The Virtuoso

Literature & Fiction

Shadwell, Thomas

Dramas & Plays

University Of Nebraska Press

First published in 1676, The Virtuoso set a standard for theatrical satire. It was the most extensive dramatic treatment of modern science since Jonson's The Alchemist and took as its target no less than the Royal Society of London. Shadwell's barbs hit their targets often and cleanly. In 1689 he became Poet Laureate of England, a position he held until his death in 1692.
The virtuoso of the title is Sir Nicholas Gimcrack, who like many after him confuses the extent of a collection with the depth of a science. Sir Gimcrack is fascinated by the geography of the moon, the worlds in his microscope, and the possibilities of human flight. More seriously and—for Shadwell's audience—more comically, his obsession with his arrays of worms and spiders proceeds at the expense of his wife and two beautiful nieces.
The play also introduces Sir Formal Trifle, a pedantic ciceronian orator and coxcomb. His character established thereafter the theatrical type of the know-it-all blowhard. Famous for its wit and high-speed changes, The Virtuoso is also a display of the prestige of modern science and the pomposity of its ameteurs.

The Virtuoso (Regents Restoration Drama Series)

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Laurel House Press

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Kessinger Publishing

Biographies & Memoirs

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Kessinger Publishing, LLC

The 18th century was a wealth of knowledge, exploration and rapidly growing technology and expanding record-keeping made possible by advances in the printing press. In its determination to preserve the century of revolution, Gale initiated a revolution of its own: digitization of epic proportions to preserve these invaluable works in the largest archive of its kind. Now for the first time these high-quality digital copies of original 18th century manuscripts are available in print, making them highly accessible to libraries, undergraduate students, and independent scholars. Western literary study flows out of eighteenth-century works by Alexander Pope, Daniel Defoe, Henry Fielding, Frances Burney, Denis Diderot, Johann Gottfried Herder, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and others. Experience the birth of the modern novel, or compare the development of language using dictionaries and grammar discourses. ++++ The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to insure edition identification: ++++ British Library T119901 With an additional titlepage to vol. 1 reading 'The works of Thomas Shadwell, ..'; the titlepages to vols. 2-4 also omit "dramatick" from the title. For additional holdings, please see N64322. London: printed for J. Knapton; and J. Tonson, 1720. 4v.: ill., port.; 12

The Works of Thomas Shadwell, Esq; Volume the Fourth. Containing, The Squire of Alsatia. Bury Fair. The Amorous Bigot. The Scowrers. The Volunteers. Volume 4 of 4

Reference

Words, Language & Grammar

Gale ECCO, Print Editions

The Works of Thomas Shadwell, Esq; Volume the Third. Containing, the Miser. the True Widow. the Lancashire Witches, and Tecue-O-Divelly. the Irish Priest. the Woman-Captain. Volume 3 of 4

The 18th century was a wealth of knowledge, exploration and rapidly growing technology and expanding record-keeping made possible by advances in the printing press. In its determination to preserve the century of revolution, Gale initiated a revolution of its own: digitization of epic proportions to preserve these invaluable works in the largest archive of its kind. Now for the first time these high-quality digital copies of original 18th century manuscripts are available in print, making them highly accessible to libraries, undergraduate students, and independent scholars.Western literary study flows out of eighteenth-century works by Alexander Pope, Daniel Defoe, Henry Fielding, Frances Burney, Denis Diderot, Johann Gottfried Herder, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and others. Experience the birth of the modern novel, or compare the development of language using dictionaries and grammar discourses. ++++The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to insure edition identification: ++++British LibraryT119901With an additional titlepage to vol. 1 reading 'The works of Thomas Shadwell, ..'; the titlepages to vols. 2-4 also omit "dramatick" from the title. For additional holdings, please see N64322.London: printed for J. Knapton; and J. Tonson, 1720. 4v.: ill., port.; 12

The Works of Thomas Shadwell, Esq; Volume the second. Containing Psyche. The Libertine. Epsom-Wells. Timon of Athens. Volume 2 of 4

The dramatick works of Thomas Shadwell, Esq; in four volumes. Volume 1 of 4

The squire of Alsatia. A comedy. As it is acted by their Majesties servants. Written by Thomas Shadwell, ...

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