- Date:
- 1864
- Original Format:
- Photographic Print
- Item#:
- MES17992
Adah Isaacs Menken (1835-1868)
Adah Isaacs Menken was an actress and poet. She was famous for her performance in "Mazeppa," by Lord Byron, in which she scandalized and delighted the public in New York, London, and Paris, by riding a horse in this costume. She was good friends with Walt Whitman and George Sand. Her book of poetry, "Infelicia," was dedicated to Charles Dickens, one of her mentors. She is well known for her affairs with men of letters, including Alexandre Dumas and Algernon Charles Swinburne. Menken had several husbands.