This guide is intended for an eclectic audience: “Students of the Restoration, the Eighteenth Century, and the Romantic era; theatre historians; feminist scholars; researchers of drama; theatre directors; analysers of popular culture; as well as general readers”. The aim is “to advance investigations into female playwrights and their dramas from the late seventeenth century through the early nineteenth century”. As the compilers also explain in their Preface, they begin with the year 1660: it was the Restoration of Charles II to the throne which first allowed women on the English stage. The somewhat curious terminal date of 1823 is due to the major source for the reference guide ‐ the Larpent Collection at the Huntington Library, San Marino, California, one available in the Readex Microprint series. The Larpent Collection includes “manuscripts licensed for performance by the Lord Chamberlain from 1737 to 1823”. Research, using this basic source, reveals that over “160 women wrote almost 600 plays, or close to 20 per cent of the drama produced during [the] period”.
The Preface explains in detail the arrangement of the book. In addition to alphabetical organization, titles of plays are intermixed with the names of playwrights. Brief biographical sketches of subjects include wherever possible details of “her parentage, social background, education and early interest in the theatre, the composition and publication history of her plays”, and include other works, if any, in other genres such as poetry and prose, “principal themes and ideas ... the theatrical genres in which she excelled”. The biographical entries are followed by selective, short, bibliographies “of useful primary material, significant secondary information, and critical essays”. The entries for the individual plays are distinguished from those on their authors by the use of “upper/lower case, boldface type”.
The compilers’ introduction is also clear and detailed. Divided into 13 distinct sections it begins with a general historical and theatrical survey ranging from the mid‐seventeenth century to the early nineteenth century. There follows a section on “Class, education, and marital status”; and a section on the “Motivation for writing” which demonstrates the appositeness of Aphra Behn’s quip that she “wrote for bread”. “Prejudice and authorship” is followed by “Generic choices and restrictions”. “Topics, themes, motifs, settings” is subdivided into sections on: “Moral education”; “Marriage”; “Class structure”; “Disguises, masks and cross‐dressing”; “Women helping other women”; “Exotic settings and historical subjects”; and one on “Racial and religious prejudice”. The Introduction is followed by an extensive listing of abbreviations used throughout the entries. There are two appendices prefaced by a listing of genre abbreviations. The first is a “Checklist of women playwrights in England, Ireland, and Scotland: 1660‐l823”; the second, a “Chronological list of plays by British women dramatists 1660‐1823”.
Entries vary in length from, for instance, three lengthy paragraphs on Aphra Benn’s Abdelazer; or The Moor’s Revenge to a very brief 53‐word entry on Margaret Cornely’s Options first produced in Dublin in March 1781. Although clearly written, many of the entries on individual plays end up in plot summary followed by a short concluding generalization. For instance there are two lengthy paragraphs on the plot of Mrs Burgess’s five‐act comedy The Oaks; or The Beauties of Canterbury, which probably was produced in Canterbury in 1779 and published the following year. The entry concludes with the comment: “While a number of details and transitions are unclear in Burgess’s comedy she must be commended for an impressive play”. However, the majority of entries, especially those on the dramatists, contain fascinating information. To give two instances from a rich galaxy: see the entry on “Francis, Ann Gittins (l738‐1800)”, or the account of Susanna Carroll’s The Gamester.
In spite of caveats ‐ there is no explanation of why the word “playwrights” is preferred to “dramatists” ‐ there is much to recommend in this volume. There appear to be no other competitors out there which offer as comprehensive a coverage of the subject. Women Playwrights in England, Ireland, and Scotland 1660‐1823, produced from camera‐ready copy, has a clear readable double‐columned text with utilitarian spacing on the page. Produced on sturdy paper, with strong binding to withstand library usage, and attractive gilt lettering, the volume is highly recommended for general and academic collections.
