Aus der Bibliothek von Prof. Wolfgang Haase, langj�igem Herausgeber der ANRW und des International Journal of the Classical Tradition (IJCT) / From the library of Prof. Wolfgang Haase, long-time editor of ANRW and the International Journal of the Classical Tradition (IJCT). - Buchr�cken ausgeblichen, sonst ein sehr gutes Exemplar. - Als Typoskript gedruckt. - RENAISSANCE LATIN DRAMA IN ENGLAND Prefatory Remarks About 150 Latin plays written by Englishmen in the Renaissance survive today, mainly from the hundred years from 1550-1650 which witnessed the greatest and most flourishing period of drama in England. Although the vernacular drama of the age has been intensively studied, the sizeable corpus of Latin plays that exists alongside it has remained almost uncrown . Yet there are many points of contact between the popular and learned drama (as for that matter between works in English and the considerable body of literature in Latin). Lyly and Peele assisted with the production of Latin plays at Oxford, and not only they but other "University Wits," such as Greene, Nashe and Marlowe, would have had the chance to see University plays acted whilst, at a formative stage in their lives, they were at University. Both Queen Elizabeth and King James were patrons of the Latin drama, and paid ceremonial visits to the Universities when plays were performed in their honour in a sumptuous and splendid fashion. Other aristocrats and men of fashion and learning in attendance on the monarch, like the Earl of Leicester and Sir Philip Sidney, were also present on certain of these occasions. And many other well-known literary figures had a connection with academic Latin drama: Robert |Burton, the author of The Anatomy of Melancholy, wrote a Latin play, whilst Nicholas Grimald, a major contributor to Tottel's Miscellany, wrote several. Gabriel Harvey was satirised in a Latin play, Andrew Marvell acted in one, John Milton condemned such acting. The writers of the Latin plays themselves often achieved a reputation which reached beyond the bounds of the University. Some of them are named in Francis Meres's famous lists of "our best for Tragedie" and "the best for Comedy amongst us" in the Palladis Tamia of 1598. AIthough the Latin drama of the age is on the whole the product of University men, who for a variety of reasons wrote and performed plays which were acted at the Universities, it is obviously of considerable importance for literary and dramatic history. Not surprisingly the plays reflect the variety of the time. There are long chronicle plays, revenge plays that are often violent and lurid, biblical dramas, serious tragedies, intricate Italianate comedies, popular plays depicting events from everyday life, Roman plays, tragi-comedies, pastoral plays -- indeed virtually every conceivable type of play that is found in the vernacular drama of the Renaissance has its counterpart or is indeed often foreshadowed and anticipated by the Latin drama of the age. It provides as well valuable information about contemporary dramatic theory and dramaturgy in the form of plot summaries, letters from an author to his patron explaining his intentions in writing the play, letters to the reader setting out his sources or critical principles, elaborate stage directions, and lists of actors. It is in fact possible to build up a detailed account of the conditions of performance of some of these plays not only from the information given by the play manuscripts and printed texts themselves but also from contemporary accounts, allusions, and records of performances. The productions, it may thus be reconstructed, were spectacular and expensive, costumes were sometimes loaned by the Revels Office. Music and dancing figured prominently; the deus ex machina and other stage devices were used. There might be a curtained inner stage or balcony. Performances, which were sometimes lengthy and went on until late into the night, were well attended not only by members of the Universities but also by townspeople and their wives. And to the literary, dramatic, and theatrical information to be derived from a study of these plays and the circumstances of their production must be added the useful details they yield for the history of the Colleges and Universities in which they were performed, as well as the general educational and cultural scene which they help illustrate. ISBN 9783487072104
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