Henry Collard was in the first shows that Maskelyne and Cooke put on at the Egyptian Hall starting 26 May 1873. He was the only non-Maskelyne and Cooke act in the whole show. In the programme (see N1462) his billing is:
Mr Henry Collard, the Pocket Sims Reeves. This miniature gentleman is in his 22nd year and is less in stature than Commodore Nutt.
Sims Reeve was a well-known singer of the day and Commodore Nutt had become well-known through his work with P.T. Barnum. This carte de visite was a gift from Henry Collard’s great grandson. The verso of the card is also of interest because it shows the remnants of a sticky label. The label is hard to read because the text is incomplete. Luckily other remnants of these labels exist and it is possible to reconstruct the wording:
MASKELEYNE & COOKE’S
FOR DATES SEE BILLS
MONSTER ENTERTAINMENT
Notice the extra ‘e’ in Maskelyne. It is not obvious why the stickers should be found around the carte de visite. It might be expected that J.N. Maskelyne would choose not to use these misprinted cards for publicity. Strangely, we have also found one of the stickers on an Egyptian Hall programme from 1886: see N1529 and the illustration included here.