Edwin Booth, from the series Great Americans (N76) for Duke brand cigarettes 1888

This is a lithograph of Edwin Booth, the 19th-century American actor, printed by W. Duke, Sons & Co. as part of their "Great Americans" series of cigarette cards. These cards, distributed with tobacco products, were a form of early advertising, but they also spoke volumes about who was considered worthy of celebration in America at the time. Consider the implications of Booth’s inclusion in this series. While celebrated for his acting, Booth was also the brother of John Wilkes Booth, President Lincoln’s assassin. This fraught family history cannot be separated from Edwin’s image. The backdrop of the card shows a figure in costume set against a palatial building. This illustrative strategy evokes the romanticism of the theater stage. As you look closely, ask yourself how celebrity and infamy intertwine, and how the construction of an American identity in the late 19th century was built upon both admiration and notoriety.