The first thing that is evident is that this set was originally titled as "Portraits of Our Leading Actors and Actresses in the Costumes of All Nations, from 600 B.C. to the Present Time". However this is a bit long for cataloguing so it was reduced to the title we give above - though in the card index both titles will appear, simply because most non collectors would almost certainly hunt for this using the first word "Portraits".
It is described in our original World Tobacco Issues Index as :
ACTORS AND ACTRESSES IN THE COSTUME OF ALL NATIONS. Bkld.
A. Small and medium. For error cards see American Catalog page 137.
1. Series No.1. Ref USA/70. Backlist commences "Marie Jansen"
(a) Small, inscribed "Series No.1" (50)
(b) Medium, inscribed "Duke`s Mixture" (50)2. Series No.2. Ref. USA/71. backlist commences "Ada Rehan"
(a) Small, inscribed "Series No.2" (50)
(b) Medium, inscribed "Duke`s Mixture"B. Large. 3 subjects per card/ Ref USA/94 (30)
We know that our trio in the large size was Ellen Terry, Henry Irving, and Janauscheck. All three are depicted in European Costume from 1485-1510. If anyone has this card and would like to scan it for us we will happily feature it!
The description is slightly altered in our updated version of this book, and there is no mention of the listing of error cards which were in the American Catalog page 137. The rest reads :
ACTORS AND ACTRESSES IN THE COSTUME OF ALL NATIONS. Bkld.
A. Small and medium.
1. Series No.1. Ref USA/70. Backlist commences "Marie Jansen"
(a) Small, inscribed "Series No.1" (50) (b) Medium, inscribed "Duke`s Mixture" (50)2. Series No.2. Ref. USA/71. backlist commences "Ada Rehan"
(a) Small, inscribed "Series No.2" (50) (b) Medium, inscribed "Duke`s Mixture"B. Large. 3 subjects per card, backlist does not show combination. Ref USA/94 (30)