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Francis Constable
Francis Constable (1592 – 1 August 1647) was a London bookseller and publisher of the Literature in English#Jacobean literature, Jacobean and Literature in English#Caroline and Cromwellian literature, Caroline eras, noted for publishing a number of stage plays of English Renaissance theatre, English Renaissance drama. (Francis Constable the publisher is distinct from his contemporary, Francis Constable, esquire, of Burstwick in Yorkshire. Many members of the northern family, earlier and later, shared the name Francis Constable.) Life and work Francis Constable was baptised on 12 May 1592, in Datchet, Buckinghamshire (now co. Berkshire). He was the son of Robert Constable and Margery Barker, the daughter of Christopher Barker (printer), Christopher Barker, printer to Queen Elizabeth I. Francis had an elder brother Robert Constable baptised at Datchet on 9 September 1590. His brother Robert was apprenticed on 7 December 1607 at the age of 17 to their maternal uncle Robert Barker ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Literature In English
English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines English literature more narrowly as, "the body of written works produced in the English language by inhabitants of the British Isles (including Ireland) from the 7th century to the present day. The major literatures written in English outside the British Isles are treated separately under American literature, Australian literature, Canadian literature, and New Zealand literature." However, despite this, it includes literature from the Republic of Ireland, "Anglo-American modernism", and discusses post-colonial literature. ; See also full articles on American literature and other literatures in the English language. The English language has developed over the course of more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Fri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Maid's Tragedy
''The Maid's Tragedy'' is a play by Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher. It was first published in 1619. The play has provoked divided responses from critics. Date The play's date of origin is not known with certainty. In 1611, Sir George Buck, the Master of the Revels, named ''The Second Maiden's Tragedy'' based on the resemblances he perceived between the two works. Scholars generally assign the Beaumont/Fletcher play to c. 1608–1611. Authorship Scholars and critics generally agree that the play is mostly the work of Beaumont; Cyrus Hoy, in his extensive survey of authorship problems in the Beaumont/Fletcher canon, assigns only four scenes to Fletcher (Act II, scene 2; Act IV, 1; and Act V, 1 and 2), though one of those is the climax of the play (IV, 1). Publication The play was entered into the Stationers' Register on 28 April 1619, and published later that year by the bookseller Francis Constable. Subsequent editions appeared in 1622, 1630, 1638, 1641, 1650, and 1661. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Antipodes (play)
''The Antipodes'' is a Caroline era stage play, a comedy written by Richard Brome c. 1636. Many critics have ranked ''The Antipodes'' as "his best play...Brome's masterpiece," and one of the best Caroline comedies – "gay, imaginative, and spirited...;" "the most sophisticated and ingenious of Brome's satires." Brome's play is "a funhouse mirror" in which the audience members could "view the nature of their society." Date, performance, and publication ''The Antipodes'' was entered into the Stationers' Register on 19 March 1640 and published later that year in a quarto printed by John Okes, the son and successor of printer Nicholas Okes, for the bookseller Francis Constable. The title page states that the play was acted in 1638 by Queen Henrietta's Men at the Salisbury Court Theatre, the regular troupe and venue for Brome's dramas from 1637 on. In a note addressed to the Courteous Reader at the end of the printed text, however, Brome writes that the play was originally intended ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Brome
Richard Brome ; (c. 1590? – 24 September 1652) was an English dramatist of the Caroline era. Life Virtually nothing is known about Brome's private life. Repeated allusions in contemporary works, like Ben Jonson's ''Bartholomew Fair'', indicate that Brome started out as a servant of Jonson, in some capacity. Scholars have interpreted the allusions to mean that Brome may have begun as a menial servant but later became a sort of secretary and general assistant to the older playwright. A single brief mention of his family's need seems to show that he had a wife and children and struggled to support them. He may have had some experience as a professional actor: a 1628 warrant lists him as a member of the Queen of Bohemia's Men. Yet he had already started writing for the stage by this date. An early collaboration, ''A Fault in Friendship'' (now lost) was licensed in 1623 for Prince Charles's Men; a 1629 solo Brome effort, ''The Lovesick Maid'' (also lost), was a success for the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A New Wonder, A Woman Never Vexed
''A New Wonder, a Woman Never Vexed'' is a Jacobean era stage play, often classified as a city comedy. Its authorship was traditionally attributed to William Rowley, though modern scholarship has questioned Rowley's sole authorship; Thomas Heywood and George Wilkins have been proposed as possible contributors. The story is based on the life of Sir Stephen Foster, who was imprisoned in Ludgate for debt and in 1454 became Lord Mayor of London. He later married Agnes Forster in the play, who renovated and enlarged the prison. ''A New Wonder'' was entered into the Stationers' Register on 24 November 1631, and was first printed in quarto in 1632 by the bookseller Francis Constable. The 1632 quarto was the only edition in the seventeenth century. The play's date of authorship is uncertain; it is often assigned to the 1610–14 period. Rowley may have revised an earlier play by Heywood called ''The Wonder of a Woman'' (1595).Chambers, Vol. 3, p. 474. The play was adapted and reviv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Rowley
William Rowley (c. 1585 – February 1626) was an English Jacobean dramatist, best known for works written in collaboration with more successful writers. His date of birth is estimated to have been c. 1585; he was buried on 11 February 1626 in the graveyard of St James's, Clerkenwell in north London. (An unambiguous record of Rowley's death was discovered in 1928, but some authorities persist in listing his year of death as 1642.) Life and work Rowley was an actor-playwright who specialised in playing clown characters (that is, characters whose function is to provide low comedy). He must also have been a large man, since his forte lay specifically in fat-clown roles. He played the Fat Bishop in Thomas Middleton's ''A Game at Chess'', and Plumporridge in the same author's ''Inner Temple Masque''. He also wrote fat-clown parts for himself to play: Jaques in ''All's Lost by Lust'' (a role "personated by the Poet", the 1633 quarto states), and Bustopha in ''The Maid in the Mill'', h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Fatal Dowry
''The Fatal Dowry'' is a late Literature in English#Jacobean literature, Jacobean era stage play, a tragedy written by Philip Massinger and Nathan Field, and first published in 1632. It represents a significant aspect of Field's very limited dramatic output. Though hard evidence is lacking, the play is thought to have been composed c. 1619; it may have been the last writing for the theatre done by Field before his death in 1620. The play was acted by the King's Men (playing company), King's Men at the Blackfriars Theatre. The 1632 book size, quarto was printed by John Norton for the bookseller Francis Constable. The quarto's text is corrupt and badly printed. Synopsis The play is set in Dijon in Duchy of Burgundy, Burgundy in the later part of the fifteenth century, in the aftermath of the battles of Battle of Grandson, Grandson, Battle of Morat, Morat (both 1476) and Battle of Nancy, Nancy (1477), all mentioned in Act I, scene ii. The protagonist's father, the elder Charalois, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nathan Field
Nathan Field (also spelled Feild occasionally; 17 October 1587 – 1620) was an English dramatist and actor. Life His father was the Puritan preacher John Field, and his brother Theophilus Field became the Bishop of Llandaff. One of his brothers, named Nathaniel, often confused with the actor, became a printer. Nathan's father opposed London's public entertainments: he delivered a sermon that attributed Divine judgment to the collapse of the public seating area, during a bear baiting on a Sunday, at Beargarden in 1583, which resulted in several deaths. Nathan presumably did not intend a career in the theatre; he was a student of Richard Mulcaster at St. Paul's School in the late 1590s. At some point before 1600, he was impressed by Nathaniel Giles, the master of Elizabeth's choir and one of the managers of the new troupe of boy players at Blackfriars Theatre, called alternately the Children of the Chapel Royal and the Blackfriars Children. He remained in this profession for t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Philip Massinger
Philip Massinger (1583 – 17 March 1640) was an English dramatist. His finely plotted plays, including ''A New Way to Pay Old Debts'', ''The City Madam'', and '' The Roman Actor'', are noted for their satire and realism, and their political and social themes. Early life The son of Arthur Massinger or Messanger, he was baptised at St. Thomas's Salisbury on 24 November 1583. He apparently belonged to an old Salisbury family, for the name occurs in the city records as early as 1415. He is described in his matriculation entry at St. Alban Hall, Oxford (1602), as the son of a gentleman. His father, who had also been educated at St. Alban Hall, was a member of parliament, and was attached to the household of Henry Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke. Herbert recommended Arthur in 1587 for the office of examiner in the Court of the Marches. William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke, who would come to oversee the London Stage and the royal company as King James's Lord Chamberlain, succ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Love Tricks
''Love Tricks, or The School of Complement'' is a Caroline stage play by James Shirley, his earliest known work. Performance ''Love Tricks'' was licensed for performance by Sir Henry Herbert, the Master of the Revels, on 10 February 1625; it was performed by the Lady Elizabeth's Men at the Cockpit Theatre (prior to the epidemic of bubonic plague that closed the London theatres for most of 1625). ''Love Tricks'' was revived during the Restoration era; it was performed by the Duke's Company at Lincoln's Inn Fields. Samuel Pepys saw it on 5 August 1667. Publication The play was published in 1631 under its subtitle, ''The School of Complement'', in a quarto printed by Elizabeth Allde for the bookseller Francis Constable. The volume was dedicated to William Tresham. Other editions followed in 1637 and 1667. (The third edition of 1667 coincided with the revival that year, a common practice in the period.) Derivativeness Critics have complained that drama in the Caroline era had be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Shirley
James Shirley (or Sherley) (September 1596 – October 1666) was an English dramatist. He belonged to the great period of English dramatic literature, but, in Charles Lamb's words, he "claims a place among the worthies of this period, not so much for any transcendent genius in himself, as that he was the last of a great race, all of whom spoke nearly the same language and had a set of moral feelings and notions in common." His career of play writing extended from 1625 to the suppression of stage plays by Parliament in 1642. Biography Early life Shirley was born in London and was descended from the Shirleys of Warwick, the oldest knighted family in Warwickshire. He was educated at Merchant Taylors' School, London, St John's College, Oxford, and St Catharine's College, Cambridge, where he took his BA degree in or before 1618. His first poem, ''Echo, or the Unfortunate Lovers'' was published in 1618; no copy of it is known, but it is probably the same as 1646's ''Narcissus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pathomachia
''Pathomachia, or the Battle of Affections'', also known as ''Love's Lodestone'', is an early 17th-century play, first printed in 1630. It is an allegory that presents a range of problems to scholars of the drama of the Jacobean and Caroline eras. Date and publication The play was licensed for publication by Sir Henry Herbert, the Master of the Revels, on 16 April 1630 and was published later that year, in a quarto printed by the brothers Richard and Thomas Cotes for the bookseller Francis Constable. Constable dedicated the work to Henry Carey, 4th Baron Hunsdon and 1st Earl of Dover. In his dedication, Constable repeats the statement of the title page, that the author is deceased. The full title of the play in the 1630 quarto is ''Pathomachia or the Battle of Affections, Shadowed by a Feigned Siege of the City of Pathopolis''. The title page also states that the play was "Written some years since" by the late author and is now issued by one of his friends. The play's running ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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