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Samuel Phelps

(1804-1878), Actor

Early Victorian Portraits Catalogue Entry

Sitter in 10 portraits
Samuel Phelps spent a number of years working in provincial theatre before making his first London appearance at the Haymarket Theatre in 1837, as Shylock in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice. He spent six years at Covent Garden, the Haymarket and Drury Lane theatres. In 1844, he became co-lessee of the Sadler's Wells Theatre with Thomas Greenwood and Mary Amelia Warner. Phelps remained in this position for twenty years, raising the Sadler's Wells house to an important position. He directed thirty-four of Shakespeare's plays there and appeared himself in an extensive and varied repertory. He published an annotated edition of Shakespeare's plays in two volumes (1852-4).

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Samuel Phelps, by London Stereoscopic & Photographic Company - NPG Ax28542

Samuel Phelps

by London Stereoscopic & Photographic Company
albumen carte-de-visite, 1860s
NPG Ax28542

Samuel Phelps, by London Stereoscopic & Photographic Company - NPG x12729

Samuel Phelps

by London Stereoscopic & Photographic Company
albumen carte-de-visite, 1860s
NPG x12729

Samuel Phelps, by Unknown photographer - NPG Ax7674

Samuel Phelps

by Unknown photographer
woodburytype, 1870s
NPG Ax7674

Group of 29 actors, after Lock & Whitfield, and  Elliott & Fry, and  Fradelle & Marshall, and  Pierre Petit, and  Louis Bertin, and  Unknown photographers - NPG x132955

Group of 29 actors

after Lock & Whitfield, and Elliott & Fry, and Fradelle & Marshall, and Pierre Petit, and Louis Bertin, and Unknown photographers
woodburytype, late 1870s
NPG x132955

Samuel Phelps ('The Last of the

Samuel Phelps ('The Last of the "Legitimates"')

published by Frederick Arnold, after Unknown artist
lithograph, published in the Hornet 20 December 1871
NPG D48267

Samuel Phelps as Cardinal Wolsey in Shakespeare's Henry VIII, by Charles Philip Slocombe, after  Sir Johnston Forbes-Robertson - NPG D40182

Samuel Phelps as Cardinal Wolsey in Shakespeare's Henry VIII

by Charles Philip Slocombe, after Sir Johnston Forbes-Robertson
etching, published 2 June 1879 (1878)
NPG D40182

Web image not currently available

Samuel Phelps

by Unknown photographer
woodburytype, 1870s
NPG x12730

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