Civil War Broadside Advertising Play Contributed & Attended by John Wilkes Booth

Description

JOHN WILKES BOOTH
.  John Wilkes Booth (1838-1865) was a member of the well-known Booth family of Shakespearean actors who was an erratic and popular performer.  A supporter of slavery and the South, he participated in the arrest and execution of abolitionist John Brown in 1859. In the fall of 1864, he hatched a plan to kidnap President Abraham Lincoln but the scheme failed.  He then concocted the plot to assassinate Lincoln, which he did in Ford’s Theatre on April 14, 1865 before jumping to the stage and allegedly crying out, “Sic semper tyrannis! The South is avenged!” Booth was located and killed twelve days later.
RARE AND ORIGINAL CIVIL WAR-DATED BROADSIDE PLAYBILL ADVERTISING A PERFORMANCE AT THE BOSTON MUSEUM IN BOSTON IN 1862 THAT WAS CONTRIBUTED AND ATTENDED BY JOHN WILKES BOOTH, THE ASSASSIN OF PRESIDENT ABRAHAM LINCOLN
Rare and original Civil War-dated printed broadside playbill, measuring 13” by 4.5” and in fine condition with only minor foxing, advertising a performance of
Brian Boroihme
at the Boston Museum in Boston on May 2, 1862, exactly three years before the Lincoln assassination.  John Wilkes Booth regularly performed at the Boston Museum with twelve performances around the time the present playbill was issued, including lead roles in
Invisible Prince
on May 9 and 12, 1862,
Peg Woffington
on May 9, 1862,
Richard III
on May 12, 14, and 21, 1862, and
The Robbers
on May 21, 1862.  It is very likely Booth contributed to and attended the live performance of
Brian Boroihme
advertised in the present playbill.