Reformation, The: Difference between revisions

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[Abraham Wright] ([c.1631)
[[Abraham Wright]] (c. [[1631]])




==Historical Records==
==Historical Records==


<Reproduce relevant documentary evidence from historical records here. (For example, entries from Henslowe's Diary).>
 
===Wood's ''Athenæ Oxoniensis''===
 
 
In his life of Abraham Wright (1611–90), an Anglican divine and poet, Anthony Wood writes:
 
:He hath also compleated other books, which are not yet printed as (1) A comical entertainment called ''The Reformation'', presented before the University at S. ''Johns'' Coll. Written while he was an Undergraduate.
 
:(Wood, vol. 2., cols. 640-42)
 
Wright matriculated on 13 November 1629 and graduated BA on 16 May 1633 (Wright).




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==Theatrical Provenance==
==Theatrical Provenance==


<Performed at St John's College, Oxford>
Performed at St John's College, Oxford, presumably between 1629 and 1633 (''REED: Oxford'', 833).




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==Probable Genre(s)==
==Probable Genre(s)==


<Comedy>
Comedy.




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==Possible Narrative and Dramatic Sources or Analogues==
==Possible Narrative and Dramatic Sources or Analogues==


<Enter any information about possible or known sources. Summarise these sources where practical/possible, or provide an excerpt from another scholar's discussion of the subject if available.>
(Information welcome.)




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==References to the Play==
==References to the Play==


<List any known or conjectured references to the lost play here.>
None known.




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==Critical Commentary==
==Critical Commentary==


<Oxford DNB article for Wright, Abraham
'''Warton''', in a brief account of Wright's life, dated the performance of "The Reformation" to "about 1631" (603)
James McManaway, Studies in Shakespeare, Bibliography and Theater (1969)>
 
'''Thorn-Drury''' speculates that Wright's play "perhaps perished in January 1679, among the books and manuscripts of his son James, in the disastrous fire in the Temple which beer was unable to extinguish" ([http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015022187093;view=1up;seq=11 v]; cf. McManaway 282).
 
'''Bentley''' notes that Wood's description "seems to indicate that the manuscript was known to him," and also observes that Warton "offered no authority" for dating of performance to c. 1631 "and may have been guessing" (5:1276).




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==For What It's Worth==
==For What It's Worth==


<Enter any miscellaneous points that may be relevant, but don't fit into the above categories. This is the best place for highly conjectural thoughts.>
Wright also performed in George Wild's ''Love's Hospital'' when Charles I visited St. John's on 30 August 1636. He was an active reader of dramatic literature, and recorded his thoughts in a manuscript commonplace book (British Library, Add. MS 22608; Kirsch).




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==Works Cited==
==Works Cited==


<List all texts cited throughout the entry, except those staple texts whose full bibliographical details have been provided in the masterlist of Works Cited found on the sidebar menu.>
<div style="padding-left: 2em; text-indent: -2em">Kirsch, Arthur C. "A Caroline Commentary on the Drama." ''Modern Philology'' 66 (1969): 256–61.</div>
 
<div style="padding-left: 2em; text-indent: -2em">McManaway, James G. ''Studies in Shakespeare, Bibliography, and Theater''. New York: Shakespeare Association of America, 1969. [Originally from an essay printed in ''Studies in Honor of DeWitt T. Starnes'' (1967).]</div>
<div style="padding-left: 2em; text-indent: -2em">Thorn-Drury, G., ed. ''Parnassus Biceps, or, Several Choice Pieces of Poetry, 1656''. London: Frederick Etchells & Hugh Macdonald, 1927.</div>
<div style="padding-left: 2em; text-indent: -2em">Warton, Thomas, ed. ''Poems upon Several Occasions'' by John Milton. London, 1785.</div>
<div style="padding-left: 2em; text-indent: -2em">Wood, Anthony. ''Athenæ Oxoniensis''. 2 vols. London, 1691–92.</div>
<div style="padding-left: 2em; text-indent: -2em">Wright, Stephen. "Wright, Abraham (1611–1690)." ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''. Oxford UP, 2004; online ed., 2008.</div>


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Latest revision as of 12:32, 25 September 2020

Abraham Wright (c. 1631)


Historical Records

Wood's Athenæ Oxoniensis

In his life of Abraham Wright (1611–90), an Anglican divine and poet, Anthony Wood writes:

He hath also compleated other books, which are not yet printed as (1) A comical entertainment called The Reformation, presented before the University at S. Johns Coll. Written while he was an Undergraduate.
(Wood, vol. 2., cols. 640-42)

Wright matriculated on 13 November 1629 and graduated BA on 16 May 1633 (Wright).


Theatrical Provenance

Performed at St John's College, Oxford, presumably between 1629 and 1633 (REED: Oxford, 833).


Probable Genre(s)

Comedy.


Possible Narrative and Dramatic Sources or Analogues

(Information welcome.)


References to the Play

None known.


Critical Commentary

Warton, in a brief account of Wright's life, dated the performance of "The Reformation" to "about 1631" (603)

Thorn-Drury speculates that Wright's play "perhaps perished in January 1679, among the books and manuscripts of his son James, in the disastrous fire in the Temple which beer was unable to extinguish" (v; cf. McManaway 282).

Bentley notes that Wood's description "seems to indicate that the manuscript was known to him," and also observes that Warton "offered no authority" for dating of performance to c. 1631 "and may have been guessing" (5:1276).


For What It's Worth

Wright also performed in George Wild's Love's Hospital when Charles I visited St. John's on 30 August 1636. He was an active reader of dramatic literature, and recorded his thoughts in a manuscript commonplace book (British Library, Add. MS 22608; Kirsch).


Works Cited

Kirsch, Arthur C. "A Caroline Commentary on the Drama." Modern Philology 66 (1969): 256–61.
McManaway, James G. Studies in Shakespeare, Bibliography, and Theater. New York: Shakespeare Association of America, 1969. [Originally from an essay printed in Studies in Honor of DeWitt T. Starnes (1967).]
Thorn-Drury, G., ed. Parnassus Biceps, or, Several Choice Pieces of Poetry, 1656. London: Frederick Etchells & Hugh Macdonald, 1927.
Warton, Thomas, ed. Poems upon Several Occasions by John Milton. London, 1785.
Wood, Anthony. Athenæ Oxoniensis. 2 vols. London, 1691–92.
Wright, Stephen. "Wright, Abraham (1611–1690)." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford UP, 2004; online ed., 2008.


Site created and maintained by Misha Teramura, University of Toronto; updated 03 December 2015.