New-York tribune., 1902-08-24
BOOTH IN CALIFORNIA.
YOUTHFUL DAYS AND EARLY TRAINING;
OF A GREAT ACTOR-THE BEGIN
MING OF A SPLENDID CAREER
"A GOOD EXAMPLE.

and Frequently to the undersigned. and several |
hundred letters of his have been preserved
many of them being of much interest and, py |
reason equally of their narrative-substance and
their sprighty style, well worthy of publlcation'
since they depict various episodes in theatrical
history, and, at the same time, ulumlne various |
aspects Of the interesting and noble character |
of their writer In of those letters,-dated
London December Is. 1SS2.-he made a signif- |
fcant allusiOn to his early experience as an
actor. These his words:
Glad of your boys success. With Barrett he |
is in good hands, but he must not have all
serious work. AS much comedy and character
bits as he carry will do hlIn a "oriu OF
good. My principal experience was IN H~aile.y ~
of quaint and comic parts; and l am endeaNoI.
ing to get Clarke's boy. Creston. INTO that s9fa
OF work He was with me on the Jour- ana he
did very well, for his first season
Later researches, among old California records.
have afforded means of illustration of Booths
reference to the variety of quaint and comic
parts in which he gained his 'prlnclpaI eA-
perience" A careful abstract of those RECORDS
is here displayed. and it is believed that every
;.dmirer of Edwin Booths acting, and likewise
every student of theatrical history, will be glad
to possess and preserve it. Edwin Booths hrSt
professional appearance, it will be remembered
was made at the Boston Museum on September |
10 1919 when he was in the sixteenth year OF
his age after which time he travelled and acted
with his father for about three years. at IiSt
in cities on the Atlantic seaboard later IN Cal-
fornia which had just then become the iaho Vi
promise and Eldorado of the West 1t IS TO 'he
California episode that these chronicles relate
1s5a-Wednesday July 2S-The elder Booth O. b |
accomr,nied by his sons. Junius and Edwin. ar
rived "A San Francisco aboard the steamer o'i-
Jn1T ssHThe elder Booth made his first ap-
pearauce in California at the Jenny Lind The
saiurday July SiCrhe elder Rooth ACTED 9ns Sir Sir
Now
Sunday. August 1-"Hamlet' was presented |
The elder Booth acted Hamlet Edwin Booth
appeared Laertes and Charlotte Chapman as
Monday august 2rThe - Hon HSnntaneers, aoRtPd was
fGGaee hPoGaes on with hn %H
Mrs J. b. Booth. first wife OF 1uniuS' the
S1Hmsgt august q s-"otheIlo' was acted, with the
JanIs @ Bgoth db,b as IS 0thsl Shsso i0F the
August 4-The elder Booth played Shylock and
fMn ATI R0sh re pazsS sdar Booth played Richard
and Edwn s99sh sposat was acted and the
elser aIsuFe Rooth played Pescara Edwin Booth
fsgEd sggEday. iie august s-"Richard III acted
the n edsr avi5S I1StR RidnonG Pny1nGs 1ioS'eF anu MS
'Vs~f Wednesday. ea. August I-Payne's Brntus: or:
Booth playing Brutus and Edwin Booth playing
August Fixing Lear" WAS acted,the elder
Booth playing Lear and Edwin Booth playing
august The Iron Chest was a;-, 9GtSdghs ,,or anS
elder Booth Goth, pI1y9s siT jIf9rS hdTaFo
AuGt,st J4-..tptheo-' was acted. with the elder |
Rsoth as iago IuUius rs the Moor. EDWIN |
Booth Cassie and Caroline Chapman as DeS-
demona. -
The engagement ended that night. August - ana |
the elder and his sons subsequently VISITED
Sacramento and other interior towns OF ttl4o''-l-
on Friday. October /, 1852. the elder Booth
sailed from San Francisco. aboard the steamer
independence on his return journey TO the East |
He crossed the isthmus from Panama and
sailed from Colon to New-Oreans. where he
acted six times at the St Charles Theatre |
closing with Sir Edward Mortimer and John
Lump. on November ~. 49, He then en-
barked on the steamer J. S Chenoweth, for Gin |
ciunati: but he had sailed far before he be !
came fatally ill., and a few days latcr.-on No |
,prnher 30 1SJ2-hc died. His body was car |
ried TO Baltimore and there buried. His death |
Mas felt as a calamity wherever the theatre then
Hourished. on hearing OF it. at Boston.-Wher
his fame was great. and where he had but re
gently acted, with such splendid vigor and such
brilliant success.-Rufus Choate eXprts tssed the |
general feeling of the hour when he said: Then |
there are no more actors," Friday, December |
"a 1852 J. b. Booth. the younger and the Chap !
man family opened in San Francisco, a theatre |
called the San Francisco Han.
lS53-Wednesday, February Edwin Booth made !
his first appearance the San Francisco Han. |
acting Fred jerome, in The American Fire
February 8 That performance repeated. |
February 5-"ROslna Meadows was acted |
Edwin Booth playing Henry Mcndon.
February IG-''The Child of Regiment"
IlrtA cd T. he hPn ~ " s,tpTfs