Theatre poster featuring Ira Aldridge performing in Lovers of Bourbon: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

Poster advertising the play "Lovers of Bourbon" featuring Ira Aldridge as the character Three Finger'd Jack. The poster is narrow and printed on thin paper. The text is black and in a variety of sizes and fonts. The poster lists other actors in the play, a synopsis, the theater location and prices of admission. The top third of the poster reads “LAST NIGHT / OF PERFORMING UNTIL THE FAIR. / THEATRE ROYAL / HALIFAX. / THE CELEBRATED / AFRICAN TRAGEDIAN / MR. / IRA ALDRIDGE! / AS FABIAN & THREE FINGER'D JACK / AND LAST NIGHT OF HIS PERFORMING IN HALIFAX.”

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1856
• Printed by: Theatre Royal, Halifax, British, 1789 - 1933
• Subject of: Ira Aldridge, American, 1807 - 1867
• Type: posters
• Medium: ink on newsprint
• Dimensions: H x W: 19 3/4 × 9 15/16 in. (50.2 × 25.2 cm)
• Place printed: Halifax, Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom, Europe
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Drama (Theatre)
• Object number: 2014.151.1
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The displayed image also has an explicit CC0 designation. The underlying object's rights statement is: No Known Copyright Restrictions Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.