Book Description

Excerpt from The Dramatic Works of John Wilson: With Prefatory Memoir, Introductions, and Notes The information hitherto afforded us respecting John Wilson, the author of the plays contained in this volume, through the medium of Langbaine and other contemporaneous authorities, and reiterated by the editors of the Biographia Britannica, the Biographia Dramatica, and the rest of the more modem writers, is of a very scanty kind, resolving itself into the mere fact, that towards the end of the seventeenth century he was Recorder of Londonderry. That a man of such great ability as Wilson, and who in his time had rendered himself in some degree prominent in Ireland as an adherent and supporter of the cause of James II, should have been thrust into the shade, or, as it were, almost totally extinguished, may perhaps be accounted for by reason of his political principles, the tone of the times on the sudden accession of the House of Orange being coloured by the prevailing influence of the popular power, which could recognise only its own supporters. The continuation of Langbaine - London, 1699, 12mo - contains this brief notice of John Wilson: "An author, of the place of whose birth I am ignorant. He was once Recorder of Londonderry, and some time resided in Dublin, where he wrote 'Belphegor, ' which was afterwards acted in London. He died about three years since, near Leicester Fields, but where buried I know not. He is author of four plays, viz.: - "Andronicus Comnenius: a Tragedy. 4to, 1663. Plot from Heylin's Cosmophy in the Description of Greece, Cantacusenus, Leunclavius, etc. "Belphegor; or, e Marriage of the Devil: a Comedy. 4to, 1690. Acted at the Queen's Theatre in Dorset Garden. Plot taken from a novel of Machiavel and Quevedo's novels. "The Cheats: a Comedy. 4to. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.