^^ COLLEY GIBBER \'. ' " Master Colley ! then forfeit him Original painting- by B. Wesley Rand l^tmx & 33elle0 of 6nglanb Colley Gibber Vol u me I. Written by Himself The Grolier Society London EDITION DE LUXE Limited to One Thousand Copies SANTA BAU:3AUA K.uuur.y.1 PR 33H7 V. I CONTENTS CHAPTER I. PACE The Introduction — The Author's Birth — Various Fortune at School — Not Liked by Those He Lov'd There — Why — A Digression upon Raillery — The Use and Abuse of It — The Comforts of Folly — Vanity of Great- ness — Laughing, No Bad Philosophy . '57 CHAPTER II. He That Writes of Himself Not Easily Tir'd — Boys May Give Men Lessons — The Author's Preferment at School Attended with Misfortunes — The Danger of Merit among Equals — Of Satirists and Backbiters — What Effect They Have Had upon the Author — Stanzas Publish 'd by Himself against Himself . • ^S CHAPTER III. The Author's Several Chances for the Church, the Court, and the Army — Going to the University — Met the Revolution at Nottingham — Took Arms on That Side — What He Saw of It — A Few Political Thoughts — Fortune Willing to Do for Him — His Neglect of Her — The Stage Preferr'd to All Her Favours — The Pro- fession of an Actor Consider'd — The Misfortunes and Advantages of It II2 V VI CONTENTS PAGE CHAPTER IV. A Short View of the Stage, from the Year 1660 to the Revolution — The King's and Duke's Company United, Composed the Best Set of English Actors Yet Known — Their Several Theatrical Characters .... 144 CHAPTER V. The Theatrical Characters of the Principal Actors in the Year 1690, Continu'd — A Few Words to Critical Auditors 178 CHAPTER VI. The Author's First Step upon the Stage — His Discourage- ments — The Best Actors in Europe 111 Us'd — A Revo- lution in Their Favour — King William Grants Them a License to Act in Lincoln's Inn Fields — The Author's Distress in Being Thought a Worse Actor Than a Poet — Reduc'd to Write a Part for Himself — His Success — More Remarks upon Theatrical Action — Some upon Himself 240 CHAPTER VIL The State of the Stage Continued — The Occasion of Wilks's Commencing Actor — His Success — Facts Re- -^ lating to His Theatrical Talent — Actors More or Less Esteem'd from Their Private Characters .... 288 CHAPTER VIII. The Patentee of Drury Lane Wiser than His Actors — His Particular Management — The Author Continues to Write Plays — Why — The Best Dramatic Poets Cen- " " sured by J. Collier, in His Short View of the Stage — It Has a Good Effect — The Master of the Revels, CONTENTS vii PAGE from That Time, Cautious in His Licensing New Plays — A Complaint against Him — His Authority Founded upon Custom Only — The Late Law for Fixing That Authority in a Proper Person, Considered . 323 CHAPTER IX. A Small Apology for Writing On — The Different State of the Two Companies — Wilks Invited Over from Dublin — Estcourt, from the Same Stage, the Winter Follow- ing — Mrs. Oldfield's First Admission to the Theatre Royal — Her Character — The Great Theatre in the Hay-Market Built for Betterton's Company — It An- swers Not Their Expectation — Some Observations upon It — A Theatrical State Secret .... 360 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGB "Master Colley! then forfeit him" Frontispiece COLLEY ClBBER 85 Caius Cibber 113 " Mrs. Bracegirdle as " The Indian Queen . 230 William Bullock 254 Covent Garden, Interior 341 INTRODUCTION CoLLEY Gibber's famous Autobiography has al- ways been recognised as one of the most dehght- ful books of its class ; but to students of theatrical history, the charm of its author's ingenuous frank- ness has been unable altogether to overweigh the inaccuracy and vagueness of his treatment of mat- ters of fact. To remove this cause of complaint is the principal object of the present edition. But correcting errors is only one of an editor's duties, and by no means the most difficult. More exact- ing, and almost equally important, are the illustra- tion of the circumstances surrounding the author, the elucidation of his references to current events, and the comparison of his statements and theories with those of judicious contemporaries. In all these particulars I have interpreted my duty in the widest sense, and have aimed at giving, as far as in me lies, an exhaustive commentary on the "Apology," I am fortunate in being able to claim that my work contains much information which has never before been made public. A careful investigation " viii INTRODUCTION of the MSS. in the British Museum, and of the records of the Lord Chamberlain's Office (to which my access was greatly facilitated by the kindness of Mr. Edward F. S. Pigott, the licenser of plays), has enabled me to give the exact dates of many transactions which were previously un- certain, and to give references to documents of great importance in stage history, whose very ex- istence was before unknown. How important my new matter is, may be estimated by comparing the facts given in my notes regarding the intricate transactions of the years 1707 to 1721, with any previous history of the same period. Among other sources of information, I may mention the Gibber Collections in the Forster Library at South Kensington, to which my attention was drawn by the kindness of the courteous keeper, Mr. R. F. Sketchley ; and I have also, of course, devoted much time to contemporary newspapers. In order to illustrate the *' Apology," two tracts of the utmost rarity, the '* Historia Histrionica and Anthony Aston's "Brief Supplement" to Cibber's " Lives of the Actors," are reprinted in this edition. The " Historia Histrionica " was written, all authorities agree, by James Wright, barrister-at-law, whose " History and Antiquities of the County of Rutland " is quoted by Cibber in his first chapter (vol. i. p. 65). The historical value of this pamphlet is very great, because it contains the only formal account in existence of the gener- INTRODUCTION ix ation of actors who preceded Betterton, and be- cause it gives many curious and interesting particulars regarding the theatres and plays, as well as the actors, before and during the Civil Wars. As Gibber begins his account of the stage (see chap, iv.) at the Restoration, there is a pecu- liar propriety in prefacing it by Wright's work ; a fact which has already been recognised, for the publisher of the third edition (1750) of the "Apol- ogy " appended to it *• A Dialogue on Old Plays and Old Players," which is simply a reprint of the " Historia Histrionica " under another title, and without the curious preface. Following the " Historia Histrionica " will be found a copy of the patent granted to Sir William Davenant, one of the most important documents in English stage history. A similar grant was made to Thomas Killigrew, as is noted on page 145 of this volume. These documents form a natural introduction to Gibber's history of the stage and of his own career, which commences, as has been said, at the Restoration, and ends, somewhat abruptly, with his retirement from the regular exercise of his profession in 1733. To complete the record of Gibber's life, I have added a supplementary chap- ter to the " Apology," in which I have also noted briefly the chief incidents of theatrical history up to the time of his death. In this, too, I have told with some degree of minuteness the story of his X INTRODUCTION famous quarrel with Pope ; and to this chapter I have appended a list of Gibber's dramatic produc- tions, and a bibliography of works by, or relating to him. Anthony Aston's " Brief Supplement to Colley Gibber, Esq. ; His Lives of the Late Famous Actors and Actresses," of which a reprint is given with this edition, is almost, if not quite, the rarest of theatrical books. Isaac Reed, says Genest, "wrote his name in his copy of Aston's little book, * with the date of 1 769 ; he says : This pamphlet contains several circumstances concerning the per- formers of the last century, which are nowhere else to be found ; it seems never to have been published.' He adds: 'Easter Monday, 1795 — though I have now possessed this pamphlet twenty-six years, it is remarkable that I never have seen another copy of it.' " Of Aston himself, little is known. According to his own account he came on the stage about 1 700, and we know that he was a noted stroller ; but as to when he was born, or when he died, there is no information. He is supposed, and probably with justice, to be the " trusty Anthony, who has so often adorned both the theatres in England and Ireland," mentioned in Estcourt's advertisement of his opening of the Bumper Tavern, in the Spectator of 28th and 29th December, 171 1 ; and he was, no doubt, a well-known character among actors and theatre- goers. He would thus be well qualified for his " INTRODUCTION xi undertaking as biographer of the actors of his time; and, indeed, his work bears every mark of being the production of a writer thoroughly well acquainted with his subject. This valuable pam- phlet has been, until now, practically a sealed book to theatrical students. The " Apology " of Gibber has gone through six editions. I have reprinted the text of the second, because it was certainly revised by the author, and many corrections made. But I have carefully compared my text with that of the first edition, and, wherever the correction is more than merely verbal, I have indicated the fact in a note {e.