A group of three (3) letterpress broadsides from London theaters, including: Theatre Royal, Covent-Garden...Castle of Andalusia...Father & His Children. London, 1 November 1817. -- Theatre Royal. Covent-Garden...The Cabinet...Russian Festival...Father & His Children. London, 29 November 1817. -- Twenty-sixth Night of the new Tragedy. Theatre Royal, Drury-Lane...Brutus; Or, The Fall of Tarquin...The Silver Arrow; Or, Harlequin and the Fairy Pari Banon. London, 21 January 1819. Each approx. ## x ## in.

An excellent collection of broadsides featuring detailed descriptions of each evening's entertainments and performers.The first two broadsides, both from 1817, advertise performances held at the Theatre Royal, Covent-Garden. First opened in 1662, it was primarily a playhouse in its first century. In the 18th century its offerings diversified, including ballets and many of the operas and oratorios of George Frideric Handel. The original building was lost to fire in 1808 with construction of the second theatre initiated the same year. It was in 1817, the date of these broadsides, that bare flame gaslight replace the candles and oil lamps. The theatre was destroyed by fire in 1856, but a third theatre was started the next year, the building remains as the nucleus of the current Royal Opera House.

The 1819 broadside advertises performances held at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. Known as "Drury Lane", the site has been a theatre since the early 1660s. The first building caught fire in 1672, when in need of renovations the second theater was demolished in 1791, and the third theater also burned down in 1809. The modern theater, and location of these performances, was built in 1812 and still hosts theater productions.

[Broadsides, Printing, Ephemera, Theater History, Drama History, English History]