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Henry James Byron and the Craft of Burlesque

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 July 2009

Elizabeth A. More
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Extract

Henry James Byron (1834–1884) was a brilliant, witty, literary Englishman who wrote equally witty plays, infused with a cleverness of conception that deserves more than superficial analysis. While he had careers as diverse as those of actor, manager, novelist, editor, journalist, and playwright, it is upon the last mentioned that his “fame” rests.

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Articles
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Theatre Survey , Volume 23 , Issue 1 , May 1982 , pp. 55 - 70
Copyright
Copyright © American Society for Theatre Research 1982

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References

1 Clarke, Charles Cowder, “On the Comic Writers of England: VII. Burlesque Writers,” The Gentleman's Magazine, VII (N.S.) (06–12, 1871), 557Google Scholar.

2 Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News (July 11, 1874), p. 477Google Scholar.

3 The Entr'Acte (June 25, 1881), p. 6Google Scholar.

4 Illustrated Sporting and Theatrical News (February 13, 1869), p.1Google Scholar.

5 Byron, Henry James quoted in Adams, William Davenport, A Book of Burlesque: Sketches of English Stage Travestie and Parody (London: Henry and Co., 1891), pp. 36–37Google Scholar.

6 Adams, William Davenport, “The Poetry of Parody,” The Gentleman's Magazine, CCLI, No. 1809 (07–12, 1881), 303–329Google Scholar.

7 Adams, A Book of Burlesque, op.cit., pp. 36–37.

8 There is a discrepancy between what Nicoll, Allardyce, A History of English Drama, 1660–1900, Vol. V: Late Nineteenth Century Drama, 1850–1900 (6 vols.; 2nd ed.; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1952–1959 [1960–1963 reprint])Google Scholar, classifies as burlesque and those plays advertised or nominated in the printed editions and/or playbills. For example, while Miss Eily O'Connor. A New and Original Burlesque Founded on the Great Sensation Drama of the Colleen Bawn (London: Lacy's Acting Edition of Plays, vol. 53, 1862)Google Scholar and Der Freischutz; or the Bill! the Belle!! and the Bullet!!! An Original Burlesque (London: Lacy's Acting Edition of Plays, vol. 81, 1869Google Scholar) are titled simply “burlesque,” others are not; thus we have Ivanhoe in Accordance with the Spirit of the Times. An Extravaganza (London: Lacy's Acting Edition of Plays, vol. 59, 1864)Google Scholar, George de Barnwell; or Harlequin Folly in the Realms of Fancy. A Burlesque Pantomime Opening (London: Lacy's Acting Edition of Plays, vol. 88, 1871)Google Scholar. The problem is further complicated by the fact that Nicoll classifies, for example, Byron's, play The Motto: I am “All There.” A New and Original Burlesque Founded on the Lyceum Drama of the “Duke's Motto” (London: Lacy's Acting Edition of Plays, vol. 59, 1864)Google Scholar as a farce. Again, if Nicoll assumed that the burlesques include burlesque extravaganza, why did he classify Lucrezia Borgia, M.D.: or, La Grande Doctresse. An Original Burlesque Extravaganza (London: Lacy's Acting Edition of Plays, vol. 87, 1871Google Scholar) as an extravaganza or Lucia di Lammermoor; or, the Laird, the Lady and the Lover. A New and Original Operatic Burlesque Extravaganza (London: Lacy's Acting Edition of Plays, vol. 72, 1867Google Scholar) as an extravaganza. Nicoll did, of course, indicate that none of his designations were final and, where possible, they had been taken from the original bills. This merely serves to underline the complexity of the problem. Many more such cases, adding to one's confusion, can be cited.

9 Even here there is a discrepancy, as the title page names this as an “original burlesque” while the second page calls it a “burlesque extravaganza.”

10 Boucicault, Dion quoted in Mr. & Mrs. Bancroft On and Off the Stage: Written by Themselves (2 vols.; 2nd ed.; London: Richard Bentley and Son, 1888), I, 245Google Scholar.

11 Nicoll, op. cit., p. 93.

12 The Athenaeum, No. 1780 (12 7, 1861), p. 773Google Scholar.

13 Boucicault, Dion, The Colleen Bawn, in Nineteenth Century Plays, ed. with an introduction by Rowell, George (London: O.U.P., 1953 [1968 reprint]), I.i. 177–178Google Scholar.

14 Byron, Miss Eily O'Connor, op.cit., i.5–6.

15 Ibid., i.6 and 8.

16 Ibid., i.7.

17 Ibid.

18 Ibid., i 11.

19 Ibid., i.10 and 11.

20 Ibid., i.13.

21 The Athenaeum, No. 1780 (12 7, 1861), p. 773Google Scholar. For further discussion of music and song in this genre see Rubsamen, Walter, “Ballad Burlesques and Extravaganzas,” The Musical Quarterly, XXXVI, No. 4 (10, 1950), 551–561CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

22 Byron, Miss Eily O'Connor, op.cit., ii.13.

23 Ibid., iii.16.

24 Ibid.

25 Ibid., iii.18,19 and 20.

26 Ibid., iii.22.

27 Boucicault, The Colleen Bawn, op.cit., I.iii. 196.

28 Byron, Miss Eily O'Connor, op.cit., iii.23.

29 Ibid., iii.19.

30 Ibid., iv.24–25.

31 Ibid., v.25.

32 Ibid., v.27.

33 Ibid., v.29.

34 Ibid., vi.30–31.

35 Ibid., vii.31.

36 Boucicault, , The Colleen Bawn, op.cit., III.v.227Google Scholar.

37 Byron, Miss Eily O'Connor, op.cit., vii.33.

38 Ibid., vii. 35.