Author: Fletcher, John; [Reynolds, Frederic; adapter]
Title: The Humorous Lieutenant; or, Alexander's Successors: A Tragi-Comedy, Written by Beaumont and Fletcher; and Now Performed at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden
Description: London: Printed for W. Lowndes, 38, Bedford Street, 1817. 1817. London: Printed for W. Lowndes, 38, Bedford Street, 1817. 1817. Good. - Small octavo, softcover bound in later brown wraps with cream cord. The wraps are darkened, chipped & rippled with pieces out of the bottom corners of the front wrap. The spine is perished. 85 pages. The pagination suggests that the half-title is lacking. There is staining to the title page & to the first & last leaves of the text & the bottom corner of the title is chipped. There is occasional staining to the margins of other pages & a number of top page corners are creased. A good copy of a fragile book.

In "The Works of Beaumont & Fletcher. With Notes..by The Rev. Alexander Dyce" [London, 1844], this play is attributed to John Fletcher: "The Humorous Lieutenant may be confidently attributed to Fletcher alone..The authority of the MS. which declares it to be 'written by John Fletcher', is of the greatest weight". Regarding the production history of the play, Dyce writes: "After the Restoration The Humorous Lieutenant enjoyed much popularity; it was the first play that was acted, and that for twelve nights successively, at the opening of the theatre in Drury Lane, April 8, 1663..In 1817 an alteration of it was brought out at [Covent Garden] but with slight success."

The "alteration" here published was by Frederic Reynolds [1764-1841], a British playwright and theatrical producer, now best known for his adaptations of Shakespeare staged at Covent Garden. His "operatic" productions based on Shakespeare's plays usually included music by Henry Bishop and others, added tableaux and spectacle, and switched songs from one Shakespeare play to another. There appear to be no obvious embellishments of this kind in the Fletcher play, at least not in the text. Reynolds' adaptation opened at Covent Garden in January 1817 with William Charles Macready in the cast as Demetrius.

Rare. Not in Copac or WorldCat. Good .

Keywords: THEATRE; THEATER; STAGE; BRITISH; LONDON; COVENT GARDEN; NINETEENTH CENTURY; 19TH CENTURY; JOHN FLETCHER; THE HUMOROUS LIEUTENANT; TRAGI-COMEDY; PLAY; ADAPTATION; FREDERIC REYNOLDS; PLAYWRIGHT; PRODUCER.

See more books from our catalog: Theatre