It includes an engraving of the stage immortal Sarah Siddons in the role of Lady Macbeth. That role, among so many others, brought her enormous fame and adulation. Her brilliance and beauty dominated the late-18th century London stage. In a farewell performance as Lady Macbeth at Covent Garden in 1812, once her sleepwalking scene (engraved above) was concluded, the uproarious ovation from the audience was such that the evening's play was not even continued to its conclusion.
By the time that lengthy demonstration of affection finally subsided, the curtain was reportedly raised to find that Mrs. Siddons had changed into her own clothes (no quick matter in that era) and was ready to thank the audience for their many years of enthusiastic support. Having endured a disappointing start in her earliest stage efforts at Drury Lane, she had sharpened her acting skills on provincial stages around the country and had returned to London with a vengeance that proved Shakespearean in its grandeur.
The engraving is by Jean Marie Delattre from a painting by J. Rhamberg. Sarah Siddons had her portrait painted by two of the finest British portrait painters of the day, Thomas Gainsborough (whose work is shown immediately below) and Sir Joshua Reynolds (whose portrait of Sarah Siddons as "The Tragic Muse" is at bottom).
She still gave occasional stage performances after her formal retirement from the stage, hardly surprising for a person who came from a family of theatrical performers (her younger brother John Philip Kemble and niece Fanny Kemble, among others, achieved considerable acclaim as well).
Sarah Kemble Siddons died in London in 1831, and was honored with a statue on Paddington Green.
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