Bristol Theatre : a poem.

Bristol Theatre : a poem.

Bristol : by S. Farley, 1766.

1 volume ; 29 cm

This is a PRELIMINARY RECORD. It may contain incorrect information. Please email catalog@folger.edu for assistance.

Great Britain -- England -- Bristol, -- publication place.

272785

From dealer's description: "ANTI-THEATRE POEM BY A FRUSTRATED QUAKER POET [GOUGH (James)]. Bristol Theatre: A Poem. First Edition. 4to (270 x 205mm). 15, [1]pp. Final leaf a little foxed, slightly creased, a little grubby at the edges but otherwise a very good copy, uncut and stitched in the original blue publisher’s paper wrappers (wrappers a little torn and god-eared but largely fine). Bristol: by S. Farley, 1766 £2,400 ESTC records Harvard, Huntington, McMaster, Chicago, Ransom Center and University of Toronto (x2). Five locations recorded in the UK (x2 Society of Friends) Attributed by Joseph Smith in his Descriptive Catalogue of Friends’ Books to James Gough (1712-1780), see p.853. A curious poem on the supposed vices of the Bristol theatres by the prominent Quaker, James Gough, who in his youth had set aside “the vain desires and delights” of poetry but found here that verse draws the attention of the reader and remains in the mind longer. Printed in the year that the Theatre Royal (Bristol Old Vic) was opened, by David Garrick. "The Play calls forth: To meet its wish’d Return, All Duties drop, and worthier Cares adjourn" (p.1) The theatre now known as the Bristol Old Vic -the oldest continually-operating theatre in the English-speaking world - opened on 30th May 1766 with a performance of the Conscious Lovers which included a prologue written by David Garrick which promised “boundless stores of universal wit” and the opportunity, “to feast your minds, and sooth each worldy care”. To the 54 year old Quaker, James Gough, it must have appeared that the city had indeed dropped their duties and rushed to the new theatre. Gough was a prodigious child who according to a memoir written after his death by his brother had an early inclination for poetry: “Having a strong inclination to poetry, I had sometimes at Skipton indulged my fancy therein. But now, when the Lord’s prayer took hold of me, I sacrificed all my idols and burned all my collection of poems, even though some of them were on what would be called good subjects; for they had too much attracted my mind and engaged my thoughts. I was made sensible that these poems were not my proper business, that they took the place of what was really so, and therefore I gave them up. I now saw that I must shut out and leave behind me what others generally crave and pursue, viz: the vain desires and delights which lead away the mind from that great Being, who woos us to true happiness” (p.31) It is perhaps surprising then that he chose verse as the best means of railing against the theatre, Gough explains though in an “Apology for the foregoing Lines”, that: “The Author would rather have chosen to publish his Sentiments on this important subject in plain Prose; but for the single reason, that many sooner peruse Sentiments conveyed in Poetry, and longer retain them” “Never go to places of public diversion, such as play-houses, horse races, cock fightings, or to ale houses, those haunts of licentious, who fear not God. Be watchful, and clear from intemperance. Live as men accountable to God, your hearts and your conversation being in heaven, and your moderation appearing in all things” (p.135) “I went to see the city of Chester, and lodged two nights...in my return by Eastham ferry, which is five miles across to Liverpool, an elderly gentlewoman having got some play-books in the boat, I offered to read for her: as I was reading, some horses in the boat grew unruly, which terrified her very much; so that she put by her play-books and while we were in the boat, would no more touch them herself, or suffer me to touch one of them” (p.25) The printer of this work, Samuel Farley (junior) became Quaker and printed a number of Quaker works. Provenance: James Steevens, contemporary signature in the upper blank margin of the title-page."

Ordered from Maggs Bros. Ltd, D9645, 2023-05-01, bought at the NY Book Fair, April 2023.

272785