The times., 1898-07-31
Some Old PInxs

THE Late English Drama" edited by
Calvin S. Brown, is a compact little vol
ume, with distinct value of its own.
1t contains six plays, all more or less
familiar to the public: "She Stoops to
Conquer" THE Rivals" 'The School
for Scandal" ''Virginius,'' ''The Lady of
Lyons and "Richelieu." These plays
have not before been given TO the stu
dent in so convenient and inexpensive
form. They can always be found in the
collected works of the authors, of course,
and some of them have been printed
separately in cheap editions. but it has
| not been possible to get hold of them in
a form that suits the ordinary reference
library of the ordinary student, who can
NO. afford complete editions and fine
bindings. This edition exactly supplies
the need.
The usefulness of the book is increased
by notes which have been added. There
is an Introduction, giving a brief outline
OF the English drama since Shakespeare.
Passing over the period of decadence in
the English stage, from the death of
Shakespeare in 1916 to the close of the
seventeenth century, when the reaction
began, Mr.. Brown sketches the dramatic
literature of the time of Queen Anne,
and then proceeds to take up in some de-
tail the work of Goldsmith. Sheridan and
their successors. Goldsmith whom this
editor calls the one author who has
produced in oItr tongue works eminently
successful in the three great branches of
poetry, fiction and the drama did not
attain dramatic distinction till ne was
forty-fve years old, his first great suc-
cess, She Stoops TO Conquer, . seeing the
light in 1T73. Sheridan on the contrary,
ha int Il b,y h
delightful comedies before he was twenty
six, and before he was thirty was sent
to Parliament. Mr.. Brown calls him "the
last great representative of the comedy
of life and manners"
The editor seems to take rather a
gloomy view of the drama in the present
century, and remarks that the divorce
between literature and the stage. seems
nearly complete. He characterizes
Knowles as man who was no poet. but
who honestly tried 10 elevate the stage.
Like his two greater predecessors, he was
a native of Ireland. Mr. Brown seems to
think that the last writer of our century
who can really be called dramatist is
Edward Bulwer Lytton, although he
says of The Lady of Lyons that the
language is bombastic and the pot i'm
probable. and of Richelieu that Il is un-
equal and lacking in continuous interest.
The plays here reprinted are not ex-
purgated, except in one instance, and the
texts include dedications, prefaces, pro-
logues, and epilogues. There is a list of
annotated editions of the plays, and of
the biographies from which the editors
brief sketches are taken. BY using these
reference lists it will be easy for the stu
dent to go 10 any good library with this
volume and a notebook and gather any
additional information which may be re-
Sd
which contains matter of historical or
critical nature too long TO be contained in
foot-notes. 1t includes a song which was
intended 10 have been sung in "She
Stoops 70 Conquer" some data regarding
the story of "Virginius," some statements
concerning the life of Cardinal Richelieu
and other notes of an interesting nature
One Of the advantages in possessing
the complete text of these old plays is
that one gets by reading them the true
idea of the author. The versions at
present used on the stage are almost
all more or less shortened and otherwise
adapted to the modern audience In
'Richelieu," for example, many of the
speeches in the original text have been
cut out, and the Cardinal whom we see
on the stage is a much more attractive
and less complex person than the charac-
ter originally conceived by Bulwer-Lyt-
ton.
The little volume is daintily printed
and bound, and is altogether most com
mendable piece of work. (New York: A
S. Barnes & Coz