Lola Montez, Countess of Mansfeldt

What you are looking at

This is a page from a printed dramatic work, "Parvum in Multo," subtitled "An Intellectual Drama in Three Acts." The text shows Act I, Scene: A Garden, with dialogue between Lady Boscobel and Flora establishing a scene of romantic tension and wit. The dialogue concerns love, writing, and the absent Sir Wilfred. A decorative initial letter and ornamental border frame the text, suggesting this is from a bound volume or periodical of the 19th century. The typography and layout are consistent with Victorian-era theatrical publication, with character names in small capitals and stage directions in italics. The page carries a stamp reading "Dance Clipping File," indicating it was collected as relevant to dance history, though the text visible contains no stage directions for movement or explicit choreographic content.

The dancing

No figures or bodies are depicted in this image. The page is entirely textual—dialogue between two female characters—with no visual representation of performers, gesture, or physical action.

The dance depicted

The text of this dramatic dialogue does not indicate dance or choreographed movement. While the work is theatrical in nature, the visible scene concerns courtship and romantic repartee, not dance performance. The catalogue description notes the work was "ejected, most incomprehensibly, at the Haymarket, but now offered to all Lovers of High Art," but no dance content is evident in this excerpt.

How it was made

This is a typeset page from a printed book or periodical, reproduced photographically or scanned. The page bears evidence of age—yellowing paper, faint markings, and visible damage—suggesting it is either a photographic print of a historical original or a digitized archival document. The typography, page layout, and ornamental borders are consistent with Victorian commercial printing, circa mid-to-late 19th century.

About this work

This is a page from a Victorian theatrical work titled "Parvum in Multo," a three-act intellectual drama that was performed at the Haymarket Theatre. The page shown is the opening of Act I, presenting dialogue between two female characters, Lady Boscobel and Flora. It has been collected in the "Dance Clipping File" at the New York Public Library, though the visible text contains no explicit dance content. The work appears to be a drawing-room comedy concerned with romance and social wit rather than a dance drama.

How to look at it

Read the dialogue carefully for any implicit stage business or physical action that might be signaled through the repartee between the characters. The mention of love, writing, and absent figures suggests romantic comedy conventions of the period, which often included physical expression and movement to convey emotion and relationship. The layout and typography—character names, stage directions in italics—follow theatrical conventions and should guide attention to moments of implied action.

The artist

The author of "Parvum in Multo" is not identified in the visible text or the catalogue record. The work was theatrical and circulated commercially, suggesting a professional playwright working within the Victorian commercial theater system.

The period

This work dates to an era when Victorian theater was highly popular and commercial, with plays often published in both acting editions and trade volumes. The Haymarket Theatre, where this play was performed, was a major London venue. The intellectual comedy and drawing-room setting reflected fashionable theatrical taste of the mid-to-late 19th century, when witty dialogue and romantic entanglement were stock theatrical materials.

Where it lives

This page is held as part of the "Prints depicting dance" collection at the New York Public Library, catalogued under their archive system. It was collected as a clipping or extract, as indicated by the "Dance Clipping File" stamp.

Questions about this work