Professor of theatre and English F. Arant Maginnes taught at Birmingham-Southern College, the University of Alabama, and George Washington University. She lives near Washington, D.C.

“fascinating”—The Weathercock; “Maginnes has done...a great service in publishing these letters”—Enlightenment and Dissent.

• Table of ContentsAcknowledgments      List of Illustrations      xiiiPreface      Introduction      PartThe Rise to Fame, 1775–18031. “This Wild Immeasurably Spread”—1800      2. British-Born—1775–88      3. “Aut Caesar aut Nihil”—1788–92      4. “The Die Is Cast”—1792–93      5. “My Fortune Smiles”      An Irish Benefit—1793      “Wretched Set of Mummers—1794      6. “A Young Gentleman”      Mr. Holcroft—1795      First Appearance—1795–96      7. The Wheel of Fortune—1796–98      8. The New House      The Park Debu—1798      André—1799      New Successes—1799      9. “Fame Is My Deity”      New York City—1799–1800      Philadelphia—1800–01      10. Rising Returns—1801–03      PartThe American Star, 1803–184911. An American Indeed      Drury Lane—1803      The Provinces—1803–04      12. The United States’ Star      New York and Philadelphia—1804-05      Boston—1805–06      The South—1806–07      13. Yankee Ingenuity      Itinerant Star—1807–10      “This Glorious Son of York”—1810      “A Hearty Welcome”—1811–12      14. The American Roscius—1812–19      15. A Rival      A New Vogue—1819–20      “A Triumph to Cooper”—1820–21      16. A New Venue—1820–25      17. Turning Tide      An American Tragedian—1825–28      Success and Sorrow—1828–33      18. “The Father of the American Stage”—1833–36      Epilogue 1835–49      Chapter Notes      Bibliography      Index