A biographical dictionary of actors, actresses, musicians, dancers, managers & other stage personnel in London, 1660-1800

Author(s)

• Highfill, Philip H.
• Burnim, Kalman A.
• Langhans, Edward A.

Bibliographic Information

A biographical dictionary of actors, actresses, musicians, dancers, managers & other stage personnel in London, 1660-1800

by Philip H. Highfill, Jr., Kalman A. Burnim, and Edward A. Langhans

Southern Illinois University Press, c1973-

• v. 1. Abaco to Belfille
• v. 2. Belfort to Byzand
• v. 3. Cabanel to Cory
• v. 4. Corye to Dynion
• v. 5. Eagan to Garrett
• v. 6. Garrick to Gyngell
• v. 7. Habgood to Houbert
• v. 8. Hough to Keyse
• v. 9. Kickill to Machin
• v. 10. M'Intosh to Nash
• v. 11. Naso to Pinkey
• v. 12. Pinner to Rizzo
• v. 13. Roach to H. Siddons
• v. 14. S. Siddons to Thynne
• v. 15. Tibbett to M. West
• v. 16. W. West to Zwingman

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• A biographical dictionary of actors, actresses, musicians, dancers, managers & other stage personnel in London, 1660-1800, by Philip H. Highfill, Jr., Kalman A. Burnim, and Edward A. Langhans. (v.6)

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Note

Includes bibliographical references

Description and Table of Contents

Volume

v. 2. Belfort to Byzand ISBN 9780809305186

Description

Tobe completed in 12volumes, this monumental work here begins publica tion with the first two volumes--Abaco to Bertie and Bertin to Byzard. When completed, it is expected that the bio graphical dictionary will include informa tion on more than 8,500 individuals. Hundreds of printed sources have been searched for this project, and dozens of repositories combed, and the names of personnel listed have been filtered through parish registers whenever possible. From published and unpublished sources, from wills, archives of professional societies and guilds, from records of colleges, uni versities, and clubs, and from the contri butions of selfless scholars, the authors have here assembled material which il luminates theatrical and musical activity in London in the 1660-1800 period. The information here amassed will doubtless be augmented by other spe cialists in Restoration and eighteenth-century theatre and drama, but it is not likely that the number of persons now known surely or conjectured finally to have been connected with theatrical en terprise in this period will ever be in creased considerably. Certainly, the contributions made here add immeasurably to existing knowledge, and in a number of instances correct standard histories or reference works. The accompanying illustrations, esti mated to be some 1,400 likenesses--at least one picture of each subject for whom a portrait exists--may prove to be a use ful feature of the Work. The authors have gone beyond embellishment of the text, and have attempted to list all origi nal portraits any knowledge of which is now recoverable, and have tried to ascer tain the present location of portraits in every medium.

Volume

v. 3. Cabanel to Cory ISBN 9780809306923

Description

Volumes three and four of this monumen­tal work include full entries for all such illustrious names as those of the Cibbers—Colley, Theophilus, and Susanna Maria—Kitty Clive, and Charlotte Charke, George Colman, the Elder, and the Younger, William Davenant, and De Loutherboug. But here also are full entries for dozens of important secondary figures and of minor ones whose stories have never been told, as well as a census (and at least a few recoverable facts) for even the most inconsiderable performers and servants of the theatres. As in the previous volumes in this dis­tinguished series, the accompanying illus­trations include at least one picture of each subject for whom a portrait exists.

Volume

v. 4. Corye to Dynion ISBN 9780809306930

Description

Volumes three and four of this monumen tal work include full entries for all such illustrious names as those of the Cibbers--Colley, Theophilus, and Susanna Maria--Kitty Clive, and Charlotte Charke, George Colman, the Elder, and the Younger, William Davenant, and De Loutherboug. But here also are full entries for dozens of important secondary figures and of minor ones whose stories have never been told, as well as a census (and at least a few recoverable facts) for even the most inconsiderable performers and servants of the theatres. As in the previous volumes in this dis tinguished series, the accompanying illus trations include at least one picture of each subject for whom a portrait exists.

Volume

v. 5. Eagan to Garrett ISBN 9780809308323

Description

In contrast to each other, Volume 5 is a sociological portrait of mostly little people in their tragic and comic efforts to achieve fame on the London stage during the Restoration and eighteenth century, whereas Volume 6 is dom inated by the glamour of David Gar rick, Nell Gwyn, and Joseph Grimaldi, the celebrated clown. Some 250 por traits individualize the great and small of the theatres of London.

Volume

v. 6. Garrick to Gyngell ISBN 9780809308330

Description

In contrast to each other, Volume 5 is a sociological portrait of mostly little people in their tragic and comic efforts to achieve fame on the London stage during the Restoration and eighteenth century, whereas Volume 6 is dom inated by the glamour of David Gar rick, Nell Gwyn, and Joseph Grimaldi, the celebrated clown. Some 250 por traits individualize the great and small of the theatres of London.

Volume

v. 7. Habgood to Houbert ISBN 9780809309184

Description

Volume 7 includes such notables as the composers Handel and Haydn and the alluring actress Elizabeth Hartley.

Volume

v. 8. Hough to Keyse ISBN 9780809309191

Description

Volume 8 dis cusses, among others, the careers of Charles Incledon, the "English Ballad-Singer," boxing champion of England, "Gentleman" John Jackson, and members of the famous Kemble family-- Charles, Maria Theresa, Frances, Henry, John Philip, Priscilla, Elizabeth, Roger, and Stephen.

Volume

v. 9. Kickill to Machin ISBN 9780809311293

Description

Among the multitude of theater people to appear in Volume 9" "is Mrs. Knepp, whose very existence engendered the green-eyed monster, jealousy, in the bosom of Mrs. Samuel Pepysand with good reason, as Pepys diary shows. Mrs. Knepp, a most excellent, madhumoured thing, left her husband and moved in with the actor Joe Haines. Her death bearing his child elicited this lament and tribute from Haines: And Pray let His Matie: too understandHow sad I have been in merry ScotlandTo Loose Mrs: Nep that inchanting Dear LumpThat Fountaine of Love so juicy so PlumpThat delicate Compound of Spiritt & Rump"

Volume

v. 10. M'Intosh to Nash ISBN 9780809311309

Description

Those featured in Volume 10 include Margaret Martyr, a singer, actress, and dancer whose "conjugal virtues were often impeached," according to the July 1792Thespian Magazine. The Diction ary describes this least constant of lovers as "of middling height, with a figure well-proportioned for breeches parts. [Her] black-haired, black-eyed beauty and clear soprano made her an immedi ate popular success in merry maids and tuneful minxes, the piquant and the pert, for a quarter century."

Volume

v. 13. Roach to H. Siddons ISBN 9780809315253

Description

Like the works already published, these latest volumes of the Biographical Dictionary deal with theatre people of every ilk, ranging from dressers and one-performance actors to trumpeter John Shore (inventor of the tuning fork) and the incomparable Sarah Siddons. Also prominent is Susanna Rowson, a novelist, actress, and early female playwright. Although born into a British military family, Rowson often wrote plays that dealt with patriotic American themes and spent much of her career on the American stage. The theatrical jewel of these volumes is the divine Sarah Siddons: She raised the tragedy to the skies, wrote William Hazlitt, and embodied to our imagination the fables of mythology, of the heroic and dignified mortals of elder time. She endured much tragedy herself, including a crippling debilitating illness and the deaths of five of her seven children. Siddons played major roles in both comedy and tragedy, not the least of which was a performance as Hamlet.

Volume

v. 14. S. Siddons to Thynne ISBN 9780809315260

Description

Like the works already published, these latest volumes of the Biographical Dictionary deal with theatre people of every ilk, ranging from dressers and one-performance actors to trumpeter John Shore (inventor of the tuning fork) and the incomparable Sarah Siddons. Also prominent is Susanna Rowson, a novelist, actress, and early female playwright. Although born into a British military family, Rowson often wrote plays that dealt with patriotic American themes and spent much of her career on the American stage. The theatrical jewel of these volumes is the divine Sarah Siddons: She raised the tragedy to the skies, wrote William Hazlitt, and embodied to our imagination the fables of mythology, of the heroic and dignified mortals of elder time. She endured much tragedy herself, including a crippling debilitating illness and the deaths of five of her seven children. Siddons played major roles in both comedy and tragedy, not the least of which was a performance as Hamlet.

Volume

v. 15. Tibbett to M. West ISBN 9780809318025

Description

A major project begun in 1973 reaches its conclusion with the publication of volumes 15 and 16 of the "Biographical Dictionary, "a series considered "a reference work of the first order" by "Theatre and Performing Arts Collections." Among performers highlighted in these last volumes is Catherine Tofts, a gifted singer whose popular acclaim was captured in lines by Samuel Phillips: "How are we pleas d when beauteous Tofts appears, / To steal our Souls through our attentive Ears? / Ravish d we listen to th inchanting Song, / And catch the falling Accents from her Tongue." The first singer of English birth to master the form of Italian opera, Tofts frequently won leading roles over native Italian singers. Her salary 400to 500 a seasonwas one of the highest in the theatre. Her popularity declined, however, as her demands for payment increaseda situation captured in an epigram Alexander Pope may have penned: "So bright is thy beauty, so charming thy song, / As had drawn both the beasts and their Orpheus along;/" "But such is thy avarice, and such is thy pride, / That the beasts must have starved, and the poets have died." John Vanbrugh, whose play "The Relapse "is ranked as one of the best comedies of the Restoration period, became a subordinate crown architect under Sir Christopher Wren in 1702. In 1703, Vanbrugh began plans for the Queen s Theatre in the Haymarket, an enterprise endorsed by the Kit Cat Club (of which Vanbrugh was a member). Even though his lavish design was acoustically defective, restructuring helped correct the problem and the theatre eventually became the exclusive center for opera in London."

Volume

v. 16. W. West to Zwingman ISBN 9780809318032

Description

A major project begun in 1973 reaches its conclusion with the publication of volumes 15 and 16 of the Biographical Dictionary, a series considered a reference work of the first order by Theatre and Performing Arts Collections. Among performers highlighted in these last volumes is Catherine Tofts, a gifted singer whose popular acclaim was captured in lines by Samuel Phillips: How are we pleas'd when beauteous Tofts appears, / To steal our Souls through our attentive Ears?' / Ravish'd we listen to th' inchanting Song, / And catch the falling Accents from her Tongue. The first singer of English birth to master the form of Italian opera, Tofts frequently won leading roles over native Italian singers. Her salary--GBP400 to GBP500 a season--was one of the highest in the theatre. Her popularity declined, however, as her demands for payment increased--a situation captured in an epigram Alexander Pope may have penned: So bright is thy beauty, so charming thy song, / As had drawn both the beasts and their Orpheus along; /But such is thy avarice, and such is thy pride, / That the beasts must have starved, and the poets have died. John Vanbrugh, whose play The Relapse is ranked as one of the best comedies of the Restoration period, became a subordinate crown architect under Sir Christopher Wren in 1702. In 1703, Vanbrugh began plans for the Queen's Theatre in the Haymarket, an enterprise endorsed by the Kit Cat Club (of which Vanbrugh was a member). Even though his lavish design was acoustically defective, restructuring helped correct the problem and the theatre eventually became the exclusive center for opera in London.

by "Nielsen BookData"

Details

• NCID: BA00280807
• ISBN:
  • 0809305186
  • 0809305186
  • 0809306921
  • 080930693X
  • 0809308320
  • 0809308339
  • 0809309181
  • 080930919X
  • 0809311291
  • 0809311305
  • 0809312808
  • 0809312816
  • 0809315254
  • 0809315262
  • 0809318024
  • 0809318032
• LCCN: 71157068
• Country Code: us
• Title Language Code: eng
• Text Language Code: eng
• Place of Publication: Carbondale
• Pages/Volumes: v. <1-16 >
• Size: 26 cm
• Classification:
  • LCC : PN2597
  • DC : 790.2/092/2
  • DC : B
  • NDLC : KD9
  • NDC7 : 770.3
• Subject Headings:
  • LCSH : Performing arts -- England -- London -- Biography -- Dictionaries
  • LCSH : Actors -- Great Britain -- Biography -- Dictionaries
  • LCSH : Theatrical managers -- Great Britain -- Biography -- Dictionaries
  • LCSH : Theater -- England -- London -- Biography -- Dictionaries
  • LCSH : London (England) -- Biography -- Dictionaries