Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, and Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660-1800

by Philip H Highfill Jr, Kalman A Burnim, Edward A. Langhans

Overview

A major project begun in 1973 reaches its conclusion with the publication of volumes 15 and 16 of the Biographical Dictionary, a series considered "a reference work of the first order" by Theatre and Performing Arts Collections.

Among performers highlighted in these last volumes is Catherine Tofts, a gifted singer whose popular acclaim was captured in lines by Samuel Phillips: "How are we pleas’d when beauteous Tofts appears, / To steal our Souls through our attentive Ears?’ / Ravish’d we listen to th’ inchanting Song, / And catch the falling Accents from her Tongue." The first singer of English birth to master the form of Italian opera, Tofts frequently won leading roles over native Italian singers. Her salary—£400 to £500 a season—was one of the highest in the theatre. Her popularity declined, however, as her demands for payment increased—a situation captured in an epigram Alexander Pope may have penned: "So bright is thy beauty, so charming thy song, / As had drawn both the beasts and their Orpheus along; / But such is thy avarice, and such is thy pride, / That the beasts must have starved, and the poets have died."

John Vanbrugh, whose play The Relapse is ranked as one of the best comedies of the Restoration period, became a subordinate crown architect under Sir Christopher Wren in 1702. In 1703, Vanbrugh began plans for the Queen’s Theatre in the Haymarket, an enterprise endorsed by the Kit Cat Club (of which Vanbrugh was a member). Even though his lavish design was acoustically defective, restructuring helped correct the problem and the theatre eventually became the exclusive center for opera in London.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780809318032
Publisher:	Southern Illinois University Press
Publication date:	10/28/1993
Series:	Biographical Dictionary of Actors & Actresses, 1660-1800 Series , #16
Edition description:	1st Edition
Pages:	384
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Philip H. Highfill, Jr., is a professor emeritus of English at George Washington University.

Kalman A. Burnim is emeritus Fletcher Professor of Drama at Tufts University.

Edward A. Langhans is an emeritus professor of drama and theatre at the University of Hawaii.

Editorial Reviews

“This multi-volume work is one of the most important reference aids to be published on the English theatre of the Res­toration and eighteenth-century.”

—American Reference Books Annual

“An indispensable reference.”—The English Association

“A reference set of the first importance.”—The Eighteenth Century

From the Publisher

Volume 16 completes the magisterial Biographical Dictionary which provides information on some 8,500 of the people who contributed to the patent theatres, opera houses, fair booths, concert halls, and pleasure gardens in and around London during the period from 1660 to 1800. The final volume centers on Margaret Woffington, "the most beautiful woman that ever adorned a theatre" (the judgment of Thomas Davies--evidenced by the nine included portraits). Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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