Lewis Theobald

Lewis Theobald

Lewis Theobald (baptised April 2, 1688 – September 18, 1744), British textual editor and author, was a landmark figure both in the history of Shakespearean editing and in literary satire. He was vital for the establishment of fair texts for Shakespeare, and he was the first avatar of Dulness for Alexander Pope.

Life and Work

Before coming to Shakespeare, Theobald's career was not very distinguished. He began as a lawyer, as his father had been an attorney in Kent, but he set his sights on a literary life. He was a competent classicist, and his first publications were translations of Greek works. He began with Plato's "Phaedo" in 1714 and contracted with a book seller for the serial translation of the tragedies of Aeschylus (of which, only "Electra" and "Ajax" were done) and Sophocles's "Oedipus Rex" 1715. These translations are not particularly good, as he performed them very rapidly. Theobald also wrote for the Tory "Mist's Journal." He attempted to make a living with drama and began to work with John Rich at Drury Lane, writing pantomimes for him. He also probably plagiarized a man named Henry Meystayer. Meystayer gave Theobald a draft of a play called "The Perfidious Brother" to review, and Theobald had it produced as his own work. As an author, Theobald's work was rather poor.

Theobald's fame and contribution to English letters, however, rests with his 1726 "Shakespeare Restored, or a Specimen of the many Errors as well Committed as Unamended by Mr Pope in his late edition of this poet; designed not only to correct the said Edition, but to restore the true Reading of Shakespeare in all the Editions ever published." Theobald's variorum is, as its subtitle says, a reaction to Alexander Pope's edition of Shakespeare. Pope had "smoothed" Shakespeare's lines, and, most particularly, Pope had, indeed, missed many textual errors. In fact, when Pope produced a second edition of his Shakespeare in 1728, he incorporated many of Theobald's textual readings. Pope claimed that he took in only "about twenty-five words" of Theobald's corrections, but, in truth, he took in most of them. Additionally, Pope claimed that Theobald hid his information from Pope. Such was not the case.

Pope was as much a better poet than Theobald as Theobald was a better editor than Pope, and the events surrounding Theobald's attack and Pope's counter-attack show both men at their heights. Theobald's "Shakespeare Restored" is a judicious, if ill-tempered, answer to Pope's edition, but in 1733 Theobald produced a rival edition of Shakespeare in seven volumes for Jacob Tonson, the book seller. For the edition, Theobald worked with Bishop Warburton, who later also published an edition of Shakespeare. Theobald's 1733 edition was far the best produced before 1750, and it has been the cornerstone of all subsequent editions. Theobald not only corrected variants but chose among best texts and undid many of the changes to the text that had been made by earlier 18th century editors. Edmund Malone's later edition (the standard from which modern editors act) was built on Theobald's.

Theobald the Dunce

Theobald (pronounced by Pope as "Tibbald," though living members of his branch of the Theobald family say it was pronounced as spelled then, as it is today) was rewarded for his public rebuke of Pope by becoming the first hero of Pope's "The Dunciad" in 1728. In the "Dunciad Variorum", Pope goes much farther. In the apparatus to the poem, he collects ill comments made on Theobald by others, gives evidence that Theobald wrote letters to "Mist's Journal" praising himself, and argues that Theobald had meant his "Shakespeare Restored" as an ambush. One of the damning bits of evidence came from John Dennis, who wrote of Theobald's Ovid: "There is a notorious Ideot . . . who from an under-spur-leather to the Law, is become an under-strapper to the Play-house, who has lately burlesqu'd the Metamorphoses of "Ovid" by a vile Translation" ("Remarks on Pope's Homer" p. 90). Until the second version of "The Dunciad" in 1741, Theobald remained the chief of the "Dunces" who led the way toward night (see the "translatio stultitia") by debasing public taste and bringing "Smithfield muses to the ears of kings." Pope attacks Theobald's plagiarism and work in vulgar drama directly, but the reason for the fury was in all likelihood the "Shakespeare Restored." Even though Theobald's work is invaluable, Pope succeeded in so utterly obliterating the character of the man that he is known by those who do not work with Shakespeare only as a dunce, as a dusty, pedantic, and dull witted scribe.

"Double Falshood"

In 1727, Theobald produced a play "Double Falshood; or The Distrest Lovers", which he claimed to have based on a lost play by Shakespeare. Pope attacked it as a fraud, but admitted in private that he believed Theobald to have worked from, at the least, a genuine period work. Modern scholarship is generally of the opinion that Theobald was honest in his claim, for "Double Falshood" appears to be based on the lost "Cardenio", by Shakespeare and John Fletcher.

ee also

Shakespeare's Editors

ources

*Taylor, Gary. 1989. "Reinventing Shakespeare: A Cultural History from the Restoration to the Present". London: Hogarth Press. ISBN 0701208880.

External links

*


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Lewis Theobald — (getauft 2. April 1688; † 18. September 1744), Vereinigtes Königreich, Herausgeber und Autor, war eine Schlüsselfigur in der Geschichte der Editionen von William Shakespeare und im Bereich der literarischen Satire. Er war wichtig für die… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Lewis Theobald — (bautizado el 2 de abril de 1688 – 18 de septiembre de 1744), fue un editor y escritor británico, una figura crucial tanto en la historia de la edición de las obras de Shakespeare como en la sátira literaria. Fue vital para el establecimiento de… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Theobald — Theobald, or the French form Thibau(l)t, derived from the Germanic elements þeud people and bald bold , may refer to: *Tedbald, Archbishop of Canterbury *Saint Theobald (Theobald of Marly), an abbot *Theobald of Provins (Saint Theobald) *Lewis… …   Wikipedia

  • Theobald — ist ein männlicher Vorname und Familienname. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 Varianten 2 Bekannte Namensträger 2.1 Vorname 2.2 Familienname …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Theobald le Botiller — Theobald le Botiller, also known as Theobald Boteler, Theobald Butler, 2nd Baron Butler (January, 1200 ndash; July 19, 1230) was the son of Theobald Walter, 1st Baron Butler and Maud le Vavasour. He was born in Norfolk, East Anglia, England. He… …   Wikipedia

  • Theobald — /thee euh bawld /, n. Lewis 1. 1688 1744, English author. 2. Also, Theobold /thee euh bohld /. a male given name. * * * (as used in expressions) Bethmann Hollweg Theobald von Boehm Theobald Smith Theobald Tone Theobald Wolfe * * * ▪ archbishop of …   Universalium

  • Theobald, Lewis — ▪ English editor baptized April 2, 1688, Sittingbourne, Kent, Eng. died Sept. 18, 1744, London       the first Shakespearean editor (Shakespeare, William) to approach the plays with the respect and attention then normally reserved for classical… …   Universalium

  • Theobald — /thee euh bawld /, n. Lewis 1. 1688 1744, English author. 2. Also, Theobold /thee euh bohld /. a male given name …   Useful english dictionary

  • THEOBALD, LEWIS —    Shakespearian critic, born at Sittingbourne, Kent; bred to the law by his father, an attorney, but took to literature; wrote a tragedy; contributed to Mist s Journal, and in 1716 began his tri weekly paper, the Censor; roused Pope s ire by his …   The Nuttall Encyclopaedia

  • Theobald, Lewis — (1688 1744)    Editor of Shakespeare, and translator, originally an attorney, betook himself to literature, translated from Plato, the Greek dramatists, and Homer, and wrote also essays, biographies, and poems. In 1715 he pub. Shakespeare… …   Short biographical dictionary of English literature

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”