Title: Representative Plays by American Dramatists - 1765-1819
Author: Moses, Montrose Jonas, 1878-1934 [Editor]
Language: English
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[Illustration:                 THE

                            CONTRAST,

                                A

                             COMEDY;

                          IN FIVE ACTS:

                          WRITTEN BY A

                  CITIZEN OF THE _UNITED STATES_;

Performed with Applause at the Theatres in NEW-YORK, PHILADELPHIA,
                          and MARYLAND;

   AND PUBLISHED (_under an Assignment of the Copy-Right_) BY

                         THOMAS WIGNELL.


    Primus ego in patriam
    Aonio----deduxi vertice Musas.

                           VIRGIL.

           (_Imitated._)

    First on our shores I try THALIA'S powers,
    And bid the _laughing, useful_ Maid be ours.


                       PHILADELPHIA:

FROM THE PRESS OF PRICHARD & HALL, IN MARKET STREET, BETWEEN SECOND
                     AND FRONT STREETS.

                         M.DCC.XC.

       *       *       *       *       *

FAC-SIMILE TITLE-PAGE OF THE FIRST EDITION

(_From the Original, owned by Dr. F. W. Atkinson_)]



Representative Plays by
American Dramatists


Edited, with an Introduction to Each Play

By MONTROSE J. MOSES


1765-1819

Illustrated with Portraits, and
Original Title-Pages


BENJAMIN BLOM, INC.

New York

First published by E. P. Dutton & Co. Inc., 1918,
Copyright renewed by Mrs. Leah H. Moses, 1946
Reissued by Benjamin Blom, Inc. 1964 by arrangement with Mrs. L. H. Moses.


_Printed in U.S.A. by_
NOBLE OFFSET PRINTERS, INC.
NEW YORK 3, N. Y.



                      To

            DR. FRED W. ATKINSON

In grateful recollection of his encouragement
      and aid in the preparation of
              this volume.



Table of Contents


General Introduction.                                   1-10

Bibliographies.                                        11-18

The Prince of Parthia.
                   By _Thomas Godfrey, Jr._ _1765_    19-108

Ponteach; or, The Savages of America.
                        By _Robert Rogers_. _1766_   109-208

The Group; A Farce.
                    By _Mrs. Mercy Warren_. _1775_   209-232

The Battle of Bunkers-Hill.
              By _Hugh Henry Brackenridge_. _1776_   233-276

The Fall of British Tyranny; or, American Liberty.
                         By _John Leacock_. _1776_   277-350

The Politician Out-witted. By _Samuel Low_. _1789_   351-429

The Contrast.            By _Royall Tyler_. _1790_   431-498

André.                 By _William Dunlap_. _1798_   499-564

The Indian Princess; or, La Belle Sauvage.
                         By _J. N. Barker_. _1808_   565-628

She Would Be a Soldier; or, The Plains of Chippewa.
                           By _M. M. Noah_. _1819_   629-678



_INTRODUCTION_


The present collection of "Representative Plays by American
Dramatists" is the first of its kind to be offered to the general
reader. In its scope, it covers a period from 1765-1911, and in its
plan of selection, it strives to show the advance in playwriting
during successive periods of American history.

Because of this scheme, the choice of plays for the Colonial and
Revolutionary sections necessarily includes several which, while
written for the stage, are not authentically located as far as
production is concerned. There is no indication that Robert Rogers's
"Ponteach" was ever accepted by any of the theatrical companies of
the time, and there is no positive proof that Mrs. Mercy Warren's
"The Group" was ever done, although there are casual references to
the fact that performances were given at Amboyne. Nor have we any
right to believe that Samuel Low's "The Politician Out-witted"
received other than scant treatment from the managers to whom it was
submitted; it was published rather to please the readers of the
closet drama. Nevertheless, it has been thought essential to include
these plays because they are representative of the spirit of the
times, and help to give a more comprehensive view of the subjects
which were treated in dramatic form by the early American
playwrights.

From the moment the American writer ceased to be an Englishman, and
became fully aware of his national consciousness, American drama,
following the trend of the development of American literature, began
to feel its way for the proper expression of national characteristics.

And so, in the second and third volumes of this series, the reader
will find plays which, while not wonderful in their literary value,
are, nevertheless, very distinctive, as reflecting the theatrical
tastes of the time, and the very crude, but none the less sincere,
technical effort of the playwrights. All the dramas included in the
second and third volumes have had their stage productions, and are
thus representative of characteristics which mark the abilities of
certain actors, whose claims to originality are found in the special
types they created.

It has been the present editor's object so to arrange the successive
order of these plays that the reader may not only be able to judge
the change in stagecraft and technique, but, likewise, may note the
change in social idea and in historical attitude toward certain
subjects. For example, "The Contrast" contains the first American
Stage Yankee--a model for a succession of Stage Yankees to follow.
But, whereas Royall Tyler's _Jonathan_ was not especially written to
exploit the peculiar abilities of Mr. Wignell, the comedian, most of
the Yankee plays of a later date were written to exploit the
peculiar excellences of such actors as G. H. Hill and James H.
Hackett.

In no way can the reader better sense the change in social customs
and ideals than by reading a series of plays written in successive
generations and reflecting the varying customs of the time. In some
respects "The Contrast" may be considered our very earliest drama of
social manners, even though Royall Tyler was not over-successful in
stamping the small talk of his women as being distinctively
American. Rather is it the direct imitation--without the
brilliancy--of the small talk in "The School for Scandal." But,
nevertheless, "The Contrast" does attempt to deal with society in
New York before the nineteenth century, and in Mrs. Mowatt's
"Fashion," in Mrs. Bateman's "Self," in Bronson Howard's "Saratoga"
(which has been published), in Clyde Fitch's "The Moth and the
Flame," and in Langdon Mitchell's "The New York Idea," we are given
a very significant and sharply defined panoramic view of the
variations in moral and social attitudes.

The plays included in this series have very largely been selected
because of their distinct American flavour. The majority of the
dramas deal directly with American subjects. But it seemed unwise
and unrepresentative to frame one's policy of selection too rigidly
on that score. Had such a method been adhered to, many of the plays
written for Edwin Forrest would have to be omitted from
consideration. It would have been difficult, because of this
stricture, to include representative examples of dramas by the
Philadelphia and Knickerbocker schools of playwrights. Robert T.
Conrad's "Jack Cade," John Howard Payne's "Brutus," George Henry
Boker's "Francesca da Rimini," and Nathaniel P. Willis's "Tortesa,
the Usurer," would thus have been ruled from the collection.
Nevertheless are they representative plays by American dramatists.
Another departure from the American atmosphere is in the case of
Steele Mackaye; here in preference to "Hazel Kirke," I have selected
"Paul Kauvar," farthest away from American life, inasmuch as it
deals with Nihilism, but written at a time when there was a
Nihilistic fever in New York City.

No editor, attempting such a comprehensive collection as this, can
be entirely successful in including everything which will enrich his
original plan. There are always limitations placed upon him by the
owners of copyrights, and by gaps in the development, due to loss of
manuscripts. It was naturally my desire to have all the distinctive
American playwrights represented in the present collection.
Therefore, in justice, the omissions have to be indicated here,
because they leave gaps in a development which it would have been
well to offer unbroken and complete.

When the collection was first conceived, there was every indication
that permission would be granted me to reproduce at least one of the
Robert Montgomery Bird manuscripts, now owned by the University of
Pennsylvania. Naturally, a collection of representative plays should
include either Bird's "The Gladiator," or one of his other more or
less oratorical and poetical pieces, written under the inspiration
of Edwin Forrest. The intention to include John Augustus Stone's
"Metamora" brought to light, after correspondence with the Forrest
Home in Philadelphia, that either the manuscript of that play has
irrevocably been destroyed, or else has been preserved so carefully
that no one remotely connected with the actor Forrest has thus far
been able to locate it. Only a few well remembered speeches and
isolated scenes are seemingly left of a play which increased so
largely the fame of Mr. Forrest.

In the selection of _types_ my attention naturally became centered
on the characters of _Colonel Mulberry Sellars_, and _Judge Bardwell
Slote_, the former in a dramatization of "The Gilded Age," by Mark
Twain and Charles Dudley Warner, and the latter, in a play by
Benjamin E. Woolf, called "The Mighty Dollar." Extended
investigation revealed the fact that, even if the plays are not
lost, they are still unlocated, by the literary executors of Mark
Twain on the one hand, and by the family of Mr. Woolf on the other.
It is well to mention these instances, because, until the recent
interest in the origins of American drama, manifest on all sides,
there has been a danger that many most valuable manuscript plays
would be lost to the student forever.

At a revival of individual scenes from distinctive American Plays,
given in New York, on January 22, 1917, considerable difficulty was
experienced before the stock-company manuscript of Frank E.
Murdoch's "Davy Crockett" was procured. This play, old-fashioned in
its general development, is none the less representative of old-time
melodramatic situation and romantic manipulation, and there is every
reason to believe that, with the tremendous changes in theatrical
taste, unless this play is published in available printed form, it
will be lost to the student of ten years from now. The play would
have been included in the present edition if space had allowed.

When I came to a consideration of the modern section, there were
many omissions which had to be made, due very largely to the fact
that authors and owners of copyright were loath to forego their
rights. A collection of this kind should undoubtedly have the name
of James A. Herne represented in its contents, inasmuch as none of
Mr. Herne's plays have heretofore been published, and two of his
most distinctive dramas in original manuscript, "Margaret Fleming"
and "Griffith Davenport," have been totally destroyed by fire. But
representatives of Mr. Herne's family have declined, at the present
time, to allow his plays to be published. This is to be regretted,
inasmuch as nearly all of the most prominent American playwrights
are represented, either in the publication of isolated plays or in
definitive editions. I should have liked to end this collection with
the inclusion of Mr. Eugene Walter's "The Easiest Way;" at the
present time, that play, which was once issued in an edition
privately printed, is to be found in the _Drama League Series_ of
plays.

From the standpoint of non-copyright material, two interesting
conditions have been revealed through investigation. The first
published play, in America, was "Androboros," by Governor Robert
Hunter, written in collaboration with Chief Justice Lewis Morris.[1]
Only one copy of that play is in existence, owned by Mr. H. E.
Huntington, of New York, having formerly been a valued possession in
the library of the Duke of Devonshire; and having descended from the
private ownership of David Garrick and John Kemble, the English
actors. Naturally, the private collector is loath, in view of the
rarity of his edition, to allow it, at present, to be reprinted.

[1] The title-page of "Androboros" reads: "Androboros"/
A/Bographical [_Sic._] Farce/In Three Acts, Viz./The Senate,/The
Consistory,/and/The Apotheosis./ By Governour Hunter./Printed at
Moropolis since 1st August, 1714. [Taken from Huntington Copy.
Moropolis means Fool's Town.]

Some scholars, however, point to "Les Muses de la Nouvelle-France,"
printed in Paris in 1609, where the third piece is "Le Théâtre de
Neptune en la Nouvelle-France." According to Marc Lescarbot, this
was "représentée sur les flots du Port-Royal le quatorzième de
Novembre, mille six cens six, au retour de Sieur de Poutrincourt du
pais des Armouchiquois." This may be regarded as example of the
first play written and acted on North American soil, it, however,
being in French, and not given within what is now the United States,
but rather at Port Royal, in Acadia. (See two interesting letters,
1o W. J. Neidig, _Nation_, 88:86, January 28, 1909; 2o Philip
Alexander Bruce, _Nation_, 88:136, February 11, 1909.)

It was my further desire, as an example of college playwriting, to
include the text of Barnabas Bidwell's "The Mercenary Match,"
written at Yale, and played by the students of Yale.[2] Only one
copy of that play is, thus far, known to be in existence, owned by
Mr. Evert Jansen Wendell, and its inclusion in the present
collection is debarred for the same reason.

[2] The/Mercenary Match,/A Tragedy./By Barna Bidwell./New
Haven:/Printed by Meigs, Bowen and Dana,/In Chapel-Street./(1785.)

Were this collection--Representative Plays by American
Dramatists--encyclopedic in its scope, rather than a suggestive
arrangement of a limited number of plays for the purpose of
illustrating certain phases of playwriting in American theatrical
history, it would have been necessary for the editor to intersperse,
here and there, between the plays, certain minor forms of dramatic
writing, characteristic of the work done in this country. For
example, plays and dialogues written at colleges at a period
ante-dating 1800, and likewise ante-dating the Revolution, are a
distinctive development in themselves, and would form an interesting
contrast with the work being done at the colleges since the
beginning of the present so-called dramatic renaissance (1917).
These dialogues, in their proper place, will be dealt with in the
introductions to a few of the plays. But it is well to indicate here
that such illustrations of very definite forms of dramatic
expression have been omitted.

In all cases the texts used have been carefully collated with the
first editions of the published dramas and, wherever possible, the
original casts have been given with the Dramatis Personæ. Interest
in American drama consists very largely in the elements of
comparison and contrast which certain definite dramas suggest. Even
if there is no manuscript of "Metamora" extant, there is sufficient
data relating to the character of _Metamora_ to contrast the play
with Robert Rogers's "Ponteach." Even though Mrs. Warren's "The
Group" might be ruled out as an acting drama, none the less is it
definitely reflective of the revolutionary temper of Revolutionary
times. A comparison of other types of plays will be made as they
occur in the course of the three volumes. I emphasize the point
here, because I wish to suggest that such a collection as this
offers infinite possibilities in the study of the historical,
social, and economic evolution of America.

Most of these plays have been revived. There will be noted, later,
performances of "The Prince of Parthia," of "The Contrast," of
Dunlap's "André," and of Mrs. Mowatt's "Fashion," according to our
modern methods of acting. These plays may often seem verbose and
lacking in continuous development and interest. This would lead us
to believe that possibly the early actor had means at his disposal
of overcoming these defects by a method of dramatic technique
unknown to the present player. In reading these dramas, one must be
able to bear in mind the differences which exist between the theatre
of to-day and the theatre of yesterday, between the tradition of the
actor of to-day and of the actor of yesterday. The technique, for
example, in the characterization of _Jonathan_, and in the
characterization of _Solon Shingle_, is different from the technique
which characterizes the work of Clyde Fitch or which is to be found
in David Belasco's "Peter Grimm." In other words, in such a
collection, one asks, not the judgment of the highest literary
standards, but the judgment of an historical appreciation of the
changes in dramatic taste.

       *       *       *       *       *

This, the first volume of "Representative Plays by American
Dramatists," contains dramas which measure the tastes and
inclinations of Colonial and Revolutionary life. In the proper
understanding of their atmosphere, it is necessary to know something
of the general spirit of the theatre of the period; to measure the
conditions, customs, and social peculiarities of the provincial
actors and audiences. For that reason, it would be well for the
general reader beforehand to obtain a bird's-eye view of the history
of the American theatre--a view which will comprise some
consideration of the first playhouse in this country, of the
conditions which confronted Hallam, Henry, and Douglass, the first
actors to be at the head of what, in Williamsburg, Virginia, was
known as the Virginia Comedians, and in New York and Philadelphia,
as the American Company.

No more fascinating study could be imagined than following the
trials and tribulations of the actors in America at this early day,
who, as soon as they reached Philadelphia, or as soon as they
attempted to invade Boston, were confronted by the Puritanical and
sectarian prejudices, against which the early history of the
American theatre had to struggle. The personalities of the Hallams,
of Douglass and Hodgkinson, are picturesque and worth while tracing
in all aspects of their Thespian careers in the Colonies. So, too,
the persons of Thomas Wignell, the Comedian, and of Mrs. Merry, are
of especial interest. Wignell, at the John Street Theatre, in New
York, and at the Southwark Theatre, in Philadelphia, was wont to
amuse George Washington, who, on careful examination of his Journals
and expense accounts, looms up as the one big theatre-goer of the
time.

The reader who follows the effect open hostility with England had
upon the American theatre, will find most interesting material
relating to the dramatic activities of the soldiers under the
leadership of Generals Burgoyne and Howe. In fact, no account of
dramatic writings in this country can ignore the fact that General
Burgoyne, apart from the farce which incited Mrs. Mercy Warren, was
himself a serious dramatist, who took his work seriously, and whose
dramas may be obtained at any large reference library. The
Red-Coats, as actors, amused their Tory public with such plays as
"Tamerlane," "The Busybody," and "Zara;" and when they invaded the
Southwark Theatre, around 1777, Major André, the presiding genius of
the English soldier-actors, turned to good account his ability as a
scene-painter, and painted a backdrop which was preserved in
Philadelphia until 1821, when it was destroyed by fire. We have,
however, a description of the scene, taken from Durang's "History of
the Philadelphia Stage."

"It was a landscape," he writes, "presenting a distant _champagne_
country, and a winding rivulet, extending from the front of the
picture to the extreme distance. In the foreground and centre was a
gentle cascade--the water exquisitely executed--overshadowed by a
group of majestic forest trees. The perspective was excellently
preserved; the foliage, verdure, and general colouring artistically
toned and glazed. It was a drop scene, and André's name was
inscribed on the back of it in large black letters."

The early American theatre was nothing more than the theatre of
England transplanted to a more provincial atmosphere. We have a record
of dramatic performances being given at Williams and Mary College
before the Royal Governor, in 1702, and, in 1736, the students were
presenting Addison's "Cato." In 1714, in Massachusetts, Chief Justice
Samuel Sewall, famed for his witchcraft injunctions, protested against
acting in Boston, and warned the people in this fashion: "Let not
Christian Boston goe beyond Heathen Rome in the practice of Shameful
Vanities."

Evidently the actors who had appeared in New York from the West
Indies, in 1702, were, by an ill wind, blown into the sharp-prejudiced
atmosphere of New England. Some authorities are inclined to believe
that Thomas Kean's appearance on March 5, 1750, in New York, when, as
noted by the _Weekly Postboy_, he gave a performance of "Richard III,"
with permission of Governor Clinton, really begins the history of
legitimate theatrical performances in America. This, however, is not
historically accurate, for, in South Carolina, it is noted that the
first dramatic production occurred in 1734 or 1735, January 18th,
although the first Charleston theatre was afterwards erected in 1773,
the third regular theatre to be established in the Colonies. (See _The
Nation_, 99:278-279; Yates Snowden, "South Carolina Plays and
Playwrights," _The Carolinian_, November, 1909.)

The disputed point as to the first theatre in America has also been
very thoroughly discussed by Judge Charles P. Daly in his brochure,
"The First Theatre in America." (Dunlap Society, New Series, No. 1,
1896.)

In 1755, the Reverend Samuel Davies, whose eloquence made him quite
as much an actor as a divine, complained of conditions in Virginia,
declaring that plays and romances were more read than "the history
of the Blessed Jesus."

The real narrative of Colonial acting, however, begins with William
Hallam's appearance in Williamsburg in "The Merchant of Venice," on
September 5, 1752; thereafter, as is so excellently traced in
Seilhamer, the American Theatre, with its different itinerant
companies, began to flourish.

The theatre was such a recreation to the Colonial people that, in
many ways, it figured as the one source of official entertainment;
especially on occasions when the Royal Governor had to show
hospitality to visiting people. For example, the _Maryland Gazette_
for November 17, 1752, declares that "The Emperor of the Cherokee
nation, with his Empress and their son, the young Prince, attended
by several of his warriors and Great Men, and their Ladies, were
received at the Palace by his Honour the Governor, attended by such
of the Council as were in Town on Thursday, the 9th instant, with
all the Marks of Courtesy and Friendship, and were that Evening
entertained at the Theatre with the Play (the Tragedy of 'Othello'),
and a Pantomime Performance which gave them great surprise, as did
the fighting with naked swords on the Stage, which occasioned the
Empress to order some about her to go and prevent them killing one
another."

The spirit of the theatre-going at this period has been excellently
suggested by John Esten Cook in his novel, "The Virginia Comedians,"
but the reader who will consult rare files of Colonial newspapers
will find therein many advertisements which will throw light on some
of the social details of the theatre. It is enough here to suggest
that, in the reading of the different plays here offered, some
consideration be paid to the general theatrical atmosphere which
created and fostered them.

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
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PHELPS, H. P. Players of a Century. A Record of the Albany Stage.
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RODEN, ROBERT F. Later American Plays. 1831-1900. New York: The
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SABINE, LORENZO. Biographical Sketches of Loyalists of the American
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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).





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