PREFACE
 

IN 1832 WilHam Dunlap published his " History of the American
Theatre." Since that time, no writers, except Joseph N. Ireland
and myself, have undertaken the arduous task.

In his work Mr. Dunlap stated that the first dramatic perform¬
ance ever given in America occurred In 1752. At Castle Garden
one hundred years later, as I shall tell in detail, that date was erro¬
neously celebrated as the anniversary of the introduction of the
drama into America. During my researches I have discovered
that a dramatic company performed in Philadelphia In 1749.

Joseph Norton Ireland wrote the Records of the New York Stage
from 1750 to i860. My record commences eighteen years before
Ireland's, and cXo%z% forty-two years later.

In 1853 I commenced to compile "A History of the American
Stage" and for five years thereafter devoted my entire time to it.
I travelled over the United States from Maine to California, visiting
the libraries of the different cities and towns in search of possible
information relating to the drama in America. Early in 1857 I
completed the work occupying over three thousand folios, and im¬
mediately afterward arranged with the late Frank Queen, then
editor and proprietor of The New York Clipper, for its publication.
It took from two to three columns weekly in that paper for a period
of nearly four years to complete the publication. At that time my
work, besides the history proper of the theatres, contained a biogra¬
phy of almost every man, woman, and child that had ever appeared
on the American stage. The biographical portion of the work was
afterward published in book form. It made a volume of over five
hundred pages.

During the early part of the winter of 1869 I continued my
research for any dramatic performances in America prior to 1749.
For weeks I had access to many private and valuable libraries, as