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_THE WHITEFRIARS LIBRARY OF WIT AND HUMOUR._
EDITED BY W. H. DAVENPORT ADAMS.
"_Quid verum atque decens curo et rogo, et omnis in hoc sum._"
HORACE.
"_We shall spare no pains to make instruction agreeable to our readersand their diversion useful. For which reasons we shall endeavour toenliven morality with wit, and to temper wit with morality, thatour readers may, if possible, both ways find their account in thespeculation of the day._"
ADDISON (adapted).
A BOOK OF BURLESQUE
Sketches OF _ENGLISH STAGE TRAVESTIE AND PARODY_
BY WILLIAM DAVENPORT ADAMS
_Author of "A Dictionary of English Literature," "Rambles in Book-Land" etc., etc._
_WITH PORTRAITS OF F. C. BURNAND, W. S. GILBERT, AND G. R. SIMS_
LONDON HENRY AND CO., BOUVERIE STREET, E.C.
1891
The Whitefriars Library of Wit and Humour.
_Vol. I._
_ESSAYS IN LITTLE._ By ANDREW LANG. [_Seventh Thousand._
_Vol. II._
_SAWN OFF: A Tale of a Family Tree._ By G. MANVILLE FENN. [_Fourth Thousand._
_Vol. III._
_A LITTLE IRISH GIRL._ By the Author of "Molly Bawn." [_Ready._
_Vol. IV._
_THREE WEEKS AT MOPETOWN._ By PERCY FITZGERALD. [_Ready._
_Vol. V._
_A BOOK OF BURLESQUE._ By WILLIAM DAVENPORT ADAMS. [_Ready._
Vol. VI.
_IN A CANADIAN CANOE._ By BARRY O. E. PAIN, B.A. [_July._
PREFACE.
In the pages that follow, I make no attempt to supply a consecutive andcomprehensive history of English stage travestie. This would have beenimpossible within the limits assigned to me. My object has been simplyto furnish an introduction to such a history, supplemented by sketchesof the various groups into which English stage burlesques naturallyfall, with such extracts as might serve to exhibit the respectivemethods of individual travestie-writers. My business has been withthe literary rather than the histrionic side of burlesque--with thewitty and humorous, rather than the purely theatrical, features of thesubject with which I had to deal. At the same time, I hope that thedetails I have been able to give concerning dates, and "casts," and soon, may be useful to at least a large section of my readers.
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I ought to say that, while I have endeavoured to mention all the mostrepresentative burlesques of which our stage history keeps record,I have intentionally left outside of my scheme all "extravaganzas,""bouffoneries musicales," and other such miscellaneous varietiesof comic literature,--confining myself to definite and deliberatetravesties of subjects previously existent.
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I have to thank more than one kind friend for information and materialsupplied, and more than one living writer of burlesque for theopportunity of consulting his "prompt books" and thus quoting fromunpublished work.
DAVENPORT ADAMS, JUN.
NOTE.--Those who desire to extend their acquaintance with the literature of English stage burlesque may be recommended to turn first to the travesties published by Mr. French, which include those by Planche, and many by the Broughs, H. J. Byron, Talfourd, F. C. Burnand, etc. Mr. Gilbert's "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern" is to be found in his volume entitled "Foggerty's Fairy, and Other Stories." A large proportion of the burlesques discussed, quoted, or mentioned in the following chapters are out of print, and to be seen only at the British Museum, on the second-hand bookstalls, or on the shelves of private collectors.
[_We beg to acknowledge the courtesy of MM. Walery, Limited, in permitting us to avail ourselves of their photographs of Messrs. Burnand and Gilbert; and of Mr. Bassano for the same permission in regard to that of Mr. G. R. Sims._--ED. _W. L._]