SIMS REEVES - AUTOGRAPH NOTE SIGNED CO-SIGNED BY: EDWARD LOOMIS DAVENPORT - HFSID 224518

SIMS REEVES and EDWARD LOOMIS DAVENPORT
Handwritten note by the English opera and concert tenor, also signed in London by American actor Davenport
Autograph Note signed: "My dear Johnny Brize/very truly yours/Sims Reeves", "Edw. L. Davenport/Theatre Royal Haymarket", 5x3¾. English tenor John SIMS REEVES (1821-1900) was a star of opera, oratorio and ballad performances. He played the role of Edgardo in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor at Milan's La Scala in 1846, becoming so closely associated with the role that his wife called him "Gardie". In 1847, he shared a concert stage for the first time with Jenny Lind in Edinburgh. His performance of Handel's Messiah at the Crystal Palace from 1857 became an annual tradition. Reeves performed privately for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, and many composers, including Arthur Sullivan, wrote music especially for him. Sims wrote two volumes of autobiography, and The Art of Singing (1900). American actor EDWARD LOOMIS DAVENPORT (1815-1877) began his stage career in Providence, Rhode Island, in the company of Junius Brutus Booth, before moving to England, where he played supporting roles on the London stage and married actress Fanny Vining (shown in the accompanying image as Mrs. Davenport). The couple's two children would become prominent actors, Harry and Fanny Davenport, the latter very famous. Davenport returned to the US in 1854, billed in prominent - often villainous roles in Shakespeare plays and Dickens adaptations. He was noted for his "Bill Sikes" in Oliver Twist, and for Brutus in Julius Caesar. Irregularly cut. Lightly soiled. Fine condition.