PROGRAMME FOR THIS EVENING MRS. G.C. HOWARD, THE GREAT ORIGINAL TOPSY IN UNCLE TOM S CABIN

[Theater]

Published by Richardson & Foos Printers, New York, 1880

About this Item

Original handbill for a performance of Harriet Beecher Stowe s Uncle Tom s Cabin by the Howard family, a show business family who starred in George L. Aiken's 1852 stage adaptation of the novel for 35 years. During the 19th century, Uncle Tom s Cabin was the best-selling book after the Bible. Due to the lack of copyright laws, numerous unauthorized stage adaptations were produced. The Howard s involvement with the play began in 1852 when George C. Howard and his wife, Caroline, noticed their four-year-old daughter, Cordelia, was stealing the show in their production of the popular temperance drama The Drunkard. Since a child was also at the center of Stowe's best-selling novel, they asked their cousinm George Aiken, a member of their theater company, to dramatize the story. Mr. Howard played St. Clare and Mrs. Howard took on the role of Topsy, but only because the actress they wanted for the part refused to perform in blackface. Before she retired in 1886, Mrs. Howard portrayed Topsy over 5000 times to critical acclaim. This handbill is from a later production of the play as the Howard s daughter only played the part of Eva through her teen years. In this production, Eveline Pollock has taken over the part; she is first mentioned in newspaper accounts of the play in 1880. Printed in black ink on the recto of a tissue-thin sheet of paper (4" x 8 ¾"), in very good condition.

Seller Inventory # 78815

Bibliographic Details

• Title: PROGRAMME FOR THIS EVENING MRS. G.C. HOWARD, THE GREAT ORIGINAL TOPSY IN UNCLE TOM S CABIN
• Publisher: Richardson & Foos Printers, New York
• Publication Date: 1880
• Seller catalogs:
  • Theater