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EDWIN BOOTH
A famous nomen I called him even now.
Alas I the plain truth in plain English is
that his illustrious name and fame and the
tradition of his art are all that is left to
the American tragic stage, which to-day
is trodden only by the spirits of departed
actors, of whom all but him are practically
forgotten. A vacant stage, haunted by
ghosts, visited by dying winds of mem-
ory! One recalls with delight the purity
of his enunciation, the elegant correctness
of his pronunciation, the exquisite adjust-
ment and proportion of his emphases, his
absolute mastery of the music and the
meaning of Shakespeare's verse; and then,
one may note, if one chooses, that the art
of elocution, as he practiced it, is to all
intents and purposes, for the theatre of
1902, a lost art.
A great tragic actor, who is dealing
with material such as that which is fur-
nished by the Great Dramatist, is usually
driven by an imperious impulse to try ex-
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