Fanny Kemble (1803-1893) reading Shakespeare at St. James Theatre, London

Such readings were very popular and fashionable in the 19th c., particularly when given by distinguished performers such as Sarah Siddons and Fanny Kemble, who is described in this engraving as "in middle life." Reading Shakespeare aloud was a popular Victorian recreation. Even earlier, in Jane Austen's Mansfield Park, a country house gathering devotes itself to Shakespeare's Henry VIII. Courtesy of Portraits of Actors 1720-1920, Library Collection: University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana.