RARE \"The Unknown\" John A. Stevens Clipped Signature For Sale

Up for sale a RARE! "The Unknown" John A. Stevens Clipped Signature. 

ES-1263B

John

A. Stevens (1844 - June 2,

1916) was an American playwright, actor, and theatre manager, best known for

playing the title part in The Unknown. Stevens

was born in Baltimore in 1844. In 1865, he went on stage in Norfolk,

Virginia, later becoming a manager there. He managed the Memphis

Opera House in the early 1870s, and also the Coates Opera House in Kansas City, Missouri from

1871-73. He also started a "Great Western Star Circuit" to travel in

western American cities. In 1879 he came to New York City, and took a lease on

the Stadt Theatre, which he

renamed the Windsor. After a fire destroyed that venue in 1883, he leased

another theatre, but returned to the road when that did not succeed. Among his

plays were Passion's Slave, Wife for Wife, The

Prairie Waif, and Daniel Boone. But his best known play

was The Unknown: A River Mystery, which he wrote for himself to

star in. He debuted the piece in 1878, and played it for many years. According

to an 1879 review in The Sun at

the Globe Theatre,

the play revolves around "a sailor who is sane for fifteen minutes at the

opening of the piece and for fifteen minutes more at the close; but during the

rest of the five acts is a raving maniac. He is all the while in search of his

sister, who is hotly pursued by villains ..." In

1880, he wrote The Prairie Waif for Buffalo Bill, receiving $4,000 for his work. According to

Stevens, when he named a price of $5000 to Bill for writing the play, he

claimed "Great Omaha! ... Why I never paid more than $500 for a play

before." Stevens said he replied "But if you had paid $5,000 before

perhaps you would not have needed a new play now."