first edition Softcover
1875 · Cincinnati, Ohio
by FRENCH, Arthur and R.S. Crandall. (Adah Richmond)
Cincinnati, Ohio: F.W. Helmick, 278 W. Sixth St, 1875. Softcover. Very Good. Piano-vocal score. Quarto (10" x 13"). 6pp. Front cover printed in blue and gold, with a mounted albumen photograph of Adah Richmond. With publisher's advertisements printed on the front cover verso and on the back cover. Old spine repairs, modest crease on front cover, very good. In the late 1870s Adah Richmond formed a groundbreaking burlesque company, credited as marking the beginning of American burlesque. In *No Legs, No Jokes, No Chance: A History of the American Musical Theater*, the authors credit Richmond's company with the "beginning of American burlesque," (original emphasis) still based on a British parody format, but with "heightened sexiness," and less fidelity to a continuous narrative across multiple acts. (Patinkin & Patinkin, 2008, p. 56). Later, Richmond was involved in a lurid theater scandal when she contested the will of Boston banker and theater owner John Stetson as his long-lost wife. Although Stetson may have been a bigamist, Richmond lost the suit when her own string of earlier marriages (and lack of divorces) were revealed. *OCLC* locates only two copies. This copy seemingly as issued; both holdings recorded in *OCLC* (JHU Sheridan and BYU) for this cover; neither holding has this photograph. (Inventory #: 438149)