Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Today in the Lincoln conspiracy: May 23

Many scholars dismiss John Wilkes Booth as a second-rate actor.  Some even place him in the third rank of his own family, behind his brothers Edwin and Junius Brutus Jr. 

But the evidence is clear that the youngest of the acting Booth brothers was a shining star of his age.  It's instructive to note that at the beginning of his May 1862 engagement at the Boston Museum, his name appears at the bottom of the handbills promoting each play.  By the end of the run, the name "J. Wilkes Booth" was emblazoned across the top.

On May 23, Booth gave the final evening performance of his engagement in Boston.  He played the lead in Shakespeare's Richard the Third.

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