Spanish Preferment: Difference between revisions
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== Critical Commentary ==
== Critical Commentary ==


Nothing else is known of a play with this title, and like other equally mysterious plays on Hill's List, one cannot even be sure that it is from the pre-1642 period (although most of the identifiable plays and playwrights on Hill's List are Jacobean and Caroline).  Adams compares similar play-titles including ''The [[Spanish Purchase]]'' and ''The [[Spanish Viceroy]]'', and Bentley adds, rather testily, that there are numerous other extant and non-extant plays which also feature the word "Spanish" in their title.  (Adams, 83; Bentley, 5.1410).  Both Bentley and Adams assume that there is a "The" to be supplied to the title, but no "The" is present in the one extant record.  Adams adds that it is "hardly plausible" to actually identify ''Spanish Preferment'' with ''The [[Spanish Purchase]]''.
Nothing else is known of a play with this title, and like other equally mysterious plays on Hill's List, one cannot even be sure that it is from the pre-1642 period (although most of the identifiable plays and playwrights on Hill's List are Jacobean and Caroline).  Adams compares similar play-titles including ''[[Spanish Purchase, The}The Spanish Purchase]]'' and [[Spanish Viceroy, The|"The Spanish Viceroy"]], and Bentley adds, rather testily, that there are numerous other extant and non-extant plays which also feature the word "Spanish" in their title.  (Adams, 83; Bentley, 5.1410).  Both Bentley and Adams assume that there is a "The" to be supplied to the title, but no "The" is present in the one extant record.  Adams adds that it is "hardly plausible" to actually identify "Spanish Preferment" with [[Spanish Purchase, The|''The Spanish Purchase'']].


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Revision as of 16:53, 3 October 2014

Anon. before 1703

Historical Records

Hill's list

Hill's list is reproduced and discussed here. The tenth item on it is:

Spanish Preferment


Theatrical Provenance

Unknown


Probable Genre(s)

Unknown


Possible Narrative and Dramatic Sources or Analogues

None known


References to the Play

None known


Critical Commentary

Nothing else is known of a play with this title, and like other equally mysterious plays on Hill's List, one cannot even be sure that it is from the pre-1642 period (although most of the identifiable plays and playwrights on Hill's List are Jacobean and Caroline). Adams compares similar play-titles including [[Spanish Purchase, The}The Spanish Purchase]] and "The Spanish Viceroy", and Bentley adds, rather testily, that there are numerous other extant and non-extant plays which also feature the word "Spanish" in their title. (Adams, 83; Bentley, 5.1410). Both Bentley and Adams assume that there is a "The" to be supplied to the title, but no "The" is present in the one extant record. Adams adds that it is "hardly plausible" to actually identify "Spanish Preferment" with The Spanish Purchase.


For What It's Worth

EEBO-TCP can offer no obvious help at the time of writing. Presumably, "Spanish preferment", like "Dutch courage" or "French leave", is a back-handed phrase. It would imply an appointment motivated by Spanish treachery (cf. OED, Spanish a.1 3a).


Works Cited

Adams, Joseph Quincy. “Hill’s List of Early Plays in Manuscript.” The Library 4th Ser., 20.1 (1939): 71-99. Print.


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