Famed stage actor (1833–1893) who toured the United States and Europe performing the plays of Shakespeare; his legacy as the greatest American actor of the 19th century has been overshadowed by that of his brother, John Wilkes Booth, assassin of President Abraham Lincoln. Edwin Booth's personally-owned white clay pipe with thin reed stem, featuring a simple design with a dotted ring around the center. In very good to fine condition, with moderate wear from use.
Originates directly from the collection of the great-great granddaughter of Edwin Booth, who inherited it from her mother Lois Grossmann White. She inherited the pipe from her father, Edwin Booth Grossmann, who inherited it from his mother, Edwina Booth Grossmann, who inherited it from her father, Edwin Booth.
Well known as a pipe lover, the Georgetown Courier reported on Booth's predilection in June 1890: "Edwin Booth's Hobby: He insists on Smoking a Clay Pipe during a Performance. Lawrence Barrett bears the reputation in the theatrical profession of being one of the most dignified of actors, both on and off the stage. He is quoted as the authority for the statement that Edwin Booth has a passion for an old clay pipe. He wrote to an acquaintance: 'Let a woman who has regarded Booth as godlike step off Broadway a hundred feet and in through the stage door of a theatre. There you see the great actor as Brutus, completely dressed in Roman armor, and a martial sight indeed—except that in his mouth was a short, blackened clay pipe, such as a day laborer might properly use…This is an interval between acts of 'Julius Caesar' at a matinee and Booth is enjoying the smoke which he indulges in at every opportunity during a stage representation. Tobacco is his stimulant to good acting."
