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Menken, Adah Isaacs, 1835 - 1868

 Person

Dates

  • Existence: 15 June 1835 - 10 August 1868

Biography

Adah Isaacs Menken was an American actress, painter and poet born on 15 June 1835.

Adah started performing as a child, first dancing and later acting. Although receiving poor reviews as an actress, she became most famous for her role in the equestrian drama Mazeppa, in which she was carried by a horse apparently naked. Mazeppa was a well-known hippodrama of the period, based on a poem by Lord Byron, in which Adah played the leading role to great success. She toured her version of Mazeppa in America, London, where she debuted at Astley’s Amphitheatre, and France.

Adah became a benefactor, sharing the fortune she made through her work with friends, theatre people in need and charities.

She also achieved notoriety for her multiple marriages and affairs. Adah married her first husband in 1855 and divorced him a year later to marry Alexander Isaac Menken, a musician from a prominent Reform Jewish family in Ohio and from whom she took her name. She married another three times and had affairs among others with Charles Blondin and Alexander Dumas.

As an author, Adah published about twenty essays, one hundred poems and a book of her collected poems.

Adah travelled between England and France between 1864 and 1868. She fell ill in London in 1868 and died shortly after in Paris on 10 August aged 33.

Found in 14 Collections and/or Records:

Adah Isaacs Menken as Mazeppa Print, c1800 - 1899

 Item
Reference code: 178V11.14
Scope and Contents

Lithograph on paper printed by Concanen, Lee and Siebe, 12 Frith Street. Colour illustration of woman tied up to a black galloping horse in a mountanous landscape.

Dates: c1800 - 1899

Astley's Programme, c1864 - 1868

 Item
Reference code: 178K43.4
Scope and Contents 14th November and all the week. Miss Ada Isaacs Menken as Mazeppa, Mr. Gresham, Mr. Montague, Mr. Atkins, Mr. Johnstone, Mr. G. Craig, Mr. Webber, Miss Julia Seaman, Mrs. E. F. Edgar, Miss Minnie Clifford, Mr. Basil Potter, Mr. Henry Frazer, Mr. J. Craddock, Mr. W. Templeton, Miss Liversey, M. Milano and Miss Annie Cooke in Mazeppa, Sig. Redmond on his Indian rope trick, Mr. Dulcimer Pipes, Mr. Atkins, Mr. W. Templeton, Mr. Johnstone, Mr. G. Atkins, Mrs. E. F. Edgar and Miss Minnie Clifford...
Dates: c1864 - 1868

Astley's Programme, c1864 - 1868

 Item
Reference code: 178K43.5
Scope and Contents Saturday 19th October, Monday 21st and following nights. Farewell performance of Miss Adah Isaacs Menken, Mr. Felix Rogers, Mr. David Evans, Mr. Walter Carle, Mr. Arthur, Mr. Craddock, and Miss Josephine Fiddes in Good for Nothing, Mr. David Evans, Mr. Walter Carle, Mr. H. River, Mr. Felix Rogers, Miss Josephine Fiddes, Mrs. Bishop, Miss Julia Craven, Mr. Bassil Potter, Miss Adah Isaacs Menken, Mr. Vivian, Mr. Craddock, Mr. Bentley, Mr. Arthur and Miss Duberry in Mazeppa and the Wild Horse....
Dates: c1864 - 1868

Astley's Programme, c1864 - 1868

 Item
Reference code: 178K43.7
Scope and Contents Monday 11th November and following evenings. Farewell performance of Miss Adah Isaacs Menken, Mr. Felix Rogers, Mr. David Evans, Mr. Clifford, Mr. Bentley, Miss Beatrice Marston and Miss Julia Craven in That Rascal Jack, Mr. Evans, Mr. Walter Carle, Mr. H. Rivers, Mr. Felix Rogers, Miss Josephine Fiddes, Miss Julia Craven, Mr. Basil Potter, Miss Adah Isaacs Menken, Mr. Vivian, Mr. Craddock, Mr. Bentley, Mr. Arthur and Miss Duberry in Mazeppa and the Wild Horse. Black type on white background...
Dates: c1864 - 1868

Astley's Programme, Monday 3 July 1865 and during the week

 Item
Reference code: 178K43.8
Scope and Contents Miss Adah Isaacs Menken, Mr. Johnstone, Miss Nisbitt, Mr. Anderson, Mr. Atkins, Mrs. C. Wharton, Miss Ada Edson and Miss Minnie Sidney in The Wandering Minstrel, Mr. Gresham, Mr. T. J. Anderson, Mr. J. B. Johnstone, Mr. Atkins, Mr. Weaver, Miss Josephine Fidder, Mrs. C. Wharton, Miss Nisbitt, Mr. Basil Potter, Miss Adah Isaacs Menken, Mr. Johnstone, Mr. Cradddock, Mr. Shelton, Mr. Harry Croueste, Miss Ninnie Sidney and Miss Clifton in Mazippa or the Wild Horse of Tartary, Mr. G. Craig, Mr....
Dates: Monday 3 July 1865 and during the week

Circus Friends Association Collection

 Fonds
Reference code: NFA0122
Scope and Contents

This collection consists of a large library of books and journals, as well as archival material including posters, programmes, photographs, films, handbills, research material, scrapbooks, original artwork and many other items of ephemera relating to British, Irish and European circuses

Dates: 1795 - 2020

Early Circus Programmes, c1800 - 1999

 Sub-Series
Reference code: 178K43.1-28
Scope and Contents

Early British circus and variety programmes including Astley's, Batty's and Lord George Sanger's circus.

Dates: c1800 - 1999

Original Artwork, c1800 - 2000

 Series
Reference code: 178V11
Scope and Contents

Original works of art including artists' prints, drawings, watercolours and paintings, and designs for circus posters.

Dates: c1800 - 2000

Posters, c1800 - 2011

 Series
Reference code: 178R47
Scope and Contents

A wide range of British and international circus and menagerie posters ranging from the 19th to the 21st century including Astley's Amphitheatre, Pablo Fanque, Polito, Bostock and Wombwell, Ducrow, Cooke, Hengler, Sanger, Smart, Gerry Cottle, Bertram Mills, Chipperfield's, Robert Brothers, Fossett, Blackpool Tower, Billy Russell, Belle Vue, Great Yarmouth Hippodrome, Austen Brothers and many more.

Dates: c1800 - 2011

Programmes, c1800 - 2019

 Series
Reference code: 178K43
Scope and Contents

A collection of mainly British and international circus programmes and some variety and music hall programmes containing circus acts.

Dates: c1800 - 2019

Theatre Royal Envelope, c1800 - 1899

 Item
Reference code: 178Z50.3
Scope and Contents

White envelope with purple type reading Theatre Royal, Haymarket and in ink and pencil 'Mrs Menken's Autograph', 'Adah Isaacs Menken 1835-1868 Eng echers'.

Dates: c1800 - 1899

Theatre Royal Poster, Saturday 30 November 1867, Monday 2 December and during the week

 Item
Reference code: 178R47.1
Scope and Contents

Birmingham. Cattle and Dog Shows, Miss Adah Isaacs Menken, Paris and Back for £5, Mazeppa's equestrian act, Programme of Scenery and Incidents, Sarah's Young Man. Black type on off white background. Printed at the Theatre Royal Printing Office, Birmingham.

Dates: Saturday 30 November 1867, Monday 2 December and during the week

Various Items, c1800 - 2019

 Series
Reference code: 178Z50
Scope and Contents

A range of circus related items related to Hassan Ali, Adha Issacs Menken, Barnum and Bailey, funeral items, illustrations of circus parades, circus tickets, discount vouchers and booking forms, circus themed stickers, famous clown clay models, circus themed jigsaw puzzles, circus model figures, comics books and children's books, Circus Friends Association related material, Montecarlo Circus Festival related items, Jesse Fossett's throwing knives and other items.

Dates: c1800 - 2019

Victorian, Edwardian and Georgian Circus Posters, c1800 - 1930

 Sub-Series
Reference code: 178R47.1-51
Scope and Contents

Early circus and menagerie posters including Polito's menagerie, Astley's Amphitheatre and Pablo Fanque's, Sanger's, Powell's, Ducrow's, Cooke's and Hengler's circuses among others.

Dates: c1800 - 1930