(Theatrical History: Billie BURKE) A very bright and clean poster, 26 1/2 x 17 in. (on a 30 x 20 in. sheet), for Billie Burke’s appearance in Charles Frohman’s 1914 production of Catherine Chisholm Cushing’s comedy, Jerry. The poster features a lovely profile image of Burke after a photograph by Harold Genthe. A wonderful Burke piece printed the same year she married Florenz Ziegfeld. Print by Strobridge Litho. Co., (Cincinnati & New York).
Very minor wear in blank margins, else very fine condition.
(EXA 4141) $400
(Theatrical History) Hand colored print, 7 1/2 x 10 1/4 in. [c. 1853] captioned “CLOSING SCENE FROM THE PLAY OF ‘THE JEWESS,’ AS PERFORMED AT THE BOSTON MUSEUM.” This was the first Boston production of William Thomas Moncrieff’s adaptation of Sir Walter Scott’s 1820 novel, Ivanhoe, which premiered at the Boston Museum on 7 March 1853.1 The Boston Courier raved, “It would be difficult to conceive any thing more gorgeous and magnificent in the way of stage display and scenic arrangement than is presented in the spectacle of the Jewess, which is now attracting so much attention at the Boston Museum. Unlike most of the so called show pieces, the Jewess combines to an opportunity for brilliant appointments the merit of a strong plot and great dramatic effect, which, in the hands of Mr. Smith as Eleazer, and Mrs. Barrett as the Jewess, are most admirably developed. We very much doubt if any equally interesting and beautiful dramatic entertainment was ever before offered in Boston.”2 Light creases, some minor marginal wear, else fine.
(EXA 3866) $125
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1 Boston Atlas, 7 March 1853, 2. Charles Dickens mercilessly lampooned Moncrieff as the “literary gentleman” in Nicholas Nickelby, as a cultural thief or a literary pickpocket. See Ibn Warraq, “Sir Walter Scott’s Treatment of Jews in Ivanhoe”, New English Review. (July 2009).
2 Boston Courier, 14 March 1853, 2.
(World War II) Poster, 21 1/4 x 28 1/4 in. “Chefs-D’Oeuvre de la Peinture au Musé du Louvre” (Paris: Mourlot, July 1945).
Featuring Delacroix’s ”La Liberté guidant le people, this is the official announcement of the reopening of the Louvre following the liberation of France by allied forces in 1944. The official reopening on 9 July 1945 celebrated the return of the museum’s greatest treasures with an exhibition of eighty-three of its most celebrated paintings. The show was augmented with exhibits documenting how they were preserved in remote country chateaux during the war as well as displays of correspondence and documents related to negotiations between curators and the German and Vichy governments over the fate of the overall collection.
Despite the promise of “Tous les jours de 10 a 17 heures sauf le lundi”, the museum had to close its doors that winter due to the lack of fuel.2 It did not reopen again until 1947.
Linen backed, some mild cracking along folds, other minor surface wear.
(EXA 3904) $2,000
(Early Advertising) A large (24 x 36 in.) four color display poster for “Cetacolor”, which, the advertisement reminds us, is “Not a Soap-” it was to prevent color fading in fabrics. The ‘proof’ is at left and we can plainly see the perils in washing without it! A very nice bright example.
Housed in a simple frame, overall quite clean (note the brown background at the portrait is not a dampstain, it’s a color tone), overall very good.
(EXA 4361) $450
(Early Advertising) A nice two color display advertisement 20 1/2 x 13 in. for “AIR LINE HONEY” likely from southern New Hampshire, ca. 1925. Issued by the grocer, Rival Service Store.
Folds and light toning, overall very good. Housed in a simple frame.
(EXA 4360) $175
(Early Advertising) Broadside, 37 x 23 1/2 in. (New York: Baker, Godwin & Co. Steam Printers, 1855). A wonderful illustrated advertisement promoting William Snider’s dry goods store in Vergil, N.Y. and announcing the wares he purchased during his recent trip to New York City with “DRY GOODS! Ladies’ Dress Goods! BONNETS! RIBBONS!! SHAWLS!!! Silks, Lawns, READY-MADE CLOTHING! BOOTS & SHOES, HATS & CAPS, Groceries, Hardware, Crockery, Drugs and Medicines, PAINTS, OILS, DYE STUFFS, FISH, SALT, LUMBER, SHINGLES, STOVES…” Well, you get the idea – this is a big deal upstate.
Minor faults including light creases and wrinkles together with a few minor holes that don’t detract from the overall presentation, matted and framed and in very good to fine condition overall.
(EXA 4317) $1,200
(Circus) A lovely 41 x 29 1/2 in. French circus poster for “Miss Zélia” (Paris: Afriches Faria, [n.y.]).
Linen backed, light fold lines do little to detract, else fine.
(EXA 4287) SOLD.
