Sir Courtly Nice
Subtitle: Or, It Cannot Be. A Comedy : As it is acted at the Theatres-Royal in Drury Lane and Covent Garden, By His Majesty's Servants
By: Written by Mr. Crown.
Contributors: Charles II, King of England.
Publisher: Printed for C. Bathurst, Mess. Hawes, Clarke, and Collins, T. Lowndes, T. Caslon, and C. Corbett
Published: 1765
Place of publication: London
Language: eng
Number of pages: 76
Subjects: Moreto, Agustín, -- 1618-1669; Vega, Lope de, -- 1532-1565; Theatre Royal (London)
Other titles: It Cannot Be.
Notes: 'The Prologue', 'Epilogue' and list of 'The Names of the Persons at Covent-Garden, 1765' follow the title-page and precede the main text.

An account of this play is given in the DNB article on John Crowne: 'In 1685 was produced by his majesty's servants 'Sir Courtly Nice, or It cannot be', which was published in the same year ... This was the most popular of Crrowne's plays, and held the stage for upwards of a century ... In the dedicatory epistle [to the 1st ed.] Crowne states that the play was written at the command of Charles II, on the model of the Spanish play 'No Puedesser, or It cannot be.' ... On the very last day of the rehearsal Charles died, and 'Sir Courtly Nice' was the first comedy acted after the succession of James'.

ESTC4879C4 [under Crowne, with :'[...A Moreto y Cabana]'.

B.L. and NUC have notes stating that this play is based on Moreto's play 'No puede ser'; the latter adds that Moreto's work was itself an imitation of Lope de Vega's 'Major impossible'.