Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 1.djvu/8

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2

NOTES AND QUERIES.

[12 S. I. Jan. 1, 1916.

published Jan. 1, 1818.^[1] Eighteen of the figures are portraits, Mrs. Siddons being the Queen, and Charles Kemble the central figure at the table. But Kemble, though he acted frequently in the old theatre, only acted once or twice, on the occasion of a benefit, in the present Drury Lane Theatre.

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(Reduced from a Print in the possession of Mr. Ralph Thomas)

I am unable to say why Elliston is dressed as an officer in a costume much resembling that of "The Governor" in 'The Exile,' revived at Covent Garden in 1821. It may be intended as symbolical of his being in command at Drury Lane Theatre. I have a sheet of West's characters in 'The Exile,' by W. Heath, on which plate ii. gives the Governor's costume. It is dated 16 Jan., 1822. This plate is in the Print Room collection, vol. i. p. 66. I also have West's 'Theatrical Portrait' of Mr. Farren as the Governor, so I presume he acted the part at the revival of 1821. The Farren portrait I only acquired in 1915; it is a quarto representation by William Heath of the small one in the sheet of characters above-mentioned.

To return to the print: on the extreme left is John Listen as Paul Pry, with his

↑ This plate was printed in such numbers that it was worn almost to a shadow. It was reworked and published "with the permission of the Duke of Devonshire" on March 2, 1829. If the Duke, who, I presume, owned the picture, could have had any idea of the deterioration the plate had undergone, he would never have consented to his name being used. In this issue the fine portrait of Charles Kemble is almost unrecognizable. However, the likeness is worse still in a wood engraving of the same size (22 by 30 inches) as the original mezzotint, which was issued with No. III. of Reynolds's Miscellany (about 1848) as 'The Trial of Queen Catherine' at the price of threepence.

[1] This plate was printed in such numbers that it was worn almost to a shadow. It was reworked and published "with the permission of the Duke of Devonshire" on March 2, 1829. If the Duke, who, I presume, owned the picture, could have had any idea of the deterioration the plate had undergone, he would never have consented to his name being used. In this issue the fine portrait of Charles Kemble is almost unrecognizable. However, the likeness is worse still in a wood engraving of the same size (22 by 30 inches) as the original mezzotint, which was issued with No. III. of Reynolds's Miscellany (about 1848) as 'The Trial of Queen Catherine' at the price of threepence.

[1]