(CALIFORNIA) Early playbill for San Franciscos American Thea

Sale 2505 - Lot 40

Price Realized: $ 2,000

?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price

Estimate: $ 600 - $ 900

(CALIFORNIA.) Early playbill for San Francisco's American Theatre, printed on silk. Letterpress broadside, 18 x 6 inches, printed on silk; folds, minimal wear. San Francisco, CA: Herald Print, 10 December 1851

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An interesting survival from very early in San Francisco's theater history. The first known performance in the boom town was a one-man show staged in a courthouse in June 1849. Within a couple of years, the city had two competing theaters, including the 2000-seat American Theatre on Sansome Street. This playbill promises the first California performance of the opera Guy Mannering ("Not to be excelled by any theatre on the Atlantic side!!!"), the comic opera The Invisible Prince, and finally a performance of Three Simpletons. An appearance by the local firemen was also promised: "The Howard Engine Company will visit the theatre in full uniform."