ELLEN TERRY - AUTOGRAPH ENVELOPE UNSIGNED 12/28 - HFSID 22979

ELLEN TERRY
Ellen Terry addresses an envelope but does not sign it.
Autograph Envelope, unsigned, 4x3¼. New York, year illegible, December 28. Addressed by the British Shakespearean stage actress to: "Miss Gertrude Bloede/34 Green Avenue/Brooklyn -/N.Y." 2-cent U.S. stamp affixed, postmarked New York, year illegible December 28. British stage actress Ellen Terry (1848-1928) was called "the greatest actress that ever lived" by Sarah Bernhardt. Terry, who debuted at the Princess Theater in London on April 28, 1856, is best known for her Shakespearean roles over a 20-year partnership with actor Henry Irving. In 1878, Irving leased the Lyceum Theatre and engaged Ellen as his leading lady. After opening at the Lyceum on December 30, 1878 as Ophelia to Irving's Hamlet, Terry would play most of Shakespeare's heroines, both in the Lyceum and on tours throughout Great Britain and abroad. She made ten tours of the U.S., including seven with the Lyceum. Her U.S. tours began in 1883, 1884, 1887, 1893, 1896, 1899, 1901 (her last with the Lyceum), 1907, 1910 and 1915. The stamp on the envelope was one of the first U.S. commemoratives and was issued in January 1893, so this envelope could have been addressed during any of Terry's tours. In 1925, the year she made her final stage appearance, Terry was awarded the Dame of the British Empire. Lightly soiled. Torn open at upper edge.