HENRY LEIGH MURRAY - AUTOGRAPH QUOTATION SIGNED 10/19/1848 CO-SIGNED BY: ELIZABETH LEIGH MURRAY - HFSID 304618

HENRY LEIGH MURRAY and ELIZABETH LEIGH MURRAY
The English actor, and the spouse who cared for him during long illnesses, each sign a Shakespeare quotation
Autograph Quotations signed: "'How full of briars is this/workaday world'!/Elizabeth Leigh Murray", "'Truly, in this world, I fill up a/place which may be better supplied/when I have made it empty'/'As You Like It' Act 1, Sc 2/Leigh Murray/Oct 19th 1848", 4½x7 letter affixed to 5½x8 sheet of construction paper. Henry Leigh Murray (1820-1870) left a town clerk's job to pursue, with success, an acting career. After performing on stages in Hull, York and Edinburgh in the early 1840s, he made his London debut in The Hunchback (1845). He was principle player with the Lyceum, Olympic and Strand companies, well known for his roles as Henry Dornton in The Road to Ruin and as Birchall in The Vicar of Wakefield. In 1841, he married Elizabeth Lee, the daughter of a theater manager. Elizabeth was not herself an actress, but nursed Henry through a series of lengthy illnesses. His last appearance was at a benefit staged for him by fellow actors at Drury Lane (June 27, 1865). Letter lightly toned and worn at edges. Unknown residue at face (not affecting signature). Ink note (unknown hand) at bottom edge of construction paper. Lightly toned at edges of construction paper. Adhesive tape affixed at right and bottom edge of construction paper. Otherwise, fine condition.