Edwin Booth, identified by ink inscription on the reverse, is portrayed in a three-quarter length standing pose in this CDV by C.D. Fredricks & Co., 587 Broadway, New York, with additional studio locations in Havana and Paris visible in the faded reverse imprint, dating to the 1860s. The portrait captures Booth in civilian dress during the height of his fame as the preeminent Shakespearean actor of the American stage.

Booth stands with his right hand holding a wide-brimmed hat at his side, wearing a dark double-breasted overcoat over a white shirt and bow tie, his left hand tucked behind him. His most distinctive features are clearly rendered: the long dark wavy hair falling past his collar, deep-set intense eyes, and lean angular face that made him immediately recognizable to contemporary audiences. His expression is direct and composed, his posture relaxed but commanding.

Edwin Booth (1833-1893) was widely regarded as the greatest American actor of the nineteenth century, celebrated above all for his portrayal of Hamlet, which he performed for a record one hundred consecutive nights in New York in 1864. The brother of John Wilkes Booth, Edwin's career was briefly devastated by Lincoln's assassination in 1865 but recovered fully, and he went on to found the Players Club in New York in 1888.

The reverse bears the faded embossed imprint of C.D. Fredricks & Co., 587 Broadway, New York, with additional locations in Havana and Paris, and a penciled ink inscription reading "Edwin Booth" and the notation "75."