Book

A player and a gentleman : the diary of Harry Watkins, nineteenth-century US American actor

Watkins, Harry, 1825-1894, author, Hughes, Amy, editor, Stubbs, Naomi J., 1981- editor

Overview

\"Hardworking actor, playwright, and producer Harry Watkins (1825-94) was also a prolific diarist. For 15 years Watkins regularly recorded the plays he saw, the roles he performed, the books he read, and his impressions of current events. Performing across the U.S., Watkins collaborated with preeminent performers and producers, recording his successes and failures as well as his encounters with celebrities such as P. T. Barnum, Junius Brutus Booth, Edwin Forrest, Anna Cora Mowatt, and Lucy Stone. His is the only known diary of substance written by a U.S. actor before the Civil War--making Watkins, essentially, the antebellum equivalent of Samuel Pepys. Theater historians Amy E. Hughes and Naomi J. Stubbs have selected, edited, and annotated substantial excerpts from the diary in an edition that offers a vivid glimpse of how ordinary people like Watkins lived, loved, struggled, and triumphed during one of the most tumultuous periods in U.S. history. The selections in A Player and a Gentleman are drawn from a more expansive digital archive of the complete diary. The book, like its digital counterpart, will richly enhance our knowledge of antebellum theater culture and daily life in the U.S. during this period\"-- Provided by publisher.

• Publisher: University of Michigan Press
• Subject: Watkins, Harry, 1825-1894 Diaries. / Watkins, Harry, 1825-1894 / Actors United States Diaries. / Theater United States History 19th century.
• ISBN: 9780472130917

Item info:

1 item available

1 item total in all locations

Holdings :

Call Number	Copies	Material	Location
PN2287.W453 A3 2018	1	BOOK	GENERAL