Author:
John Lawrence Toole (1830-1906), English comic actor, a consummate farceur, championed by Charles Dickens, and proprietor of Toole’s Theatre in London’s Charing Cross
Publication details:
1 March 1889; 44 Maida Vale, London W. The card is undated: ‘“Ink Photo.” Sprague & Co. London.’
Toole’s entry in the Oxford DNB describes how ‘Toole was desolate, and his health broke’, after the Tooles’ twenty-two year-old daughter Florence died from typhoid fever on in November 1888, contracted a week before when visiting her parents who were performing at Cork. Her mother, Toole’s wife Susan, died three and a half months later, in February 1889. Both letter and card are in good condition. They are enclosed in a grubby envelop, with stamp and postmarks, addressed to ‘David Cunningham Esq / Belmont / Antrim / Ireland’. Letter and envelope have thick mourning border. ONE: ALS.
