions, and cast lists from famous New York and London productions.  There are at least two other Booth signed play scripts in existence; one that sold at auction and one held at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois.  It is attractively framed with a small portrait of Booth and a modern reproduction of a Booth image.  Because of the outrage at Booth’s devilish act, much of his correspondence and signatures were destroyed in the aftermath of the assassination, making his autograph a true rarity.