Letter from John Bannister, London, to Sir George Beaumont, 1820 November 17 : autograph manuscript.

Thanking Beaumont for a present of game and acknowledging "the many other instances of your friendly attention"; saying that his old friend Richard Wroughton "cannot shake off his lethargic complaint, yet he still continues to rally, and trusts you will find him Game to the last"; giving Beaumont Wroughton's address; mentioning their mutual friend the architect George Dance and saying that he has seen him twice since his confinement: "his spirits are good -- and he expresses himself much more articulately than I could have expected"; passing along Dance's greetings; saying that he has no "Theatrical intelligence" to share, as "all my Stage Companions have finally taken leave -- and the present Performers seldom fall in my way"; commenting on Junius Brutus Booth as the successor to Edmund Kean: "the loss of the latter must be severely felt, particularly if the former is the best Booth in the Fair"; writing that, to judge from the playbills, Covent Garden Theatre "must be taking the lead -- the Managers are always on the alert -- both in respect to Pieces and Performers"; saying that he does not go to the theater regularly anymore, though he did go to two performances at the Haymarket Theatre during the summer, "and experienced all the comfort and advantage of a small Theatre[.] I could hear and see -- (gratifications seldom felt in the Winter Houses) I laughed outrageously at [John] Liston who, in my opinion, is equal to any comic Actor I have ever seen. I likewise admired Madame Vestris -- a very pretty woman -- who performed Macheath in the Beggars Opera most enchantingly. In this old Theatre (where I first appeared in The Apprentice in 1778) I was much better pleased with the performances than anything I have seen for some time"; mentioning that it has been announced that James William Wallack, on his return from America, will be playing Hamlet at Drury Lane; writing "I recollect also, when I played Hamlet (many years since) the Carpenters said 'Jack Bannister was the best that ever played it, for he got through it three quarters of an hour sooner than any one else!'"; sending his compliments to Lady Beaumont.