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THEOBALD, LEWIS (1688-1744)

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Originally appearing in Volume V26, Page 760 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

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THEOBALD, (d. 1161)
THEOBALD, LEWIS (1688-1744)

THEOBALD, See also:
LEWIS, HENRY CARVILL
LEWIS, JOHN FREDERICK (180 1876)
LEWIS, MATTHEW GREGORY (1775-1818)
LEWIS, MERIWETHER (1774-1809)
LEWIS, SIR GEORGE CORNEWALL, BART
LEWIS (1688-1744) , See also:

ENGLISH

English See also:

man of letters, playwright and Shakespearian commentator, the son of an See also:

ATTORNEY (from O. Fr. atorne, a person appointed to act for another, from atourner, legal Lat. attornare, attorn, literally to turn over to another or commit business to another)

attorney, was See also:

BORN, IGNAZ, EDLER VON (1742–1791)

born at See also:

SITTINGBOURNE

Sittingbourne, See also:

Kent, and was baptized on the 2nd of See also:

APRIL

April 1688. He was educated under a clergyman named See also:

Ellis at Isleworth, and became a See also:

GOOD, JOHN MASON (1764-1827)

good classical See also:

SCHOLAR, SCHOLARSHIP

scholar. He followed his See also:

FATHER

father's profession, but soon abandoned it for literature. In 1713 he translated the See also:

PHAEDO

Phaedo of See also:

PLATO

Plato, and entered into a See also:

contract with See also:

Bernard See also:

LINTOT, BARNABY BERNARD (1675-1736)

Lintot the publisher to translate the tragedies of See also:

AESCHYLUS (525–456 B.c.)

Aeschylus. He seems to have made other promises not carried out, but in 1714 and 1715 appeared versions of the See also:

ELECTRA ('HMKTpa)

Electra, the See also:

Ajax, and the See also:

OEDIPUS (OiSiirovs, O16tir63i7s, Wines, from Gr. ot&eiv swell, and gobs foot, i.e. " the swollen-footed ")

Oedipus Rex of See also:

SOPHOCLES (495-406 B.c.)

Sophocles, and the See also:

PLUTUS

Plutus and the Clouds of See also:

Aristophanes. He became a See also:

REGULAR

regular hack-writer, contributing to Mist's See also:

Journal, and producing plays and poews of very small merit. The publication of his See also:

PLAY

play The Perfidious See also:

BROTHER

Brother (acted 171.5; printed 1716) involved Theobald in considerable difficulty. He apparently received a rough draft of the play from See also:

Henry Meystayer, a See also:

LONDON

London watchmaker, with a See also:

COMMISSION (from Lat. commissio, committere)

commission to arrange it for the See also:

STAGE (Fr. 6/age; from Lat. stare, to stand)

stage. Theobald brought it out as his own See also:

WORK

work. In the next See also:

YEAR

year Meystayer produced a version, and charged Theobald with See also:

PLAGIARISM

plagiarism, but there is no means of ascertaining the exact.; rights of the See also:

case. His poverty compelled him to produce rapidly. He translated the first See also:

BOOK

book of the Odyssey (1716), wrote tragi-comedies, operas and masques, and helped See also:

John See also:

Rich in the See also:

PRODUCTION (Lat. productionem, from producere, to pro-duce)

production of pantomimes, then an innovation at See also:

DRURY, SIR WILLIAM (1527-1579)

Drury See also:

Lane.

But in 1726 he produced See also:

SHAKESPEARE, WILLIAM (1564-1616)

Shakespeare Restored, or a Specimen of the many Errors as well Committed as Unamended by Mr See also:

Pope in his See also:

LATE

late edition of this Poet; designed not only to correct the said Edition, but to restore the true See also:

READING

Reading of Shakespeare in all the See also:

EDITIONS

Editions ever published (1726). How-ever See also:

ill Theobald may have succeeded as a poet and dramatist, he showed See also:

GREAT

great discrimination as a textual editor. Some of his happiest emendations are to be found in this work, which conclusively proved Pope's incompetence as a Shakespearian editor. Two years later a second edition of Pope's work appeared. In it he stated that he had incorporated some of Theobald's readings, in all amounting to about twenty-five words, and that he added the See also:

REST (O. Eng. rest, reste, bed, cognate with other Teutonic forms, e.g. Ger. Rast, Riiste, rest, and probably Gothic Rasta, league, i.e. resting or stopping place)

rest which could " at worst but spoil See also:

HALF

half a See also:

SHEET

sheet of See also:

paper that chances to be See also:

LEFT

left vacant here." He also insinuated that Theobald had maliciously kept back his emendations during the progress of the edition. All this was a See also:

GROSS

gross misstatement of fact. He had in reality incor• porated the See also:

MAJORITY (Fr. majorite; Med. Lat. majoritas; Lat. major, greater)

majority of Theobald's best emendations. In the first edition of the Dunciad (1728) Theobald figured as the See also:

hero, and he occupied the See also:

PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place of See also:

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

chief victim until replaced by See also:

COLLEY, SIR GEORGE POMEROY (1835-1881)

Colley See also:

Cibber in 1741. In spite of the critics, Theobald's work was appreciated by the public. In 1731 he undertook to edit Shakespeare for See also:

TONSON

Tonson the publisher. The work appeared in seven volumes in 1734, and completely superseded Pope's edition. From 1729 to the date of its publication Theobald had been engaged in See also:

correspondence on the subject with See also:

Warburton, who after his friend's See also:

DEATH

death published an edition of Shakespeare, in the See also:

PREFACE (Med. Lat. prefatia, for classical praefatio, praefari, to speak beforehand)

preface of which he asserted that Theobald owed his best corrections to him.

Study of the correspondence proves, however, that the indebtedness was on Warburton's See also:

side. Subsequent editors reaped, in most cases without See also:

ACKNOWLEDGMENT (from the old acknow, a compound of on- and know, to know by the senses, which passed through the forms oknow, aknow and acknow; acknowledge is formed on analogy of " knowledge ")

acknowledgment or with actual scorn, the See also:

FRUIT (through the French from the Lat. fructus; frui, to enjoy)

fruit of Theobald's pains-taking labour, his wide learning and his See also:

CRITICAL (in alphabetical order of authors)

critical See also:

GENIUS (from Lat. genere, gignere)

genius. But Pope's See also:

SATIRE (Lat. satira, satura; see below)

satire, as See also:

Johnson justly remarked, blasted the characters that it touched. Theobald remained the, type of the dry-as-dust commentator. His merits obtained a tardy recognition on the publication of a detailed study of his critical work by Mr Churton See also:

Collins in an See also:

ESSAY, ESSAYIST (Fr. essai, Late Lat. exagium, a weighing or balance; exigere, to examine; the term in general meaning any trial or effort)

essay entitled " The See also:

PORSON, RICHARD (1759-1808)

Porson of Shakespearian See also:

Criticism " (Essays and Studies, 1895). Theo-bald gave See also:

PROOF (in M. Eng. preove, proeve, preve, &°c., from O. Fr . prueve, proeve, &c., mod. preuve, Late. Lat. proba, probate, to prove, to test the goodness of anything, probus, good)

proof of the same happy See also:

GIFT (a common Teutonic word, cf. Ger. die Gift, gift, das Gift, poison, formed from the Teut. stem gab-, to give, cf. Dutch geven, Ger. geben; in O. Eng. the word appears with initial y, the guttural of later English is due to Scandinavian influence)

gift in classical scholarship in some emendations of Aeschylus, See also:

Eustathius, See also:

ATHENAEUS

Athenaeus and others, contributed to a learned journal started by John See also:

JORTIN, JOHN (1698—1770)

Jortin in 1731. He was' a See also:

CANDIDATE

candidate for the laureateship in 1730, but Cibber gained the coveted See also:

POST

post. His last years were harassed by poverty and disease. He began a critical edition of the plays of See also:

Beaumont and See also:

Fletcher, completed by See also:

Seward and Sympson after his death, which took place on the 18th of See also:

SEPTEMBER (Lat. septem, seven)

September 1744. His correspondence with See also:

Matthew Concanen, Styan See also:

THIRLBY (or THIRLEBY), THOMAS (c. 1506-1570)

Thirlby and See also:

William Warburton is to be found in See also:

NICHOLS, JOHN (1745–1826)

Nichols's Illustrations of Literature (ii. 204-654), which also gives the fullest See also:

account of his See also:

LIFE

life.

End of Article: THEOBALD, LEWIS (1688-1744)

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