APPLETONS' NEW HANDY-VOLUME SERIES.

LIGHTS

OF THE

OLD ENGLISH STAGE.

NEW YORK:
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY,
1, 3, AND 5 BOND STREET.

1881.

The contents of this volume are principally derived from a series of papers in TEMPLE Bar.

There

V

RICH

S

T

THE

C

THE

1919
-Thérèse Favill
VTA

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

RICHARD BURBADGE AND OTHER ORIGINALS OF SHAKE-

SPEARE'S CHARACTERS

The Early English Drama and the First Theatres.-The Com-

pany of the Globe Playhouse, Burbadge, Kempe, Hem-

inge, Caudell, Sly, Taylor, and Alleyn.-Traditions of their

Acting.

CHAPTER II.

THE CIBBERS.

Colley Cibber, Wit, Actor, Playwright, and Poet-Laureate.-A

Patriarch of the Stage, linking together two Great Eras.-

His Career as Player and Author.-Theophilus Cibber's

Name perpetuated in his Wife, one of the Great Tragedy

Queens of the Time.-Colley Cibber's Daughter.

Early Life of David Garrick.-He leaps into Fame at a Bound.

-His Long Career of Superb and Uninterrupted Triumph.

-His Great Impersonations and Judgments of Contempo-

raries on his Acting.-Private Character and Brilliant Fare-

well to the Stage.-Testimony of Fox, Burke, and Town-

shend.

PAGE

7

26

44

CHAPTER IV.

PAGE

CHARLES MACKLIN

A Centenarian Actor, the Author of "Love à la Mode," and

"The Man of the World," and the First Great Representa-

tive of Shylock.-Sketch of a Long and Striking Career.-

The Original of Sir Archy McSarcasm and Sir Pertinax

McSycophant.-Farewell to the Stage at Ninety-nine Years

of Age.

CHAPTER V.

"PEG" WOFFINGTON AND GEORGE ANNE BELLAMY.

Two Rival Queens of the Stage.-Woffington's Childhood and

Brilliant Rise.-Her Amour with "Davy" Garrick.-The

Culmination of her Star in London.-The Dramatic Setting

of her Stage-Life.-Bellamy's Introduction to Rich.-She

becomes a Great Star.-Her Romantic Career.-Her Last

Appearance before an Audience.

CHAPTER VI.

JOHN KEMBLE AND SARAH SIDDONS

A Theatrical Family.-Mrs. Siddons's Failure at her First

London Début.-She storms the Town in "Isabella, or the

Fatal Marriage."-John Kemble's Experiences as Actor

and Marriage.-Judgment on their Merits by their Con-

temporaries.-Their Respective Farewells to the Stage.-

Hazlitt's Recollections of the Great Brother and Sister.

CHAPTER VII.

63

83

105

GEORGE FREDERICK COOKE

Cooke's Youth and Struggles as a Strolling Player.-He ap-

pears in London after a Professional Life of Twenty-four

Years. His Immense Success in Shylock, Sir Pertinax,

Sir Giles Overreach, Richard III., Falstaff, etc.-Disgusts

the London Public by his Irregularities.-Tour in America

and Incidents.-Death in New York.

127

CHAPTER VIII.

PAGE

EDMUND KEAN

The Misery and Suffering of his Childhood.-Vicissitudes as

a Strolling Player.-Makes his Début in London as Shylock.

-Instant Recognition by the Town.-His Career in Eng-

land and America.-Kean as an Actor and a Man.-Last

Appearance in Conjunction with his Son.

148

CHARLES YOUNG

CHAPTER IX.

Kean's Rival in Acting, and Contrast in Character.-A Repu-

table, Laborious, and Conscientious Life.-Charles Young

holds the London Stage for Twenty-five Years against

Kemble, Cooke, and Garrick.-The English Talma, and his

Intimacy with Sir Walter Scott and other Great Men of

the Time.

CHAPTER X.

MRS. DORA JORDAN

One of the Most Brilliant of Modern Comédiennes.-A Touch-

ing and Romantic Story.-The Modern Mrs. Bellamy and

her Splendid Successes on the London Stage.-Connection

with the Duke of Clarence.-The Mystery of her End.

CHAPTER XI.

THE STORY OF "PERDITA”

Mary Robinson's Unfortunate Surroundings.-She becomes an

Idol of the London Public.-The Prince of Wales falls in

Love with her.-His Cruel Desertion of her." Perdita"

falls from her High Estate and dies in Misery and Desti-

tution.

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