“Benefit and Positively the Last Appearance of Miss Adah Isaacs Menken…” Theatrical broadside, Howard Athenaeum, Boston.

(AMERICAN JUDAICA).

Farwell

Boston

1862

Singe printed page.

Advertising Isaac Menken’s last appearance in her celebrated performances “Mazeppa” and “her fearful ascent and descent on the wild horse.” Adah Isaacs Menken (1835-68) was the highest earning American actress of her time. She was best known for her performance in the melodrama Mazeppa, with a climax that apparently featured her nude on stage while riding a horse. “Adah Isaacs Menken, the first American Jewish ‘superstar,’ helped pioneer the art of cultivating an outsized, even outrageous, personality as a path to fame and fortune.” (JVL).