Blog Posts: Commentary and Images for Every Episode

"George Frederick Cooke as Richard III", by Thomas Sully (1811). Collection of the Philadelphia Academy of the Fine Arts. Visiting this painting again, it strikes me more than ever how the viewer is actually placed as if they were in the action of t…

William B. Wood in action on the stage in the role of Charles De Moor in Schiller's The Robbers, which was first played on the New Theatre stage in February of 1811. Painting by Thomas Sully.Below: As promised, below is a map of the City of Philadel…

Above: Abolemique threatens Fatima with execution in Blue Beard (illustration taken from the cover of Hermansson's Blue Beard: A Reader's Guide to the English Tradition.) Below: Title page and illustration for "The Midnight Hour" by Elizabeth …

"Nightlife in Philadelphia—an Oyster Barrow in front of the Chestnut Street Theater", by John Lewis Krimmel; Metropolitan Museum of Art Collections.Image below: "Exhibition of Indian Tribal Ceremonies at the Olympic Theater, Philadelphia, 1811…

Above, the portrait of J.B. Ricketts by Gilbert Stuart, in the collection of the National Gallery. Inscription, lower left: "Portrait of Mr Rickarts Horse Equestraine [sic] Friend of the artist  Gilbert Stuart; Inscription, lower right: "Portra…

(Both the above and below images are shared by courtesy of the Library Company of Philadelphia.)In the image above, the Pennsylvania State House is on the left, the Art Pantheon in the middle, and Oeller's Hotel to the right. This image would have b…

(Image of Astley's Amphitheatre, above, courtesy of the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London)Phillip Astley, the only known depiction of him: Handbill for Astley's British Riding School, Westminster Bridge: Here is the Thom…

Above and below we see two posters for Ricketts' Circus, during periods when he was resident in New York City in the 1790s (from the collection of the Houghton Library, Harvard University). Note the depictions of the Flying Mercury trick, as well as…

As promised, here is an image of the Old Theatre, or the Southwark Theatre, which stood for many years on Cedar Street (now South Street) in Philadelphia. It caught fire in 1821, and was mostly destroyed, but it was somewhat rebuilt and used and a w…

For the first installment, there's no bibliography or photos to share with you yet, since the purpose of this episode was to talk generally about the plans for the podcast and to whet your appetite for things to come in future episodes. But I'll exp…