1858

The press cutting has the handwritten date 3 October 1858. According to the newspaper clipping ‘Patchwork’ is a comic and musical drawing-room entertainment which embodies fourteen impersonations of character. Mrs Howard Paul will repeat “Come into the Garden, Maud” every evening. This is one of the items contained in a wooden box of 19th century ephemera, mainly relating to the Egyptian Hall. To view all the items from the box, click on View Details and then the Key Phrase ‘Wooden box items’.

St. James’s Hall, situated between Regent Street and Piccadilly, was the first central London venue for Maskelyne and Cooke, prior to their move to the Egyptian Hall. People used to reading 19th century newspaper prose will know that it can be, shall we say, over the top. This particular article on pages 145, 146 and 160 would take some beating! Caution must be exercised in believing that the drawings are an accurate representation of the hall.