Reformation, The: Difference between revisions

No edit summary
mNo edit summary
 
(12 intermediate revisions by the same user not shown)
Line 8: Line 8:




In his life of Abraham Wright (1611–90), an Anglican divine and poet, Wood writes:
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.
: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., 640-42)
:(Wood, vol. 2., cols. 640-42)
 
Wright matriculated on 13 November 1629 and graduated BA on 16 May 1633 (Wright). His ''Delitiæ Delitiarum'' was published in 1637.


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




Line 21: Line 20:
==Theatrical Provenance==
==Theatrical Provenance==


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




Line 33: Line 32:
==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.)




Line 39: Line 38:
==References to the Play==
==References to the Play==


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




Line 45: Line 44:
==Critical Commentary==
==Critical Commentary==


'''McManaway''' noted that the manuscript of "The Reformation" "is supposed to have been lost in the fire in Middle Temple in 1679, when James Wright's books and manuscripts were consumed" (282).
'''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" ([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).




Line 51: Line 54:
==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).




Line 57: Line 60:
==Works Cited==
==Works Cited==


<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">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">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>
<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>
Line 63: Line 69:




<If you haven't done so already, also add here any key words that will help categorise this play. Use the following format, repeating as necessary: [[category:example]]>
Site created and maintained by [[Misha Teramura]], University of Toronto; updated 03 December 2015.
 
[[category:all]][[category:St. John's, Oxford]][[category:Misha Teramura]]
 
Site created and maintained by [[your name]], affiliation; updated DD Month YYYY.
[[category:all]][[category:your name]]

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.