s; his dark hair fell in waving curls across his brow,
and his eyes were soft, luminous and most expressive. His father watched
him with great interest, but with evident disappointment, and the
members of the theatrical profession, who held the acting of the elder
Booth in great reverence, seemed to agree that the genius of the father
had not descended to the son. Edwin Booth's first appearance in New York
was in the character of Wilford in _The Iron Chest_, which he played at
the National theatre in Chatham Street, on the 27th of September 1850. A
year later, on the illness of the father, the son took his place in the
character of Richard III. It was not until after his parent's death that
the son conquered for himself an unassailable position on the stage.
Between 1852 and 1856 he played in California, Australia and the
Sandwich Islands, and those who had known him in the east were surprised
when the news came that he had captivated his audiences with his
brilliant acting. From this time forward his dramatic triumphs were
warmly acknowledged. His Hamlet, Richard and Richelieu were pronounced
to be superior to the performances of Edwin Forrest; his success as Sir
Giles Overreach in _A New Way to Pay Old Debts_ surpassed his father's.
In 1862 he became manager of the Winter Garden theatre, New York, where
he gave a series of Shakespearian productions of then unexampled
magnificence (1864-1867), including _Hamlet_, _Othello_ and _The
Merchant of Venice_. The splendour of this period in his career was
dashed for many months when in 1865 his brother, John Wilkes Booth,
assassinated President Lincoln (see LINCOLN, ABRAHAM). The three Booth
brothers, Junius Brutus (1821-1853), Edwin and John Wilkes (1839-1865),
had played together in _Julius Caesar_ in the autumn of the previous
year--the performance being memorable both for its own excellence, and
for the tragic situation into which two of the principal performers were
subsequently hurled by the crime of the third. Edwin Booth did not
reappear on the stage until the 3rd of January 1866, when he played
Hamlet at the Winter Garden theatre, the audience showing by unstinted
applause their conviction that the glory of the one brother would never
be imperilled by the infamy of the other.

In 1868-1869 Edwin Booth built a theatre of his own--Booth's theatre, at
the corner of 23rd Street and 6th Avenue, New York--and organized an
excellent stock company, which produced _Romeo and J