Excerpt from A Walk Down Bond Street: The Centenary Souvenir of the House of Ashton and Mitchell, 1820-1920 Theatre, Henry Irving, who Henry looked in 011 more than one Irving occasion to have a chat with, and maybe, to receive a word of encouragement from Mr. Ashton. During the most successful period of his career, Irving lived a few yards away, at no. Isa, Grafton Street, at the corner of Bond Street, Opposite what used to be Long's Hotel. Just about the time when Mr. Ashton was commencing his career, Henry Irving had made his first step 011 the ladder of fame. When he took up his abode in the rooms which be occupied for so many years, he had played Digby Grant in Two Roses, he had thrilled a London audience by his recital of The Dream of Eugene Aram, and he had electrified the playgoing world by. His performance of Mathias in The Bells. Irving occupied these chambers from 1873 until 1899, when, in search of sun, he moved to Stratton Street. The Grafton Street rooms were somewhat gloomy, but, during his occupation of them, Henry Irving came to the summit of his fame. He was a great thinker, and much of his work for the stage was accomplished in this corner house. Here he entertained his personal friends, not only with a lavishness which sometimes ran to extremes, but with, more valuable than mere generosity, a consideration which made him a prince among his fellows. Here he came after his great triumphs. Here he lived his lonely life: here he received the knighthood by which his calling was honoured. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.