Group of three French newspapers, each with front-page full color caricature depiction of the American-Jewish actress Adah Isaacs Menken.

AUCTION 83 | Thursday, June 20th, 2019 at 1:00pm
Printed Books, Manuscripts, Autograph Letters, Holy Land Maps, Ceremonial Objects, Fine & Graphic Art

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Lot 18
(AMERICAN-JUDAICA)

Group of three French newspapers, each with front-page full color caricature depiction of the American-Jewish actress Adah Isaacs Menken.

<<*>> Le Hanneton. 25th May, 1867. <<*>> La Lune. 10th February, 1867. <<*>> Le Monde. 31st July, 1868. Each four pages. Folio.

Paris: v.d

Est: $800 - $1,200
“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.” (Jewish Virtual Library). Also known as Ada Bertha Théodore and Ada C. McCord, Adah Isaacs Menken (1835-68) was a highly successful actress - indeed the highest earning actress of her time. She was best known for her performance in the melodrama Mazeppa, with a climax that appeared to feature her nude while riding a horse on stage. After years of great success with the play in New York and San Francisco, Menken took the production to London and Paris. By most accounts, the actress converted to Judaism after marrying her first husband, Alexander Isaac Menken. In this period, she published poetry and articles on Jewish themes in The Israelite in Cincinnati, and the Jewish Messenger of New York.