E[a]rnest Maltravers.
[Theater]. Medina, Miss Louisa. E[a]rnest Maltravers. A Drama, In Three Acts. As Performed In All The Principal Theatres Throughout The United States. New York: Samuel French, [n.d.].
Slim 8vo.; occasional pencil notes; mustard printed wrappers, string-tied; light wear to tips.
First edition, the “Acting Edition” issued as part of “French’s Standard Drama” series, No. CXLIII. Neither Medina nor this title looks up in any of the standard catalogues and reference guides pertaining to women or theatre—using either the spelling given on the cover, “Earnest,” or that which appears on the title page, “Ernest.” A note on the title page explains why: “The Publisher is indebted to the celebrated Tragedienne, Miss Matilda Heron, for the MS. Of this drama.” It is, apparently, the work of one unknown female playwright, rescued from complete obscurity by a better known early woman of the stage. According to the title page it was performed “In all the principal theatres throughout the United States,” and the casts for the productions at the Bowery, NY, the Metropolitan, N.Y., and the National, in Boston, are listed on the verso of that leaf.
Loosely based on the Spanish-English conflict, this historical drama set during the reign of George III includes several substantial female characters. Two Temperance plays published by French are advertised on the cover: “Ten Nights in a bar Room,” and “The Drunkard’s Doom,” captioned “Fifteen Years of a Drunkard’s Life.”
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