AUTHOR OF
"ART IN ENGLAND," "HOBSON'S CHOICE," "PAUL FOSTER'S DAUGHTER,"
"BANNS OF MARRIAGE" ETC. ETC.
SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON, SEARLE, & RIVINGTON,
CROWN BUILDINGS, FLEET STREET.
1881.
CHARLES DICKENS AND EVANS,
CRYSTAL PALACE PRESS.
This book, as I explained in the preface to its first edition,published in 1876, is designed to serve and entertain those interestedin the transactions of the Theatre. I have not pretended to set forthanew a formal and complete History of the Stage; it has rather been myobject to traverse by-paths connected with the subject—to collect andrecord certain details and curiosities of histrionic life andcharacter, past and present, which have escaped or seemed unworthy thenotice of more ambitious and absolute chroniclers. At most I wouldhave these pages considered as but portions of the story of theBritish Theatre whispered from the side-wings.
Necessarily, the work is derived from many sources, owes much toprevious labours, is the result of considerable searching here andthere, collation, and selection. I have endeavoured to makeacknowledgment, as opportunity occurred, of the authorities I standindebted to, for this fact or that story. I desire, however, to makeexpress mention of the frequent aid I have received from Mr. J. PayneCollier's admirable "History of English Dramatic Poetry" (1831),containing Annals of the Stage to the Restoration. Mr. Collier, havingenjoyed access to many public and private collections of the greatestvalue, has much enriched the store of information concerning ourDramatic Literature amassed by Malone, Stevens, Reed, and Chalmers.Referring to numberless published and unpublished papers, to sourcesboth familiar and rare, Mr. Collier has been enabled, moreover, toincrease in an important degree our knowledge of the ElizabethanTheatre, its manners and customs, ways and means. I feel that I oweto his archæological studies many apt quotations and illustrativepassages I could scarcely have supplied from my own unassistedresources.
Some additions to the text I have deemed expedient. The fewerrors—they were very few and unimportant—discovered in the firstedition I have corrected in the present publication; certainredundancies I have suppressed; here and there I have ventured uponcondensation, and generally I have endeavoured to bring my statementsinto harmony with the condition of the stage at the present moment.Substantially, however, the "Book of the Play" remains what it was atthe date of its original issue, when it was received by the readingpublic with a kindness and cordiality I am not likely to forget.
DUTTON COOK.
69, GLOUCESTER CRESCENT,
REGENT'S PARK, N.W.
| Page | |||
| Chapter I. | ... |