Pineapples of Finest Flavour: Or, A Selection of Sundry Unpublished Letters of the English Roscius, David Garrick [Reprint 2014 ed.] 9780674281554, 9780674281059

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Pineapples of Finest Flavour

London: Humphrey Milford Oxford University Press

PINEAPPLES OR

A Selection of Sundry Unpubliihed Letters of the Englifh Rofcius, DAVID GARRICK l&i Edited with an Introduction

and Notes by

DAVID MASON LITTLE

CAMBRIDGE

Harvard Univeriity Prefs 1930

Copyright, 1930, by the President and Fellows of Harvard College

vP

Printed in the United States of America

Το H. C. L.

The Preface A complete harvest of Garrick1 s correspondence has never been reaped. In 1831-183 2, James Boaden published Wo ponderous volumes comprising in the main letters to Garrick with only some two hundred and fifty odd letters by the actor himself But this work is inaccurate in many details and generally unsatisfactory. About forty more letters Professor George P. Baker edited and brought forth in 190η. Yet there are still several hundred epistolary ejforts, of varying length and importance, which are unknown to the printed page. The present little book is an attempt to bridge this intervening gap. I have selected only those letters which would seem to be the most interesting or the most significant in depicting Garrick as the actor-manager and as a human being wielding a deft pen. Eventually it is my humble intention to render a more substantial contribution to those lovers of the eighteenth century in the form of a complete edition of the actor's letters. The quality of mercy, in matters of scholarship, is never strained. I am deeply indebted to the various owners of Garrick letters for their kind permission to utilize their possessions. Individual acknowledgment is made separately. And other assistance has not been lacking. To Pro[ vii ]

THE PREFACE fessors George Lyman Kittredge, John Livingston Lowes, and Chester Noyes Greenough, my grateful thanks are due for advice on many details. Assistant Professor Kenneth Ballard Murdock has helped me in carrying out certain investigations. And Professor Chauncey Brewster Tinker of Yale University has afforded me the benefit of his extensive knowledge of the period. Invaluable help on stage intricacies I have had from Mrs. Lillian A. Hall, Custodian of the Theatre Collection, Harvard College Library. Nor am I unmindful of the great debt which all scholars working on stage history owe to Mr. Robert Gould Shaw, Honorary Curator of the Theatre Collection in the Harvard College Library. Through ready access to these amazingly rich stores (for which he is largely responsible), research, seemingly laborious, becomes easy and profitable. The Curator's personal interest and cheerful encouragement the present debtor recalls with gratitude and appreciation. D. M. L. January, 1930.

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Table of Contents WHEN GARRICK TAKES PEN IN HAND

Page XV

TEXTUAL NOTE

2

LETTERS

I. 2. 3. 4· 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14.

To To To To To To To To To To To To To To 15. T o 16. T o 17. T o 18. T o 19. T o 20. T o 21.[To 22. T o 23. T o 24·[Το 25. T o 26. T o

Captain Peter Garrick, January 21, 1732-33 the same, March 18, 1733 the same, June ιό, 1733 the same, September 12,1733 the same, December 3, 1733 the same, February 17, 1734 the same, September 2, 1734 the same, December 23, 1734 the same, April 10, i7|j]5 the same, April 24, 1735 Peter Garrick, November 1 not '74-3· 48. Presumably a snuff merchant. 49. That is, the London part of the wine business. 50. Richard Glover (1712-1785), the poet. The "Trajedy" mentioned does not appear to have materialized. His Boadicea, however, was acted in Dec., 1753 at Drury Lane; Medea, on the Greek model, he published in 1761 and, though not planned for stage presentation, it did service for Mrs. Yates's benefit on three occasions. 51. William Murray (1705-1793). He was made king's counsel and solicitorgeneral to Lord Wilmington's government in 1742. Among his friends were

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NOTES Alexander Pope and Thomas Newton who undoubtedly introduced Garrick to him (see Note 44). After a distinguished public career he became the first Earl of Mansfield in 1776. 52. See Note 32. 53. Isaac Hawkins Browne(i70j-i7