"Miss Charlotte Cushman," Gleason's Pictorial Drawing Room Companion [1851]
Dublin Core
Title
"Miss Charlotte Cushman," Gleason's Pictorial Drawing Room Companion [1851]
Subject
Cushman, Charlotte Saunders, 1816-1876
Beauty
Gender Norms
Macready, William Charles
Relationships--Networks
England--London
Actors and Actresses--US American
Actors and Actresses--English
Travel Reports
Description
The article traces Cushman's rise to success in Europe, mentioning her tours with Macready and the social circle she has formed: "In private life, she has won many warm and influential friends. Among the British aristocracy, her purity of diction and quiet amiability of manner, have made her so many friends that, leaving professional engagements out of consideration, she seems undecided which side of the Atlantic to honor with her presence."
New York Public Library
Credit
New York Public Library
Source
Gleason's Pictorial Drawing Room Companion
Date
1851-00-00
Type
Reference
Article Item Type Metadata
Text
MISS CHARLOTTE CUSHMAN.
The rise and progress of this distinguished American actress, is a strong evidence of what perseverance, steadily directed to one object, will accomplish. She first made her debut in public life as a vocalist, but finding that she could scarcely hope to excel in this line, she soon after adopted the stage as her future field of action. Her first attempts upon the stage were far from giving promise of her future ability; indeed, she was considered, as having made a signal failure of it; but nothing daunted, she still strove on, hoped on, watching studying, and improving, until at last, slowly, but steadily, she rose to the distinguished position which she holds, as the queen of tragedy. Miss Cushman has earned a very high European reputation, and her present tour through this country, we are gratified to know, has been eminently successful and profitable. We understand that she is soon to return to England. The picture by our artist, given herewith, is no less peculiar in the expression, than faithful as a likeness, evincing much of the strong masculine will and purpose that forms so prominent a part of this lady's moral character. Miss Cushman has indicated her right to the name of poetess, by some very beautiful and feeling productions. A woman tus gifted could not fail, sooner or later, in attaining great distinction before the world. The highest ranges of character, in tragedy or comedy, have become her favorite walk, and public opinion has certified her reputation with cordial and continued approval. In England she has been uniformly successful, not merely on the London stage, but throughout the provincial circuits, and so on to Ireland and Scotland. By the friendship of Charles Kemble, and Mr. Phelps of Sadler's Wells, she attracted the favorable regard of royalty itself. With Mr Macready she made several very successful tours, and both the Glover and the Davenport schools, different as they are in style, claimed her for their own pet pupil. It is a somewhat singular fact that when she returned to her native country, Boston was the only city where her welcome was not immediately cordial; but the paltry and ignorant objectors were soon silenced by an enthusiastic verdict in her favor from large and fashionable audiences at the Federal street Theatre. The vicissitudes of the theatrical profession are very trying, but Charlotte Cushman seems superior to them all. In private life, she has won many warm and influential friends. Among the British aristocracy, her purity of diction and quiet amiability of manner, have made her so many friends that, leaving professional engagements out of consideration, she seems undecided which side of the Atlantic to honor with her presence. She has the best wishes of the profession and all who have known her. A real artiste, like her, knows how to govern circumstances and "make a merit of necessity;" hence we find that her somewhat angular features and masculine frame have been subservient for splendid impersonations of Talfourd's Ion and Shakspeare's Romeo, among other similar characters, but which are so poetically different as to require the utmost delicacy of discrimination for their suitable representation on the stage. We have seen her play Qeen Katharine, in Henry VIII. and Mrs. Simpson, in Simpson Co., on the same evening!
The rise and progress of this distinguished American actress, is a strong evidence of what perseverance, steadily directed to one object, will accomplish. She first made her debut in public life as a vocalist, but finding that she could scarcely hope to excel in this line, she soon after adopted the stage as her future field of action. Her first attempts upon the stage were far from giving promise of her future ability; indeed, she was considered, as having made a signal failure of it; but nothing daunted, she still strove on, hoped on, watching studying, and improving, until at last, slowly, but steadily, she rose to the distinguished position which she holds, as the queen of tragedy. Miss Cushman has earned a very high European reputation, and her present tour through this country, we are gratified to know, has been eminently successful and profitable. We understand that she is soon to return to England. The picture by our artist, given herewith, is no less peculiar in the expression, than faithful as a likeness, evincing much of the strong masculine will and purpose that forms so prominent a part of this lady's moral character. Miss Cushman has indicated her right to the name of poetess, by some very beautiful and feeling productions. A woman tus gifted could not fail, sooner or later, in attaining great distinction before the world. The highest ranges of character, in tragedy or comedy, have become her favorite walk, and public opinion has certified her reputation with cordial and continued approval. In England she has been uniformly successful, not merely on the London stage, but throughout the provincial circuits, and so on to Ireland and Scotland. By the friendship of Charles Kemble, and Mr. Phelps of Sadler's Wells, she attracted the favorable regard of royalty itself. With Mr Macready she made several very successful tours, and both the Glover and the Davenport schools, different as they are in style, claimed her for their own pet pupil. It is a somewhat singular fact that when she returned to her native country, Boston was the only city where her welcome was not immediately cordial; but the paltry and ignorant objectors were soon silenced by an enthusiastic verdict in her favor from large and fashionable audiences at the Federal street Theatre. The vicissitudes of the theatrical profession are very trying, but Charlotte Cushman seems superior to them all. In private life, she has won many warm and influential friends. Among the British aristocracy, her purity of diction and quiet amiability of manner, have made her so many friends that, leaving professional engagements out of consideration, she seems undecided which side of the Atlantic to honor with her presence. She has the best wishes of the profession and all who have known her. A real artiste, like her, knows how to govern circumstances and "make a merit of necessity;" hence we find that her somewhat angular features and masculine frame have been subservient for splendid impersonations of Talfourd's Ion and Shakspeare's Romeo, among other similar characters, but which are so poetically different as to require the utmost delicacy of discrimination for their suitable representation on the stage. We have seen her play Qeen Katharine, in Henry VIII. and Mrs. Simpson, in Simpson Co., on the same evening!
Archive
NYPL, T. Walsh Collection
Extended Date/Time Format (EDTF) Specification
1851?-XX-XX
Secondary Texts: Comments
Merrill (164) gives 1851 as the year in which this was published.
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Collection
Citation
“"Miss Charlotte Cushman," Gleason's Pictorial Drawing Room Companion [1851],” Archival Gossip Collection, accessed April 16, 2024, https://archivalgossip.com/collection/items/show/413.