Philip Frowde (died 1738) was an English poet and dramatist. Philip Frowde Faber

Life

Frowde was the son of Ashburnham Frowde, deputy postmaster-general from 1678 to 1688. His grandfather, Colonel Philip Frowde, for his faithful adherence to

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

and Charles II was knighted on 10 March 1664–5, and appointed governor of the post office. From

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

, where young Philip was contemporary with

Robert Walpole Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, (26 August 1676 – 18 March 1745; known between 1725 and 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole) was a British statesman and Whig politician who, as First Lord of the Treasury, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Leader ...

, Frowde passed to

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the s ...

, as a

gentleman-commoner A commoner is a student at certain universities in the British Isles who historically pays for his own tuition and commons, typically contrasted with scholars and exhibitioners, who were given financial emoluments towards their fees. Cambridge ...

, and became one of

Joseph Addison Joseph Addison (1 May 1672 – 17 June 1719) was an English essayist, poet, playwright and politician. He was the eldest son of The Reverend Lancelot Addison. His name is usually remembered alongside that of his long-standing friend Richard S ...

's pupils. He did not take a degree. Frowde died unmarried at his lodgings in Cecil Street, Strand, in December 1738, and was buried in the cemetery in Lamb's Conduit Fields.

Works

To vol. ii. of ''Musarum Anglicanarum Analecta'' (Oxford, 1699, edited by Addison), Frowde contributed ''Cursus Glacialis, Anglicè, Scating''. In May 1720

Edmund Curll Edmund Curll (''c.'' 1675 – 11 December 1747) was an English bookseller and publisher. His name has become synonymous, through the attacks on him by Alexander Pope, with unscrupulous publication and publicity. Curll rose from poverty to wealt ...

published these verses as Addison's, together with an English version also supposed to be Addison's, and a preface by one T. N., who stated that although Addison was well known to be the author, he had always allowed Frowde to pass them off as his own. An anonymous imitation in English appeared in 1774; there is also a translation in ''Miscellane'' by J.G. (

James Glassford James Glassford (1771 – 1845) was a Scottish legal writer and traveller. Life He was son of John Glassford of Dougalston by his third wife, Lady Margaret Mackenzie, sixth daughter of George Mackenzie, 3rd Earl of Cromartie. Glassford was admit ...

), Edinburgh, 1818. Frowde wrote a

blank verse Blank verse is poetry written with regular metrical but unrhymed lines, almost always in iambic pentameter. It has been described as "probably the most common and influential form that English poetry has taken since the 16th century", and P ...

tragedy entitled ''

The Fall of Saguntum ''The Fall of Saguntum'' is a 1727 tragedy by the British writer Philip Frowde. The plot revolves around the Siege of Saguntum in the Second Punic War, and is fall the forces of the Ancient Carthage, Carthaginian general Hannibal. Influenced by th ...

'', London, 1727, influenced by ''

Cato, a Tragedy ''Cato, a Tragedy'' is a play written by Joseph Addison in 1712 and first performed on 14 April 1713. It is based on the events of the last days of Marcus Porcius Cato Uticensis (better known as Cato the Younger) (95–46 BC), a Stoic whose deeds ...

''. It was acted at Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre on 16 January 1727, James Quin representing Eurydamas and delivering the prologue by

Lewis Theobald Lewis Theobald (baptised 2 April 1688 – 18 September 1744), English textual editor and author, was a landmark figure both in the history of Shakespearean editing and in literary satire. He was vital for the establishment of fair texts for Sha ...

. The tragedy obtained only about three representations, and is noted for a dedication to [Walpole, who is described as "bringing the learning and arts of Greece and Rome into the cabinet; either that to instruct in the depths of reasoning; or these in the rules of governing". Before its performance A. B., (possibly Frowde himself) undertook to explain for the benefit of "a lady of quality" the historical and classical allusions in the play in ''The History of Saguntum'' (1727), which also argues the dramatist's superiority over Silius Italicus, from whose ''Punica'' the plot was partly derived. Another lugubrious tragedy in blank verse, ''Philotas (play), Philotas'', London, 1731 (also 1735), brought out at Lincoln's Inn Fields on 3 February 1730–1, with Quin again in the cast, met with an even colder reception, though it ran for six nights.

Henry Fielding Henry Fielding (22 April 1707 – 8 October 1754) was an English novelist, irony writer, and dramatist known for earthy humour and satire. His comic novel '' Tom Jones'' is still widely appreciated. He and Samuel Richardson are seen as founders ...

introduced an ironical encomium on ''Philotas'' in ''

Joseph Andrews ''The History of the Adventures of Joseph Andrews and of his Friend Mr. Abraham Adams'', was the first full-length novel by the English author Henry Fielding to be published and among the early novels in the English language. Appearing in 1742 ...

''.

References

Year of birth missing 1738 deaths People educated at Eton College Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford 18th-century English poets English dramatists and playwrights English male dramatists and playwrights English male poets 18th-century English male writers {{England-poet-stub