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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. A similar grant was made to Thomas Killigrew, as is noted on page 87 of this volume.
These documents form a natural introduction to Cibber's History of the Stage and of his own career, which commences, as has been said, at the Restoration, and ends, somewhat abruptly, with his retirement from the regular exercise of his profession in 1733. To complete the record of Cibber's life, I have added a Supplementary Chapter to the "Apology," in which I have also noted briefly the chief incidents of theatrical history up to the time of his death. In this, too, I have told with some degree of minuteness the story of his famous quarrel with Pope; and to this chapter I have appended a list of Cibber's dramatic productions, and a Bibliography of works by, or relating to him.