Greeting. 1885. 1886. (Booklet promoting "The charming young American Prima Donna, Abbie Carrington")

Pale pink wraps, 4.5 x 3.75 inches. (4)p with additional text on the inner wraps. Very Good with minor handling wear and discoloration along the inner spine crease. Mid-career promotional booklet touting personal and professional accomplishments of "The charming young American Prima Donna, Abbie Carrington.” Includes her selected repertoire and quotes of critical acclaim.

Abbie Carrington (1856-1925), born in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, was a famous soprano. She initially toured with the C. D. Hess' Opera Company, but split with him in 1884 over mismanagement and unpaid wages. Hess turned an otherwise successful tour in Mexico into a financial disaster, and an ongoing quarrel after her return to New York led her to launch the Abbie Carrington Grand Opera Company. 

Rare and unrecorded—the booklet anticipates 1885-1886 bookings, but Carrington announced in December 1885, "I have abandoned grand opera for this season, but for this season only... I don't believe I will accept any more engagements necessitating continuous travel or prolonged absence from my home. I am rather tired of it, and prefer to make short trips, if I can so arrange." (Milwaukee Journal, 12/2/1885, p4). 1886, Silas J. Pratt wrote the opera "Lucille" for Carrington, slated to be performed in Chicago in November that year, but she postponed the performance, leading to speculation that she was dissatisfied with the work (which she refuted, claiming illness as the cause).

Part of the text was reprinted nearly verbatim in the 1893 collection of biographical sketches edited by Frances Willard and Mary Livermore, A Woman of the Century (154-155): In 1883-84 Miss Carrington visited Mexico and achieved so pronounced a success that in Vera Cruz, Orizaba, Pueblo, Monterey and the City of Mexico she received in writing the thanks of the municipality for the great pleasure she had given their people during her stay among them, and as a declaration of their esteem and appreciation made and presented her subscriptions to the amount of $31,000, to re-visit them the following season with her own company.
   Miss Carrington returned to the United States early in April, and immediately sailed for Europe at the solicitation of Manager Ernest Gye, of Covent Garden Theater, London. While there she secured some of the excellent talent that supported her during the following season, commencing in Richmond, Va., going directly South and to Mexico. During 1884-85 the Abbie Carrington Grand Opera Company proved to be one of the most successful of the organizations on the road..."