It was a good day ebaying.  This short play set at Maplecroft was a great buy at $4.10- of course the shipping from the U.K. was more than the cost of the slim volume. It is a first edition, but the condition is not prime, thus the price reflects that.  Here is what the seller has to say:

This is an unusual play as it is written for two men and six women. Plays where the women outnumber men are few and far between. Set in 1905, it is several years after Lizzie Borden’s trial and aquittal, following the murder of her father and stepmother. She lives with her sister in another house in the same district. One evening she invites a number of players from a visiting touring company for the evening. They re-enact the circumstances of the crime, playing various characters involved. Later the Bordens receive an unexpected visit from Bridget Sullivan who was their servant at the time of the crime, and a crucial witness. It transpires that afterwards Lizzie gave her a sum of money. Why? To conceal her own guilt? Or was Bridget, in fact, the murderess? No firm conclusions are possible, but as the final curtain suggests, this solution might at least be imaginable.Characters:

• Emma Borden
• Maggie
• Nance O’Neil
• Tom Fuller
• Annie Beale
• Henry Webb
• Lizzie Borden
• The Visitor

The action takes place in the living room of ‘Maplecroft’ – a large house in Fall River, Massachusetts, USA, 1905.59 pages including all the usual additions one would expect from a French Acting Edition. Published by Samuel French, 1980. This is the first edition. 

Lizzie’s reputed close relationship with actress Nance O’Neil caused nearly as much scandal and speculation as the murder trial itself.  Meeting in 1904, the actress, who was always short of funds, recognized in Lizzie a wealthy patron and benefactress.

The late-night cavorting at Maplecroft, alcohol and merrymaking  with the theatre folks proved too much for Lizzie’s prim older sister Emma who left French Street suddenly in 1905.  Nance played the Fall River Academy Theatre which is still standing today as a luxury apartment complex, and the Providence Opera House which has felt the wrath of the wrecker’s ball.

By 1906 the brief and intense friendship had waned and Nance went on to a moderately successful career in Hollywood, never receiving the acclaim there she had enjoyed on the stage.  She died in Engelwood , New Jersey in 1965 in a home for ageing screen divas-taking her secrets of life with Lizzie to the grave.

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Of all the rooms in Maplecroft, none other captures the intimate and personal insight into the nature of Lizzie than her library. It is found on the east side of the house on the second floor and consists of two modest rooms accessed by passing through one to another by way of a pair of French doors.  The first room contains the carved mantelpiece which features deeply–incised Scottish thistles and At Hame In My Ain Countrie in bold script.  This is the title of a hymn said to be beloved of Lizzie and which she is supposed to have had sung by local church soprano, Vida Turner at her funeral.  This would have been the room where a comfortable settee would have been found, perhaps a footstool, chaise or upholstered chair-and quite likely a lady’s writing desk with exquisite embossed stationery and writing implements in a pen tray.  This is also the  room where light from the one generous window streamed through in shades of amber -gold, for the pane held a magnificent example of stained glass.  

Around the top of the wallpapered walls, an embossed cove molding  boasts a floral motif which once was gilded but is now painted with the flowers picked out in color.  Through the French doors is the book room where a wide variety of titles once lined the floor to ceiling shelves.  There was probably once a library ladder so Lizzie could reach the topmost shelves.  Her books, lush with rich bindings and gilt titles facing into the room, must have been a sumptuous feast for the eye.  In some would be found her little bookplate, in others her LAB inscribed initials.  Today the stained glass is missing from the library window, its location unknown.

What a haven of repose this little corner of the world must have been on a snowy day with a roaring fire, hot cider and a faithful canine companion !  It truly must have been a palace within a mansion, and “hame” in her ain countrie.

  Library window    (click on photo for large image)

 Below (left):  Two stained glass windows currently viewable on the foyer staircase .

Among the dwindling circle of Lizzie’s friends in Fall River, surely her faithful chauffeur and confidante, Mr. Ernest, was golden in her estimation.  It is said Mr. Ernest would bring the car around front and take Lizzie on jaunts out to the country on sunny days, her little dog in the backseat wagging his stubby tail and panting with excitement. Lizzie had one of the first automobiles in the city- a black “Tin Lizzy”. Lizzie had a turntable installed in the wide garage which had been her carriage house so Mr. Ernest could drive in, then spin the car around facing out to avoid having to back up.

Lizzie remembered those loyal few handsomely in her will, including longtime friend, Helen Leighton, her household staff, and her kindly chauffeur. Mr. Terry now reposes for eternity in Oak Grove Cemetery, along with so many of those who knew Lizzie.

Pine Ridge Pet Cemetery has the distinction of being the oldest animal burial ground operated by a humane society in America.  Located in Dedham, Massachusetts, the memorial park is the final resting place for countless beloved pets, including three of Lizzie Borden’s black and white Boston Bull terriers. The breed was officially recognized by the American Kennel Club in 1893, the year Miss Lizzie and her sister Emma moved into their swank mansion on French Street following Lizzie’s acquittal.  Boston bulls were the lap pet of choice among Boston’s upper crust Back Bay society matrons, so it is no surprise Miss Borden desired the blue blood breed.

Lizzie’s dogs were all buried  in 1928, the year after her own burial, so were most likely unearthed from the back yard of Maplecroft for a more noble final planting in Dedham.  Miss Borden enjoyed country drives with her dog du jour perched on a little shelf beneath the back seat window.  Her faithful companion was no doubt, a great solace in her lonely hours.