LOUISA LANE DREW - AUTOGRAPH SENTIMENT SIGNED 1893 CO-SIGNED BY: DANIEL B. STEDMAN SR., EDWARD SMITH WILLARD - HFSID 304509

LOUISA LANE DREW, DANIEL B. STEDMAN SR., and EDWARD SMITH WILLARD
The actors sign opposite sides of a day calendar page
Autograph Sentiment signed: "Believe me/faithfully yours/Louise Drew/Chicago/1893", 6½x5. Also signed on verso "Edw S Willard 185?" [right edge of page missing] and "Daniel B. Stedman Sr. 1840". British-American stage actress LOUISE (LANE) DREW (1820-1897) appeared on stage with Junius Brutus Booth and his son, John Wilkes Booth (the assassin of President Lincoln.) She married another famed actor, John Drew, Sr. Together they managed New York's Arch Street Theatre, and performed there. Their children included John Drew, Jr.; and Georgiana Drew Barrymore. Her grandchildren were the even more famous actors John, Ethel and Lionel Barrymore. She is the great-great grandmother of actress Drew Barrymore. EDWARD SMITH WILLARD (1853-1915) starred in several hit London plays, including Jim the Penman (1886) and The Middleman (1889). He brought the latter role in New York to much acclaim in 1890, the first of his13 US tours. The date next to Willard's signature must be his birth date, not a signing date. No hard information is available on Daniel B. Stedman, Sr., but if the date he has given is also a birth date, he might be the Civil War diarist Daniel B. Stedman. Left edge torn and missing. Right edge notched and worn. Top edge lightly toned. Light foxing. Minor surface creases (not affecting signatures). Adhesive residue at left edge on verso. Otherwise, fine condition.