Chapter 2

In several of the Introductions the editor has had occasion to mention the exercises and dialogues and plays given in the colleges before the Revolution. These were the distinctive forms which time and occasion created; otherwise the early American dramatist framed his pieces in imitation of English and German tradition. However, as soon as the national period began, another interesting dramatic experiment was put into effect. This has been noted by W. W. Clapp, in his chapter written for Justin Winsor's "Commemorative History of Boston." He says:

"[It was] the custom in the earlier days of the theatre to signalize passing events by such appropriate notice as the resources of the stage would permit."

In other words, the event called forth from the Manager, because of commercial possibilities, certain spectacular scenes to attract the patriotic notice of the people. Manager Hodgkinson, on September 20, 1797, celebrated the launching of the frigate _Constitution_.[3] On January 8, 1800, at the New York Theatre, an "Ode on the Death of General Washington" was recited by Mr. Hodgkinson, written by Samuel Low. It is interesting here to note likewise that Royall Tyler pronounced a Eulogy on Washington at Bennington, Vermont, on February 22, 1800.

[3] Dunlap, himself atune to the hour, wrote "Yankee Chronology; or, Huzza for the Constitution"--"a musical Interlude, in One Act, to which are added, The Patriotic Songs of the Freedom of the Seas, and Yankee Tars," produced at the Park Theatre, New York, 1812. Dunlap wrote many pieces of like character.

A patriotic effusion, celebrating the capture of the British frigate _Guerrière_, was produced on October 2, 1812. In 1813, to commemorate the victory of Perry, a piece was mounted, entitled, "Heroes of the Lake; or, the Glorious Tenth of September." Another piece, equally as suggestive in its title, was "The Sailor's Return; or, Constitution Safe in Port."

When the Marquis de Lafayette visited the United States in 1825, and was taken to the theatre, the occasion was celebrated by an appropriate "drop." In other words, the Manager, even in those days, had the commercial instinct fully developed.

* * * * *

In the preparation of the present collection, the editor wishes to thank those who have been generous in their advice and appreciation of the work in hand. Being a pioneer effort, the original research necessitated has been of an extensive character. I have had, in order to verify my data, to correspond extensively, not only with the members of the families of the different playwrights, but with many historical societies and libraries. I have likewise had the advantage of being able to consult with Dr. F. W. Atkinson, of the Brooklyn Polytechnic, whose collection of American Drama is probably one of the richest in the country, and with Professor Brander Matthews, whose interest in all drama makes the historian continually in his debt. Certain information concerning Royall Tyler has been furnished me by members of the Tyler family, including Mrs. E. L. Pratt, of Boston. In their proper places, when the plays occur, certain credits and references will be found, but it is a pleasure for me here to thank Mr. Percy Mackaye, Mr. David Belasco, Mr. Langdon Mitchell, Mr. Augustus Thomas, the Clyde Fitch Estate, and the Bronson Howard Estate, for their generous coöperation in bringing the present collection to a successful issue. The privilege is also mine to thank Mr. L. Nelson Nichols, of the Americana Division, and Mr. Victor H. Paltsits, in charge of the Manuscript Division, of the New York Public Library, together with other officials of that Library, of Columbia University, and of the Library Company of Philadelphia, and Miss Z. K. Macdonald, for their unfailing courtesy and untiring efforts in my behalf.

In order to preserve uniformity of style throughout the text of the plays certain modifications in punctuation and spelling have been adopted.

MONTROSE J. MOSES.

February 22, 1917.

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF GENERAL WORKS

Some of the most important works on the history of the American Drama and the American Theatre are given herewith. Under each author, there will be found short individual bibliographies, and in the succeeding volumes of the Collection, other general references will be given which will throw light on the theatrical conditions of the particular theatre periods. Naturally, books relating to modern conditions will be reserved for the third volume.

ALLIBONE, S. AUSTIN. A Critical Dictionary of English Literature and British and American Authors. (3 vols.) Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co. 1874. (Supplement to Allibone. By John Foster Kirk. Lippincott, 1891, 2 vols.)

ATKINSON, F. W. List of American Drama in the Atkinson Collection. 1756-1915. Brooklyn, January 1, 1916.

BATES, ALFRED. Drama. Vols. XIX, XX. For American Drama.

BECKS. Collection of Prompt Books in the New York Public Library. _Bulletin_, February, 1906, pp. 100-148.

BROWN, T. ALLSTON. A History of the New York Stage. From the First Performance in 1732 to 1901. (3 vols.) New York: Dodd, Mead & Co. 1903.

BURTON, RICHARD. The New American Drama. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Co. 1913.

CLAPP, WILLIAM W., JR. A Record of the Boston Stage. Boston: James Munroe and Company. 1853.

CLARK, BARRETT H. The British and American Drama of Today. New York: Henry Holt & Co. 1915.

CRAWFORD, MARY CAROLINE. The Romance of the American Theatre. Boston: Little, Brown & Co. 1913.

DALY, HON. CHARLES P. First Theatre in America: When Was the Drama First Introduced in America? An Inquiry. Dunlap Soc. Pub., n. s. 1, 1896.

DICKINSON, THOMAS H. The Case of American Drama. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co. 1915.

DUNLAP, WILLIAM. History of the American Theatre. London: Richard Bentley. 1833.

DURANG, CHARLES. History of the Philadelphia Stage. 1749-1855. (Published serially in the _Philadelphia Dispatch_.)

DUYCKINCK, EVERT A. and GEORGE L. The Cyclopedia of American Literature: From the Earliest Period to the Present Day. Philadelphia: William Rutter & Co. 1877. (2 vols.)

EVANS, CHARLES. American Biography. 8 vols. Privately Printed.

FAXON, FREDERICK W. Dramatic Index. Boston Book Co. 1909 _seq._

FORD, PAUL LEICESTER. The Beginnings of American Dramatic Literature. _New England Magazine_, n. s. 9:673-687, February, 1894.

FORD, PAUL LEICESTER. Some Notes Toward an Essay on the Beginnings of American Dramatic Literature. 1606-1789.

FORD, PAUL LEICESTER. Washington and the Theatre. Dunlap Soc. Pub., n. s. 8, 1899.

GAISFORD, JOHN. Drama in New Orleans. New Orleans. 1849.

GRISWOLD, RUFUS WILMOT. Female Poets of America, With Additions by R. H. Stoddard. New York, 1843-1873.

GRISWOLD, RUFUS WILMOT. Prose Writers of America. Philadelphia: Parry & McMillan. 1854.

HARRIS, C. FISKE. Index to American Poetry and Plays in the Collection of. Providence, 187-.

HARRISON, GABRIEL. History of the Drama in Brooklyn.

HASKELL, DANIEL C. (Compiler.) American Dramas, A List of, in the New York Public Library. New York, 1916. (See also _Bulletin of the New York Public Library_, October, 1915.)

HILDEBURN, CHARLES R. The Issues of the Press in Pennsylvania. Philadelphia, 1886.

HUTTON, LAURENCE. Curiosities of the American Stage. New York: Harper & Bros. 1891.

IRELAND, JOSEPH N. Records of the New York Stage, from 1750 to 1860. (2 vols.) New York: T. H. Morrell, Publisher. 1866.

LUDLOW, N. M. Dramatic Life as I Found It: A Record of Personal Experience with an Account of the Drama in the West and South. St. Louis: G. I. Jones & Co. 1880.

MATTHEWS, J. B. American on the Stage. _Scribner_, 28:321.

MATTHEWS, J. B. A Book About the Theatre. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. 1916.

MOSES, MONTROSE J. The American Dramatist. Boston: Little, Brown & Co. 1917.

MOSES, MONTROSE J. Famous Actor-Families in America. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell & Co. 1906.

PENCE, JAMES HARRY. (Compiler.) The Magazine and the Drama. An Index. New York: The Dunlap Society. 1896.

PHELPS, H. P. Players of a Century. A Record of the Albany Stage. Albany, 1880.

REES, J. The Dramatic Authors of America. Philadelphia, 1845.

RODEN, ROBERT F. Later American Plays. 1831-1900. New York: The Dunlap Society. (1900, n. s. 12.)

SABIN, JOSEPH. Dictionary of Books Relating to America. From Its Discovery to the Present Time. Vol. 1, _seq._ New York: 1868 _seq._

SABINE, LORENZO. Biographical Sketches of Loyalists of the American Revolution. (2 vols.) Boston: Little, Brown & Co. 1864.

SCHARF, J. THOMAS, and WESTCOTT, THOMPSON. History of Philadelphia. 1609-1884. Philadelphia: L. H. Everts & Co. 1884.

SEARS, ALONZO. American Literature in the Colonial and National Periods. Boston: Little, Brown & Co. 1902.

SEILHAMER, GEORGE O. I. History of the American Theatre Before the Revolution. Philadelphia, 1888. II. History of the American Theatre During the Revolution and After. Philadelphia, 1889. III. History of the American Theatre: New Foundations. Philadelphia, 1891.

SIMPSON, HENRY. The Lives of Eminent Philadelphians, Now Deceased. Collected from Original and Authentic Sources. Philadelphia: William Brotherhead. 1859.

SMITH, SOLOMON FRANKLIN. Theatrical Management in the West and South for Thirty Years, with Anecdotal Sketches. New York: Harper & Bros. 1868.

SONNECK, OSCAR GEORGE THEODORE. Catalogue of Opera Librettos Printed Before 1800. (2 vols.) Washington: Government Printing Office. 1914.

SONNECK, O. G. T. Early Opera in America. New York: G. Schirmer. 1915.

SONNECK, O. G. T. Report on the Star-Spangled Banner, Hail Columbia, America, and Yankee Doodle. Washington: Government Printing Office. 1909.

STONE, HENRY DICKINSON. Personal Recollections of the Drama. Albany, 1873.

_Times_, New York. The Early Theatre. December 15, 1895, p. 13.

TOMPKINS, EUGENE, and KILBY, QUINCY. History of the Boston Theatre. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co. 1908.

TYLER, MOSES COIT. The Literary History of the American Revolution. 1763-1783. (2 vols.) New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. 1897.

WEGELIN, OSCAR. The Beginning of the Drama in America. _Literary Collector_, 9:177-181, 1905.

WEGELIN, OSCAR. Early American Plays. 1714-1830. New York: The Literary Collector Press. 1905. (See Dunlap Soc. Pub., n. s. 10, 1900; also the _Literary Collector_, 2:82-84.)

WEMYSS, F. C. Chronology of the American Stage from 1752 to 1852. New York: Wm. Taylor & Co.

WEMYSS, F. C. Twenty-six Years of the Life of an Actor and Manager. (2 vols.) New York: Burgess, Stringer & Co. 1847.

WILKINS, FREDERICK H. Early Influence of German Literature in America. _Americana Germanica_, 3:103-205, 1899.

WILLARD, GEORGE O. History of the Providence Stage. 1762-1891. Providence: R. I. News Co. 1891.

WILSON, JAMES GRANT. (Editor.) The Memorial History of the City of New York. (4 vols.) New York History Co. 1892 _seq._

WINSOR, JUSTIN. The Memorial History of Boston, including Suffolk Co., Mass. 1630-1880. Boston: Ticknor & Co. 1880.

WINTER, WILLIAM. The Wallet of Time. (2 vols.) New York: Moffat, Yard & Co. 1913.

WOOD, WILLIAM B. Personal Recollections of the Stage. Embracing Notices of Actors, Authors, and Auditors, During a Period of Forty Years. Philadelphia: Henry Carey Baird. 1855.

INDIVIDUAL BIOGRAPHIES FOR PLAYS.

Only essential references are given, and wherever possible the author's name is indicated, rather than the title. In such cases, the full title of the reference may be had by consulting the General Bibliography.

THOMAS GODFREY, JR.

William Allen, American Biographical Dictionary; Dunlap, i, 50; Seilhamer, i, 185; Tyler, Consult Index; Journal of William Black; Journal of Sarah Eve, Extracts from the: Written while living near the City of Philadelphia in 1772-1773 (Philadelphia, 1881); _American Museum_, 471-472; _Journal National Institute Sciences_, i: 165, 1915; _Nation_, 100:415, April 15, 1915.

MAJOR ROBERT ROGERS

Allibone; Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography; Dictionary of National Biography; Duyckinck; Ryerson, American Loyalists; Sabin; Sabine, American Loyalists; Tyler; Winsor. Ellis P. Oberholtzer, Literary History of Philadelphia (1906); Sears. _Canadian Magazine_, 1914, 42:316-318; _Dial_ (Chicago), 59:68-69; 97, 1915; _Historical Magazine_ (New York), April, 1860, 127; _New England Magazine_, 1894, n. s. 9:678; Royal Society of Canada Proceedings and Transactions, ser. 2, vol. 6, sec. 2, pp. 49-59, Ottawa, 1900. The reader is also referred to the Nevins re-issue of "Ponteach," in which full bibliographies are given; also to Parkman's "History of the Conspiracy of Pontiac." Consult Caleb Stark's "Memoir and Official Correspondence of Gen. John Stark, with Notices of Several other Officers of the Revolution. Also, a Biography of Capt. Phinehas Stevens, and of Colonel Robert Rogers" (1860).

MRS. MERCY WARREN

Alice Brown, "Mercy Warren" (_Women of Colonial and Revolutionary Times_). New York: Scribner's, 1896; Duyckinck; Ellet, Women of the American Revolution; Fiske, John, American Revolution; Griswold, Female Poets of America; Mrs. Hale, Woman's Record; Rees, 132; Seilhamer, ii, 3; Winsor, Boston; Wegelin. Adams, Works of John--ed. by Charles Francis Adams.--Consult Index; _Blackwood Magazine_, xvii, 203; Correspondence Relating to Mrs. Warren's History of the American Revolution, _Mass. Hist. Coll._, ser. 5, v. 4, 315-511; _Harper's Magazine_, 1884, 68:749; _New England Magazine_, 1894, n. s. 9:680; _North American Review_, lxviii, 415. In studying first editions of plays, the reader is referred to the Bibliographies of Charles Evans and Charles Hildeburn.

HUGH HENRY BRACKENRIDGE

Allibone; Duyckinck; Victor H. Paltsits, A Bibliography of the Separate and Collected Works of Philip Freneau (including Brackenridge)--New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1903; 1846 edition of Brackenridge's "Modern Chivalry," containing a biographical sketch by his son; Oberholtzer; Tyler; _United States Magazine_ (in the collection of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania). The reader is also referred to Mary S. Austin's "Philip Freneau, the Poet of the Revolution: A History of his Life and Times" (1901); F. L. Pattee's "The Poems of Philip Freneau: Poet of the American Revolution"--Edited for the Princeton Historical Association, 3 volumes, 1902-1907; Samuel Davies Alexander's "Princeton College during the Eighteenth Century;" James Madison's Correspondence while at College; W. C. Armor's "Lives of the Governors of Pennsylvania," for a picture and an account of the administration of Governor Thomas Mackean. Consult also, for college atmosphere, the Journals of Philip Fithian, and the Correspondence of the Rev. Ezra Stiles, Letter of July 23, 1762, published by the Yale Press. (Styles encouraged "The Mercenary Match," by Barnabas Bidwell.)

JOHN LEACOCK

Durang; Duyckinck; Hildeburn; Ford; Sabin; Seilhamer, ii, 10; Tyler; "New Travels through North-America." Translated from the Original of the Abbé Robin [Claude C.], one of the Chaplains to the French Army in America, 1783. (Observations made in 1781); Sonneck's "Early Opera in America;" Watson's "Annals of Philadelphia;" Philadelphia Directories as mentioned in text.

SAMUEL LOW

Dunlap; Duyckinck; Sabin; Seilhamer, ii, 284; Stedman-Hutchinson, Cyclopedia of American Literature; New York Directories as mentioned.

ROYALL TYLER

Allibone; Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography; Dunlap, i, 137; Duyckinck; Ireland, i, 76; Stedman-Hutchinson, Library of American Literature; Winsor; "Memoirs of the Hon. Royall Tyler: Late Chief Justice of Vermont. Compiled from his Papers by his son, Thomas Pickman Tyler, 1873" (Unpublished). According to information (1917), this manuscript, incomplete, is being brought to a close by Helen Tyler Brown, great-granddaughter of the Judge. There is likewise a life of Mary Tyler, unpublished, written by herself when quite an old woman.

Consult also: J. T. Buckingham's "Personal Memoirs and Recollections," 2 vols., 1852; J. T. Buckingham's "Specimens of Newspaper Literature," 2 vols., 1850; Vermont Bar Association Proceedings, 1878-1886, vol. i, pp. 44-62, an article by the Rev. Thomas P. Tyler, D.D., of Brattleboro; Harold Milton Ellis's "Joseph Dennie and His Circle: A Study in American Literature from 1792 to 1812."--Studies in English, No. 1, _Bulletin of the University of Texas_, No. 40, July 15, 1915; John Trumbull's "Autobiographical Reminiscences and Letters, 1756-1841." The correspondence relating to Shays's Rebellion is to be found in "Brattleboro, Wyndham Co., Vermont, Early History, with Biographical Sketches. Henry Burnham."--Edited by Abby Maria Hemenway (Includes an excellent picture of Royall Tyler); William Willis's "The Law, the Courts and the Lawyers of Maine" (1863). Further references to Tyler are contained in Rees, 131; Mitchell, American Lands; John Adams' Works; Sonneck's "Opera in America," under "May-day in Town;" Seilhamer, ii, 227; _Delineator_ (New York), 85:7; _New England Magazine_, 1894, n. s. 9:674; _North American Review_, July, 1858, 281.

Among Tyler's works, other than those mentioned in the Introduction, may be recorded:

1. "The Algerine Captive; or, The Life and Adventures of Dr. Updike Underhill, Six Years a Prisoner Among the Algerines." 2 vols. Walpole, N. H., 1797.

2. "Moral Tales for American Youths." Boston, 1800.

3. "The Yankee in London: A Series of Letters, written by an American Youth during Nine Months of Residence in the City of London." New York, 1809.

4. Tyler wrote for the newspapers with Joseph Dennie, Walpole, N. H., and published selections from his contributions under the title of "The Spirit of the Farmer's Museum and Lay Preacher's Gazette." He also contributed poems to the _Farmer's Weekly Museum_, to the _Portfolio_, to the Columbia _Centinel_, to the _New England Galaxy_, and to the _Polyanthus_. Prose works were likewise included therein. Some of his contributions to the _Farmer's Museum_ were gathered together in 1798 under the title of "Colon and Spondee Papers," and issued by the pioneer American printer, Isaiah Thomas.

WILLIAM DUNLAP

The reader is referred to Dunlap's own "History of the American Theatre," and to his numerous other prose works, notably his Lives of Charles Brockden Brown and George Frederick Cooke. The Dunlap Society's Reprints of "André" (iv. 1887), "Darby's Return" (n. s. 8, 1899), and "The Father" (ii, 1887) contain biographical data. See Oscar Wegelin's "William Dunlap and His Writings," _Literary Collector_, 7:69-76, 1904; O. S. Coad's "William Dunlap: A Study of his Life and Writings, and of Contemporary Culture" (scheduled for issuance by the Dunlap Society in 1917); Dunlap's Diary, in the Library of the New York Historical Society: Vol. 14, July 27-Dec. 13, 1797; vol. 15, Dec. 14, 1797-June 1, 1798; vol. 24, Oct. 15, 1819-April 14, 1820; vol. 30, June 27, 1833-Dec. 31, 1834. Consult also Duyckinck; Rees, 76; Stedman-Hutchinson, Library of American Literature; Seilhamer, Index; Wood, Personal Recollections; Sonneck's "The Musical Side of George Washington;" _Analytical Magazine_, i, 404, 466; _New England Magazine_, 1894, n. s. 9, 684. See Wegelin, Evans, Hildeburn.

JAMES NELSON BARKER

Dunlap, ii, 307; Durang; Ireland; Rees; Diary of Manager Wood, in possession of the University of Pennsylvania. Also Griswold's "Poets and Poetry of America;" Oberholtzer's "Literary History of Philadelphia;" Simpson. Barker's political writings were extensive.

MORDECAI MANUEL NOAH

Dunlap, ii, 316; Ireland, i, 356; Jewish Encyclopedia; National Cyclopedia of American Biography. See also Allibone; Duyckinck; P. K. Foley's "American Authors;" Oberholtzer's "Literary History of Philadelphia;" Rees; Scharf and Westcott; James Grant Wilson's "Fitz-Green Halleck;" _International Magazine_, iii, 282; _American Jewish Historical Society Pub._, No. 6, 1897, 113-121; _Lippincott_, i, 665; J. T. Trowbridge's "My Own Story. With Recollections of Noted Persons" (1903).