An Apology for the Life of Mr. Colley Cibber, Volume 1 (of 2) Written by Himself. A New Edition with Notes and Supplement

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                     AN APOLOGY FOR THE LIFE OF

                          MR. COLLEY CIBBER.

                         _VOLUME THE FIRST._




                               _NOTE._

       _510 copies printed on this fine deckle-edge demy 8vo
       paper for England and America, with the portraits as
                   India proofs after letters._

         _Each copy is numbered, and the type distributed._

                             _No._ 368

                    [Illustration: COLLEY CIBBER.]




                      AN APOLOGY FOR THE LIFE OF

                          MR. COLLEY CIBBER

                         _WRITTEN BY HIMSELF_




               A NEW EDITION WITH NOTES AND SUPPLEMENT

                                 BY

                           ROBERT W. LOWE

          _WITH TWENTY-SIX ORIGINAL MEZZOTINT PORTRAITS BY
                 R. B. PARKES, AND EIGHTEEN ETCHINGS
                         BY ADOLPHE LALAUZE_


                          _IN TWO VOLUMES_
                          VOLUME THE FIRST




                               LONDON
                           JOHN C. NIMMO
                   14, KING WILLIAM STREET, STRAND
                            MDCCCLXXXIX




                           Chiswick Press

                PRINTED BY CHARLES WHITTINGHAM AND CO.
               TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE, LONDON. E.C.




PREFACE.


Colley Cibber's famous Autobiography has always been recognized as one
of the most delightful books of its class; but, to students of
theatrical history, the charm of its author's ingenuous frankness has
been unable altogether to overweigh the inaccuracy and vagueness of his
treatment of matters of fact. To remove this cause of complaint is the
principal object of the present edition. But correcting errors is only
one of an editor's duties, and by no means the most difficult. More
exacting, and almost equally important, are the illustration of the
circumstances surrounding the author, the elucidation of his references
to current events, and the comparison of his statements and theories
with those of judicious contemporaries. In all these particulars I have
interpreted my duty in the widest sense, and have aimed at giving, as
far as in me lies, an exhaustive commentary on the "Apology."

I am fortunate in being able to claim that my work contains much
information which has never before been made public. A careful
investigation of the MSS. in the British Museum, and of the Records of
the Lord Chamberlain's Office (to which my access was greatly
facilitated by the kindness of Mr. Edward F. S. Pigott, the Licenser of
Plays), has enabled me to give the exact dates of many transactions
which were previously uncertain, and to give references to documents of
great importance in stage history, whose very existence was before
unknown. How important my new matter is, may be estimated by comparing
the facts given in my notes regarding the intricate transactions of the
years 1707 to 1721, with any previous history of the same period. Among
other sources of information, I may mention the Cibber Collections in
the Forster Library at South Kensington, to which my attention was drawn
by the kindness of the courteous keeper, Mr. R. F. Sketchley; and I have
also, of course, devoted much time to contemporary newspapers.

In order to illustrate the "Apology," two tracts of the utmost rarity,
the "Historia Histrionica" and Anthony Aston's "Brief Supplement" to
Cibber's Lives of the Actors, are reprinted in this edition. The
"Historia Histrionica" was written, all authorities agree, by James
Wright, Barrister-at-Law, whose "History and Antiquities of the County
of Rutland" is quoted by Cibber in his first chapter (vol. i. p. 8). The
historical value of this pamphlet is very great, because it contains the
only formal account in existence of the generation of actors who
preceded Betterton, and because it gives many curious and interesting
particulars regarding the theatres and plays, as well as the actors,
before and during the Civil Wars. As Cibber begins his account of the
stage (see chap. iv.) at the Restoration, there is a peculiar propriety
in prefacing it by Wright's work; a fact which has already been
recognized, for the publisher of the third edition (1750) of the
"Apology" appended to it "A Dialogue on Old Plays and Old Players,"
which is simply a reprint of the "Historia Histrionica" under another
title, and without the curious preface.

Following the "Historia Histrionica" will be found a copy of the Patent
granted to Sir William Davenant, one of the most important documents in
English stage history.