Edwin Booth in the Costume of a Roman Censor from 600 B.C., from the set Actors and Actresses, First Series (N70) for Duke brand cigarettes

Art Historical Context

This vibrant chromolithograph captures Edwin Booth, one of America's greatest 19th-century actors, dressed as a Roman censor from 600 B.C. Produced by W. Duke, Sons & Co. in collaboration with Knapp & Company around 1888–89, it measures just 2¾ × 1½ inches, designed as a collectible insert for Duke brand cigarette packs from the "Actors and Act, First Series" (N70). These commercial color lithographs were a clever marketing innovation by tobacco companies, enticing smokers to buy more packs for the full set of theatrical portraits. Chromolithography allowed for affordable, eye-catching color ...

About the Artist

W. Duke, Sons & Co.|Knapp & Company · 1870–1920

**W. Duke, Sons & Co.: Pioneers of Chromolithographic Trade Card Art** W. Duke, Sons & Co., an American tobacco manufacturer, emerged from the entrepreneurial vision of Washington Duke (1820–1905) and his sons in Durham, North Carolina. After the Civil War, Washington abandoned farming in 1874 to join his eldest son, Brodie L. Duke, in the burgeoning tobacco trade, establishing a factory that for...