Julius Caesar

Thomas May (1616)

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Historical Records

Biographia Dramatica (1812), 3:437 googlebooks open access:

Julius Caesar. Trag. by Thomas May. The original MS. of this play, which is in five short acts, is in the possession of Mr. Stephen Jones. The author has affixed his name at the conclusion of the piece.

Probable Genre(s)

Latin tragedy (Harbage).

References to the Play

None known.

Critical Commentary

Norbrook argues that this play may have shared the political concerns of May's tragedy of Julia Agrippina (1628), which "drew on Lucan in a stark portrayal of imperial corruption."

For What It's Worth

Will the manuscript containing the tragedy ever be recovered?

Works Cited

Baker, David Erskine, Issac Reed, and Stephen Jones (eds.). Biographia Dramatica; or, A Companion to the Playhouse. 3 vols. London: Longman et al., 1812. (NB: Baker to 1764, Reed to 1782, and Jones to 1811.)

Norbrook, David. "May, Thomas (b. in or after 1596, d. 1650)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn., Jan 2008 accessed 25 July 2015

Site created and maintained by Domenico Lovascio, University of Genoa; updated 25 July 2015.