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Lot #944
Edwin Booth

Good help is hard to find: “I had to get rid of a yellow coachman who wanted to kill the white gardener with a razor”

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Description

Good help is hard to find: “I had to get rid of a yellow coachman who wanted to kill the white gardener with a razor”

Renowned American Shakespearean actor (1833–1893) and brother of Lincoln assassin John Wilkes Booth. ALS, two pages on two adjoining sheets, 4.5 x 7, August 23, 1884. Booth writes from Newport to “My Dear Judge.” In part: “You have my fullest sympathy in your servant troubles. I had to get rid of a yellow coachman who wanted to kill the white gardener with a razor. And a few weeks ago I dismissed a[n] … idiot who destroyed everything he touched…. The … Adams’ Express clerk tells me that he often has the charge of animals sent here, & that he will care for the infant as tho’ it were his own, until I call for it. I presume it requires only milk & bread, unless it be a drop of seltzer in the morning….” Faint intersecting folds, otherwise fine, bright condition. R&R COA.

Auction Info

  • Auction Title:
  • Dates: #327 - Ended November 14, 2007