31 watercolor scenes from various Shakespearean plays, and several sketches (1879 and n.d.) done by actor-producer E. H. Sothern, as well as costume and property designs by Tony Binder and H. A. Ogden for plays in which Sothern and his wife, actress Julia Marlowe, appeared. The 3 costume designs by H. A. Ogden are for The cavalier (1897) and If I were king by Justin Huntly McCarthy (ca. 1901); 2 costume designs by Tony Binder are for an unidentified play; there is also a design for a bed by Mawers, Ltd., and 2 published images of paintings by Antonius Van Dyck, possibly intended as costume designs.
Biographical/historical: Performer, director, producer, and writer, E.H. Sothern (1859-1933) was born in New Orleans into a theatrical family. Educated in England, he worked for some ten years (until 1898) as an actor in Daniel Frohman's company at New York's Lyceum Theatre in comedic and romantic roles. After winning acclaim in his own production of Hamlet (1900), Sothern and his second wife, Julia Marlowe, starred in their productions of Shakespeare and a few modern plays for almost 20 years. He died in New York City of pneumonia.