26 April 1875 • Hartford, Conn. (MS and transcript: DFo and New York Times, 29 Apr 75, UCCL 01226)
Will you print the enclosed? And cannot you push it along a little, now & then, editorially? I hope you The Times will also consent to receive & forward subscriptions. Mr. C. E. Flower, who donates the ground is the same gentleman whose liberal cash mainly carried the ShaksperianⒶemendation tri-centennialⒶemendation through—though I know he would not like to have that mentioned.2explanatory note
The matron at Shakspeare’s house also told me the curious Barnum fact, if my memory serves me.
P. S.—If you think a Memorial Committee of Editors & business men,
enclosure:
To the Editor of the New-York Times:
I have just received a letter from an English friend of mine, whose hospitality I enjoyed some days at his house, in Stratford-on-Avon, &Ⓐemendation I feel sure that the matter he writes about will interest Americans. He incloses a circular, which I will insert in this place:3explanatory note
“A preliminary committee was recently formed for the purpose of ascertaining the possibility of carrying out the project of a Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in Stratford-on-Avon, the old theatre in the town having been purchased and pulled down by Mr. J. O. Halliwell Phillips for the purpose of restoring the site to ‘New Place,’ and completing those gardens.4explanatory note A meeting was held at the Town Hall on Monday, to receive the committee’s report. Sir Robert N. C. Hamilton, Bart., K. C. B., was in the chair.5explanatory note The honorable Secretary, Mr. C. E. Flower, stated that the proposal had been most favorably received, and the committee recommended that the theatre should be erected by subscription, and any sum raised beyond the amount required for the building, and any profit realized by the rental on ordinary occasions, to be applied, after defraying the necessary expenses of the establishment, to the celebration of the anniversary of the poet’s birthday, and to the promotion and improvement of legitimate acting, by the establishment of prizes for essays upon the subject, lectures, and ultimately a dramatic training school or college. The building to be erected upon a site which has been given for the purpose, the surrounding ground, from which beautiful views of the church and the river can be obtained, to be laid out as ornamental gardens. Connected with the theatre the committee also recommended that a library and a saloon or gallery, intended to receive pictures and statuary of Shakespearean subjects, (several of which have been already promised,) should be provided. Donors of £100 and upward to be Governors and managers of the property. The Governors to meet annually and vote personally, or by proxy, for the election of an Executive Council, and frame rules for the general management of the memorial property and funds. For convenience of administration the association to be incorporated under section 23 of the Companies act, 1867, for associations formed not for profit, but for the promotion of science, art, &c. The report was unanimously adopted, a list of promised donations to the amount of £2,563 10s., was read, and generous offers from managers and members of the theatrical profession of free performances were announced. Subscriptions of the smallest amount will be received, as it is hoped that a truly appropriate memorial to Shakespeare in his native town will receive the support of many in all parts of the world who have received instruction and pleasure from the poet’s works.”
By another circular I perceive that this project, young as it is, is already becoming popular, for no less than twenty-two lovers of Shakespeare have come forward with their £100 apiece, &Ⓐemendation assumed the dignity of Governors of the Memorial Theatre. In this list I find the following: Creswick, the actor; F. B. Chatterton, of the Drury Lane, London; Benjamin Webster, of the Adelphi, London; Buckstone, the comedian, & Mr. Sothern.6explanatory note
I now come to my point, which will be found in this extract from my English friend’s letter:
“You may possibly remember some timber wharves on the Avon above my garden. These I have bought & given for a site for a Memorial Theatre.7explanatory note I think it possible that some Americans who have visited Stratford might be able & feel inclined to become Governors, (that is, £100 shareholdersⒶemendation in the Memorial Theatre & grounds, & that others not so well off might like to contribute smaller sums to help beautify it.”
Therefore he asks me to make the suggestion in point here, & I very gladly do it. I think the mere suggestion is all that is necessary. We are not likely to be backward when called upon to do honor to Shakespeare. One of the circulars says:8explanatory note
“Subscriptions can be paid to the Shakespeare Memorial Fund at the Old Bank, Stratford-upon-Avon, & will be invested in the names of Sir R. N. C. Hamilton, Bart., & C. E. Flower, Esq., who have consented to act as Trustees until the registration is completed.”
Will you, Sir, undertake to receive & forward the American subscriptions? Or if not, will you kindly name some responsible person who will do it?
I believe that Americans of every walk in life will cheerfully subscribe to this Shakespeare memorial; I think that some of our prominent actors (I could almost name them) will come forward & enroll themselves as Governors; I think our commercial millionaires & literary people will not be slow to take governorships, or at least come as near it as they feel able; & I think it altogether likely that many of our theatres, like those of England, will give it a benefit.
Americans have already subscribed $1,000 for an American memorial window to be put in the Shakespeare Church at Avon.9explanatory note About three-fourths of the visitors to Shakespeare’s tomb are Americans. If you will show me an American who has visited England & has not seen that tomb, Barnum shall be on his track next week. It was an American who roused into its present vigorous life England’s dead interest in her Shakespearean remains. Think of that! Imagine the house that Shakespeare was born in being brought bodily over here & set up on American soil! That came within an ace of being done once. A reputable gentleman of Stratford told me so. The old building was going to wreck & ruin. Nobody felt quite reverence enough for the dead dramatist to repair & take care of his house; so an American came along ever so quietly & bought it. The deeds were actually drawn & ready for the signatures. Then the thing got wind & there was a fine stir in England! The sale was stopped. Public-spirited Englishmen headed a revival of reverence for the poet, & from that day to this every relic of Shakespeare in Stratford has been sacred, & zealously cared for accordingly. Can you name the American who once owned Shakespeare’s birth-place for twenty-four hours? There is but one who could ever have conceived of such an unique & ingenious enterprise, & he is the man I refer to—P. T. Barnum.10explanatory note
We had to lose the house: but let us not lose the present opportunity to help him build the Memorial Theatre.
Editor of the New York Times (9 Oct 74 to Jennings, n. 1click to open link).
Charles Edward Flower, the “English friend” mentioned in the enclosure, hosted the Clemenses at his home in Stratford-upon-Avon in July 1873. It was actually his father, Edward Fordham Flower (the founder of the family brewery), who, as mayor in 1864, took a leading role in organizing the festival held between 23 April and 4 May to celebrate the tercentenary of Shakespeare’s birth. Charles Flower and his brother, Edgar, served on the organizing committee. When the cost of the festival’s theatrical productions, concerts, banquet, pageant, and fancy dress ball exceeded the proceeds from ticket sales, the committee agreed to pay off the deficit. Mayor Flower donated £500, while Charles and Edgar donated £300 each, making up nearly one-third of the total liability of £3,435 ( L5 , 195–96 n. 1, 388 n. 2, 415–16; Hunter, 138, 165–239; Kemp and Trewin, 4; “The Late Tercentenary Festival,” London Times, 10 Oct 64, 10).
Clemens’s enclosure has not been found in its original manuscript, and is therefore transcribed here from the text published in the New York Times. The source of the following paragraph from the “circular,” which Clemens probably pasted into his manuscript, has not been independently identified, although some of its wording appeared in a circular dated “April 1875,” issued by the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre Council (“Shakespeare Memorial Theatre,” circular signed by Council Secretary Charles Lowndes, UkStrS; see the textual commentary).
Shakespeare lived in New Place—the second largest building in Stratford and the only one made of brick—from 1610 until his death six years later. It was torn down in 1759 by its owner, who refused to pay taxes on it. Eventually new structures occupied the site, including a theater, which was built in 1827 but used for performances only until 1842 (and briefly from 1869 to 1872). In 1863 James Orchard Halliwell-Phillips (1820–89), an eminent book and manuscript collector and biographer of Shakespeare, began a movement to restore the site, and in 1872 purchased the old theater and tore it down. Today the Shakespeare Memorial Garden stands on the site of New Place’s original orchards and kitchen gardens, and only its foundation survives (Shakespeare Birthplace Trust 2000; Baedeker 1901, 259; Buckley, 7; Kemp and Trewin, 4).
Robert North Collie Hamilton (1802–87), sixth baronet, Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath, was a former governor-general’s agent in Central India who had received recognition from the British government for his service during the mutiny of 1857. He served as chairman of the organizing committee for the 1864 tercentenary festival (Burke 1904, 735–36; Hunter, 138).
Of the thirty-nine subscribers listed in the April 1875 circular, twenty-two donated £100 and became “Governors.” William Creswick (1813–88) began his theatrical career in 1831, playing both comic and dramatic roles—including Shakespearean parts—with proficiency, but not exceptional talent. After success on the American and English stages in the 1840s, from 1849 to 1862 and again beginning in 1866 he was co-manager of the Surrey Theatre in London, while continuing to perform. Unlike the other donors Clemens mentioned, he donated only £5, not £100. Frederick Balsir Chatterton (1834–86) had managed the renowned Drury Lane Theatre Royal since 1863 (first in partnership, and then alone). To stay solvent, he was forced to avoid serious literary drama, and was accused of desecrating the theater with sensational melodramas. He became famous for his remark, “Shakespeare spells ruin, and Byron bankruptcy” (Hartnoll, 231). Benjamin Nottingham Webster (1797–1882) began his career as a dancer, and then turned to acting, developing a talent for comedy. From 1837 to 1853 he was the manager of the Haymarket Theatre, and after 1844 of the Adelphi Theatre as well. His talent as a dramatist contributed greatly to the success of these and several other theaters. Upon his retirement in 1874 the theatrical community honored him with a benefit that earned over two thousand pounds. The actor and dramatist John Baldwin Buckstone (1802–79) had managed the Haymarket Theatre since 1853, and was best known for his talent for broad comedy. Clemens may have met the English comedian Edward A. Sothern in 1874, either at a luncheon in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on 6 March, or in Hartford when Sothern performed there on 12 and 13 March (see 4 Mar 74 to Howells, n. 2click to open link; Paul and Gebbie, 2:42; Bryan 1985, 210, 219; Knight, 245, 292–93; Dobbs, 151; “Obituary,” London Times, 10 July 82, 8; Hartnoll, 9, 115, 380, 882; “Amusements,” Hartford Courant, 12 Mar 74, 1).
In 1874 Charles Flower proposed building a new theater in Stratford-upon-Avon for the performance of Shakespeare’s plays. In spite of critics who thought the idea presumptuous, he and his supporters raised thirty thousand pounds, much of which he donated himself, together with a two-acre site for it on the banks of the Avon. The Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, designed by the architectural firm of Dodgshun and Unsworth, was a circular Gothic structure with turrets, seating eight hundred people. It opened in 1879 with a performance of Much Ado about Nothing and remained in use until 1926, when it was destroyed by fire. The present theater was built in 1932 ( L5 , 388 n. 2; Kemp and Trewin, 5–7, 135–37, 156).
The following paragraph was reproduced verbatim from the April 1875 circular, which Clemens presumably copied into his manuscript.
The stained-glass window “erected by the voluntary offerings of Americans who visit the shrine” was installed in the chancel of the Church of the Holy Trinity in Stratford-upon-Avon, where Shakespeare was baptized and buried. Completed in 1876, it was designed by “Messrs. Lavers, Barrand, and Westlake, of London” and depicted scriptural illustrations of the “Seven Ages of Man, from the play ‘As You Like It’” (Arbuthnot, 6, 17; “The ‘American Window’ in the Church of the Holy Trinity,” Stratford-upon-Avon Herald, 20 May 76).
In 1846 Barnum tried to buy the house in which Shakespeare was born, which was then being used as a butcher shop and an inn:
He then intended to transport the Birthplace across the Atlantic and back to America brick by brick. The sudden realisation that the Birthplace could be lost forever awakened public concern and the Shakespeare Birthday Committee was hurriedly formed. The Committee grew in strength soon acquiring the patronage of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Due to public contributions and fundraising efforts by such esteemed figures as Charles Dickens and Jenny Lind the Birthplace was purchased in 1847 for £3,000. (Shakespeare Birthplace Trust 1999, 1)
An editorial in the London Times of 21 July 1847 had helped stir resistance to Barnum’s plan:
There is something grating to the ear in the announcement that Shakspeare’s house is about to be submitted to the hammer, and will be knocked down without reserve to the highest bidder. . . . all we can hope for is, that some arrangement may be made which will prevent a repetition of the danger that exists of the house being removed from the country by passing into the hands of some foreign showman. . . . we think it will require no very extravagant outlay to rescue it at all events from the desecrating grasp of those speculators who are said to be desirous of taking it from its foundations, and trundling it about on wheels like a caravan of wild beasts, giants, or dwarfs through the United States of America. (“The meeting of the Archaelogical Association . . .,” 5)
The “reputable gentleman of Stratford” was almost certainly Charles Flower, whose wife later recalled making a donation to the fund (Macdonald). In his autobiographical account of his failure to purchase the house, Barnum claimed that “the British people, rather than suffer that house to be removed to America, would have bought me off with twenty thousand pounds” (Barnum 1872, 365). In chapter 64 of Following the Equator, Clemens recalled:
I knew Mr. Barnum well, and I placed every confidence in the account which he gave me of the Shakespeare birthplace episode. He said he found the house neglected and going to decay, and he inquired into the matter and was told that many times earnest efforts had been made to raise money for its proper repair and preservation, but without success. He then proposed to buy it. The proposition was entertained, and a price named—$50,000, I think; but whatever it was, Barnum paid the money down, without remark, and the papers were drawn up and executed. He said that it had been his purpose to set up the house in his Museum, keep it in repair, protect it from name-scribblers and other desecrators, and leave it by bequest to the safe and perpetual guardianship of the Smithsonian Institute at Washington.
But as soon as it was found that Shakespeare’s house had passed into foreign hands and was going to be carried across the ocean, England was stirred as no appeal from the custodians of the relic had ever stirred England before, and protests came flowing in—and money, too, to stop the outrage. Offers of re-purchase were made—offers of double the money that Mr. Barnum had paid for the house. He handed the house back, but took only the sum which it had cost him—but on the condition that an endowment sufficient for the future safeguarding and maintenance of the sacred relic should be raised. This condition was fulfilled.
That was Barnum’s account of the episode; and to the end of his days he claimed with pride and satisfaction that not England, but America—represented by him—saved the birthplace of Shakespeare from destruction. (SLC 1897, 642–43)
MS, Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, D.C. (DFo), is copy-text for the personal letter to Jennings. “Proposed Shakespearean Memorial,” New York Times, 29 Apr 75, 6, is the source of the enclosed letter intended for publication. Copy-text is a microfilm edition of the newspaper in the Newspaper and Microcopy Division, University of California, Berkeley (CU-NEWS). The full text of the long inserted circular (465.13–466.11), which Clemens undoubtedly pasted into his letter, was published in “Proposed Shakespeare Memorial at Startford-on-Avon,” Stratford-upon-Avon Herald, 2 Apr 75, 4, with minor variants; it also appeared in “Proposed Shakespeare Memorial,” London Times, 1 Apr 75, 4, with several omissions. Collation suggests that these texts, as well as the one that Clemens used, may have derived independently from the same unidentified source. Since it cannot be established that the Herald text has more authority, the Times text has been retained as copy-text. Ampersands have not been restored, since the source was not Clemens’s holograph. It is presumed that Clemens copied the two shorter extracts, at 466.21–26 and 466.31–34.
L6 , 464–470; “A Shakspearian Revival,” Hartford Evening Transcript, 1 May 75, 6, excerpt; Scheuer, lot 908, with omissions.
purchased in 1927 by businessman and collector Henry Clay Folger (1857–1930) from Alwin J. Scheuer.
More information on provenance may be found in Description of Provenanceclick to open link.