A History of Late Eighteenth Century Drama, 1750-1800 by Allardyce NicollReview by: M. St. Clare ByrneThe Review of English Studies, Vol. 4, No. 15 (Jul., 1928), pp. 355-356Published by: Oxford University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/508545 .

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the use of the proverb as a rhetorical ornament, and also upon the widespread influence of Lyly and Pettie, particularly in " Maxwell Younger's " * Resownes and Prowerbes. Mr. Tilley's chief fault-a serious one in a work of this kind-is lack of discrimination. It is tiresome to be told that " Physician, heal thyself " occurs in Erasmus, Draxe and Lean, and " It is better to marry than burn " in Hlaeckel, Burton and Wander. Some of the alleged " proverbs " are mere allusions, eg. " The Grecian ladies counted their age from their marriage, not their birth," and " What Penelope wrought all day, at night was all undone "; others are quotations, or epigrams for which no earlier authority is given and which were, therefore, presumably invented by Lyly. Such saws and instances are obviously distinct from the genuine proverb, a fruitful subject which still awaits adequate treatment. An index of sources should have been included in the book.

BERNARD E. C. DAVIS.

A History of Late Eighteenth Century Drama, 1750-I800. By ALLARDYCE NICOLL. Cambridge University Press. 1927. Pp. 387. i6s.

THIIS latest volume of Professor Nicoll's history of the drama is to be welcomed not only for the comparative novelty of much of its content, but for its comprehensive treatment of its theme. 1750-1800 is not a stirring period of dramatic history, as distinct from theatrical history, and Professor Nicoll chronicles its small beer without losing any of his sense of proportion; and though we may still be convinced that Sheridan and Goldsmith represent its best, we are reminded again-as Professor Nicoll means we should be-that they do not stand alone.

To have compressed the theatrical information of chapter I. into forty-eight pages is no mean feat; but the nature of the material, allied with this brevity, makes us crave for some illustrations. At the price this was probably impossible, but they would have added tremendously to the value of this section. The present writer would have preferred, on p. 37, not the usual Boaden account of Mrs. Siddons' ideas about stage costume, but some account from Professor Nicoll of the clothes she really wore. If such pertinent references as are available are to come in the next volume, this

* Otherwise known as John Maxwell, Younger of Southbar.-[Ed. R.E.S.]

the use of the proverb as a rhetorical ornament, and also upon the widespread influence of Lyly and Pettie, particularly in " Maxwell Younger's " * Resownes and Prowerbes. Mr. Tilley's chief fault-a serious one in a work of this kind-is lack of discrimination. It is tiresome to be told that " Physician, heal thyself " occurs in Erasmus, Draxe and Lean, and " It is better to marry than burn " in Hlaeckel, Burton and Wander. Some of the alleged " proverbs " are mere allusions, eg. " The Grecian ladies counted their age from their marriage, not their birth," and " What Penelope wrought all day, at night was all undone "; others are quotations, or epigrams for which no earlier authority is given and which were, therefore, presumably invented by Lyly. Such saws and instances are obviously distinct from the genuine proverb, a fruitful subject which still awaits adequate treatment. An index of sources should have been included in the book.

BERNARD E. C. DAVIS.

A History of Late Eighteenth Century Drama, 1750-I800. By ALLARDYCE NICOLL. Cambridge University Press. 1927. Pp. 387. i6s.

THIIS latest volume of Professor Nicoll's history of the drama is to be welcomed not only for the comparative novelty of much of its content, but for its comprehensive treatment of its theme. 1750-1800 is not a stirring period of dramatic history, as distinct from theatrical history, and Professor Nicoll chronicles its small beer without losing any of his sense of proportion; and though we may still be convinced that Sheridan and Goldsmith represent its best, we are reminded again-as Professor Nicoll means we should be-that they do not stand alone.

To have compressed the theatrical information of chapter I. into forty-eight pages is no mean feat; but the nature of the material, allied with this brevity, makes us crave for some illustrations. At the price this was probably impossible, but they would have added tremendously to the value of this section. The present writer would have preferred, on p. 37, not the usual Boaden account of Mrs. Siddons' ideas about stage costume, but some account from Professor Nicoll of the clothes she really wore. If such pertinent references as are available are to come in the next volume, this

* Otherwise known as John Maxwell, Younger of Southbar.-[Ed. R.E.S.]

REVIEWS REVIEWS 355 355

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R. E. S., VOL. 4, 1928 (N? 15, JULY) R. E. S., VOL. 4, 1928 (N? 15, JULY)

criticism is uncalled for; otherwise the present account is not definite enough to be useful.

Our appetites are whetted for more by the accounts of such things as private theatricals and melodrama. The extract from Colman's Bluebeard ought to encourage many to explore that masterpiece I

Similarly, the dominance of the popular taste for effect at all costs is nicely pointed by a citation from " iMonk " Lewis: " I thought it would give a pleasing variety to the characters and dresses if I made

my servants black; and could I have produced the same effect by making my heroine blue, blue I should have made her."

Complaint may legitimately be made of the whole section dealing with English and foreign models of comedy (pp. IIo-I24). Its material could have been presented in some half-dozen paragraphs, had the aid of tabular appendices been called in. Pages II3-12I are quite enough to blind any one to the real value and interest of their contents (and incidentally pp. 63, 65, and 72 are similar offenders). The eye must be conciliated if the brain is to form any durable

impression of these confusing debts and influences. Apart from this, however, Professor Nicoll's arrangement of his vast mass of material is simple and straightforward. Such charting of difficult country puts us all in his debt.

M. ST. CLARE BYRNE.

The Ettriclk Shepherd. By EDITH C. BATIIO (on the dust-cover

only : A critical study of the life and writings of James Hogg). Cambridge: at the University Press. 1927. Pp. xi+234. Price 7s. 6d. net.

IN the days of Miss Batho's admirably treated subject all were a la decouverte di monde. The subject-matter of literature, illumined by the brightness of discovery, was bewildering in its variety, dazzling in its freshness; and the bewilderment of the crowd which justled around Scott infects even yet the student and dilettante. What it certainly lost in depth it gained to their eyes in extent; past and present, natural and preternatural, history and hearsay, his and mine, all became relative attributes. There was new subject-matter and no dearth of it; to transform it needed the elementary process of understanding. Wordsworth made his own measurements on a diet of bread and butter; not so, at least we may

criticism is uncalled for; otherwise the present account is not definite enough to be useful.

Our appetites are whetted for more by the accounts of such things as private theatricals and melodrama. The extract from Colman's Bluebeard ought to encourage many to explore that masterpiece I

Similarly, the dominance of the popular taste for effect at all costs is nicely pointed by a citation from " iMonk " Lewis: " I thought it would give a pleasing variety to the characters and dresses if I made

my servants black; and could I have produced the same effect by making my heroine blue, blue I should have made her."

Complaint may legitimately be made of the whole section dealing with English and foreign models of comedy (pp. IIo-I24). Its material could have been presented in some half-dozen paragraphs, had the aid of tabular appendices been called in. Pages II3-12I are quite enough to blind any one to the real value and interest of their contents (and incidentally pp. 63, 65, and 72 are similar offenders). The eye must be conciliated if the brain is to form any durable

impression of these confusing debts and influences. Apart from this, however, Professor Nicoll's arrangement of his vast mass of material is simple and straightforward. Such charting of difficult country puts us all in his debt.

M. ST. CLARE BYRNE.

The Ettriclk Shepherd. By EDITH C. BATIIO (on the dust-cover

only : A critical study of the life and writings of James Hogg). Cambridge: at the University Press. 1927. Pp. xi+234. Price 7s. 6d. net.

IN the days of Miss Batho's admirably treated subject all were a la decouverte di monde. The subject-matter of literature, illumined by the brightness of discovery, was bewildering in its variety, dazzling in its freshness; and the bewilderment of the crowd which justled around Scott infects even yet the student and dilettante. What it certainly lost in depth it gained to their eyes in extent; past and present, natural and preternatural, history and hearsay, his and mine, all became relative attributes. There was new subject-matter and no dearth of it; to transform it needed the elementary process of understanding. Wordsworth made his own measurements on a diet of bread and butter; not so, at least we may

356 356

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