ART, LITERARY, AND DRAMATIC GOSSIP.

Globe, Volume XXIII, Issue 2242, 5 May 1881, Page 2

ART, LITERARY, AND DRAMATIC GOSSIP.

[“From English and other files.]

The New York “ Era ” has discovered a curious instance of almost verbatim copying from another author in Lord Beaconsfield’s novel of “ Bndymion.” In Joseph Irving’s “ Annals of Our Time,” published in London in 1876, is a passage descriptive of the railway king, Hudson’s, enormous transactions, which is repeated almost in the identical language in the novel. “ Her World against a Lie,” produced at the Adelphi, proved to be a not very skilful dramatisation of Miss Florence Marryat’s really dramatic novel. The authoress herself made a very successful first appearance os Hepbzibah Horton, but the presentation of of the drama as a whole was far from satisfactory. Signor Salvini's recent successes while playing in Italian with an English company lead Mr Matthews to mention the following precedents for such a bilingual performance—“ln Gautier’s ‘Russia* there is, if I remember aright, an. account of the acting of Othello by Ira Aldridge, the African Roscius, as he was called, who spoke English, surrounded by native actors using their native tongue. At different times, Mr Edwin Booth has acted with Herr Bandmann and Fraulein Janauschek, all speaking their own language. And on one occasion “ Othello ” was acted in this city with Bogumil Dawiaon as Othello, Booth as lago, Mr Newton Gotthold as Oassio, and Mdme. Methua Schiller as Dcsdemona. Dawison and Booth each spoke bis own tongue; Mdme. Schiller and Mr Gotthold alternated from English to German, as they chanced to bo acting with the American tragedian or the German. Several other instances of bilinguol [and trilingual performances might be added to this list.