Historical and Art Medals, Numismatic Books

19th Century, George Cooke, 1805, a copper medal by T. Webb, bust right, rev. legend in wreath, 54mm (BHM 570; Svarstad 45; E 973). Some light spotting on obverse, otherwise extremely fine (£60-80)

George Frederick Cooke (1756-1811), tragic actor, led a cosmopolitan life on the stage, both in this country and in the USA, that was plagued with bouts of alcoholism and drunkenness. He first performed in Brentford in 1776, and appeared in theatres throughout England and Ireland for the next quarter-century, though not making his debut at Covent Garden until October 1801. His misdeeds on the London stage, including being hissed off by the audience for drunkenness, were legion. A meeting with Thomas Cooper, the ‘American Roscius’, in 1809 led Cooke to accept an engagement of $12,000 for 40 nights in New York. In 1811 his irregular life caught up with him and he died of dropsy, in New York, at the age of 56