May I ask the favour of one of your volumes of Poems direct from yourself. I should be charmed to have some little souvenir from an American so good as you.
I should very much wish to know from you what stage play and what actor and actress you you
remember that has left the most pleasing impression on your mind. Which of Shakesperes1
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great plays do you find the most entertaing reading?
Have you not in some of your poems mentioned some of Americas great players?
Did you know Boyle O'Reilly2 personally, had he not a grand mind? Of him it can be well said, "not deep the poet sees, but wide."3
Will you pardon all these questions from an Irish admirer who sends you his very sincere best wishes for your health. I will highly prize any words written by you to yours
very sincerely, Robt M. SillardCorrespondent:
Robert Michael Sillard (ca.
1860–1908) was an Irish theatre historian, travel writer, and critic.
Sillard lived and worked closely with his brother Peter, a fellow critic, in
their native Dublin. In 1908, the brothers moved from Dublin to New York City
where they hoped to pursue their literary careers; unfortunately, Robert caught
pneumonia and died a few months after their arrival. Sillard is the author of
Barry Sullivan and His Contemporaries: A Histrionic
Record (London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1901), and his essays appeared in
numerous periodicals, including Donahoe's Magazine, The Westminster Review, and Fortnightly
Review. For more information, see Sillard's obituary, "In Memoriam:
Robert Michael Sillard," The Irish Monthly 37.428
(February 1909), 112–114.