The Art Of The Victorian Stage PDF Download

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1907 edition. Excerpt: ... creator of the character may be said to have bid farewell to the world when he fell at the altar in the last scene of all in the life of the great ecclesiastic. Sir Henry Irving's work in the art of the Stage is unique in its history, inasmuch as it comprehends a new order of impersonation and has closed the history of the conventional and academic school which lived and lingered some few years in the early part of the Victorian Era. The great results of the Lyceum work are due to two causes. First, the power of conception and the high intellect which enabled the manager to dominate the whole work; and, secondly, to his personality, which carried him into the highest ranks of society and made him beloved in the worlds of literature and art. It does not come within the scope of this work to chronicle or describe the social methods adopted by Sir Henry Irving to bring together men and women of culture. I trust those who remember those methods have pleasant memories of the stage gatherings on "first nights," when the representatives of culture in art, literature, and society met at the festive board of the genial host. Some of these occasions were memorable in connection with the art of the Victorian Stage; that after the production of "The Merchant of Venice" especially, but this event I have already recorded in my book of " Experiences." At these gatherings came the men who aided the great manager in various ways, and it was a source of pleasure to meet Sir Alma Tadema, R.A., Seymour Lucas, R.A., Madox Brown, and others. Those who were permanently attached to the Lyceum work always formed part of the gathering, and were represented by Mr. Bram Stoker, H. J. Loveday, Hawes Craven, and others. On all public occasions when Sir Henry Irving...