Troilus and Cressida, II.iv : Cassandra.

Mounted on verso is a portrait of Nell Gwynn. Creator: John Hamilton Mortimer; etched by J. Mortimer in 1775-1776; published March 15, 1776, by J. Mortimer, London.

Gwynn is a rather extreme illustration of the sexual notoriety of some of the actresses newly permitted on the Restoration stage. Nell Gwynn appears to have been one of the first English actress to become famous. Born in Drury Lane in 1650, as a child she sold oranges in the theatre pit, becoming a favorite of spectators. Hart taught her how to act, and she made her stage début in the Drury Lane Theatre in 1665 in Dryden's " Indian Emperor," when she was aged fifteen. Her wit and talent for mimicry pleased greatly. While she excelled in sexual comedy, there is no specific record of her performing Shakespeare, though Cassandra does appear in Troilus and Cressida, of which Dryden wrote a version, and she shone in other Dryden plays.