OF OLD NEW YORK

Edwin Booth  Memorial

The memorial of Edwin Booth erected in Gramercy
Park is the first of its kind to an actor in this country.
It is a product of the genius of one of the members of
The Players—the club founded by Mr. Booth in 1888.
Mr. Booth conceived the idea that the intermingling of
players with men of kindred arts—writers, artists, sculp¬
tors, architects, musicians—would broaden their vision
. and give them a deeper knowledge of human motive and
human action. These others also would derive intel¬
lectual and spiritual stimulus from contact with men who
were interpreting the masters of dramatic literature and
song. How excellently the idea has worked out is shown
in the bronze statue of Edwin Booth recently erected in
Gramercy Park and unveiled November 13th, 1918, the
anniversary of Mr. Booth's birth.

The memorial is a fine representation of Booth in
his favorite role of Hamlet when he was about the age
of thirty-five, and to people who remember him in his
incomparable impersonation of this character the statue
has a strangely fascinating interest. Those who saw
him as he rose to speak the famous soliloquy, "To be
or not to be," have the whole scene vividly brought back
to them. The statue is a noble memorial of the great
Shakespearean actor, and will perpetuate his lovable per¬
sonality as well as his great achievements to future gen¬
erations of New Yorkers. Mr. Edmond T. Quinn, the
sculptor, and Mr. Edwin S. Dodge, the architect, have
accomplished a work of which the people of New York
are justly proud.

The unveiling of the statue was an interesting event
and well worthy of being preserved in the annals of our

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