HENRY IRVING AS MATTHIAS IN "THE BELLS"
The part in which Irving made his first appearance in America
From the collection of Miss Evelyn Smalley
No wonder, then, that the first time that the Wolverhampton doctor's warning was disregarded, and Henry played "The Bells" at Bradford, his heart could not stand the strain. Within twenty-four hours of his last death as Matthias, he was dead.
What a heroic thing was that last performance of [Becket] which came between! I am told by those who were in the company at the time that he was obviously suffering and dazed, this last night of life. But he went through it all as usual. The courteous little speech to the audience, the signing of a worrying boy's drawing at the stage-door—all that he had done for years, he did faithfully for the last time.
HENRY IRVING AS BECKET
From the collection of Miss Evelyn Smalley
Photographed by H.H. Hay Cameron