Studio portrait of Miss Lily Dampier as Portia in “The Merchant of Venice”. Sydney, 1887.

A$110 · Offered by Douglas Stewart Fine Books

Albumen print photograph, cabinet card format, 165 x 109 mm (mount); recto with printed caption Miss Lily Dampier and imprint of Falk / 496 George Street, Sydney , along with a pencilled annotation Portia ; the print with some light foxing, more pronounced on the mount. Provenance: from a group of theatre-related photographs originally collected by the Sydney actor, stage manager and playwright Alfred Dampier. Australian stage and silent screen actress Lily Dampier (Katherine Annabel Lily Dampier, 1867-1915) was the daughter of Alfred Dampier and Katherine Russell. Although her best known stage roles were Shakespearean, she was also a success as Sylvia in her father s adaptation of Marcus Clarke s novel For the Term of His Natural Life , and as Kate in Robbery Under Arms . She later starred in several early Australian silent films, including three released in 1911: The Life of Rufus Dawes , which was based on her father s stage adaptation of For the Term of His Natural Life ; Captain Midnight, the Bush King ; and Captain Starlight, or Gentleman of the Road.

• Binding: Hardcover

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