Irving was without doubt the most famous and influential actor-manager of the Victorian period. Irving never allowed photographers inside the Lyceum, and very few of the surviving illustrations give a clear picture of the mechanics of his stage. Therefore I have concentrated less upon Irving's technical stage-craft within the architectural limitations of his theatre, than upon the aesthetic principles of that stage-craft, the self-contained picture which creates an atmospheric environment beyond the footlights, and upon his own hypnotic power as an extraordinary and controversial actor. - Introduction.

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