Curiosities of the American Stage by Hutton, Laurence - 1891

New York: Harper & Brothers Franklin Square, 1891. Probable first. Hardcover. Good reference and reading copy./None, as issued. Scarce, Tight bound 8vo, 341pp. Bright red cloth cover with gilt lettering and a gilt embossed 3-tragedy mask on the front has some water damage to the front bottom tip and the back edge. This does not bleed through except to the ffe and bfe bottom tips and about 2 pages further in. No mold or mildew present. There is bumping to tips and head/tail of spine and some fading and rubbing. Edges are rough cut and somewhat soiled, top edge is gilded. Spine is lightly cracking at 3rd endpaper and rear. Light foxing to first few pages. Portraits and stories of the Dramatis Personae of the time, including some of the Booth family. Annals of the American theater. Also seventy-plus etchings of portraits of actors and actresses in costume for various plays. Broken into sections; The [native American] Indian Drama, The Revolutionary War Drama, The Frontier Drama, The Stage American, The Local New York Drama, The Society Drama, The American Stage Negro drama, The American Burlesque, Infant Phenomena of America, A Century of American Hamlets, the casts of characters and the synopsis of scenery. A remarkable tome.