Early American Plays Part 3

SUPERSt.i.tION. A Tragedy. Philadelphia, [1823].

Played in Philadelphia, Pa., 1824.

THE TRAVELLERS. Philadelphia, 1809.

BARRYMORE, WILLIAM

THE SNOW STORM; OR, LOWINA OF TOBOLSKOW. A Melo Dramatick Romance.

By William Barrymore, Esq. Baltimore, 1818. 16mo, pp. 36.

BARTON, ANDREW

(See Colonel Thomas Forrest.)

THE DISAPPOINTMENT; OR, THE FORCE OF CREDULITY. A new American Comic Opera of Two Acts. New York, 1767. 12mo, pp. 56.

Another edition, 16mo, pp. iv.-95. Philadelphia, 1796.

"Air No. IV. is Yankee Doodle."--_Sabin._

BEACH, L.

JONATHAN POSTFREE; OR, THE HONEST YANKEE. A Musical Farce in Three Acts. New York, 1807. 12mo.

BIDWELL, BARNABAS

BARNABAS BIDWELL, born in Tyringham (now Monterey), Ma.s.s., August 23, 1763, died in Kingston, Canada, July 27, 1833, was the second son of Rev. Adonijah Bidwell. Graduated from Yale in 1785, and was made LL.D. by Brown University in 1805. He settled in Stockbridge, Ma.s.s., in 1793, and was successively Treasurer of Berkshire County, Attorney-General of the State, and Member of Congress. His residence in Canada resulted from his responsibility for some irregularity in his business as a banker.

THE MERCENARY MATCH. A Tragedy. New Haven, Meigs, Bowen & Dana.

[1785]. 12mo, pp. 57.

This piece was performed by students of Yale College.

BOTSFORD, MRS.

THE REIGN OF REFORM; OR, YANKEE DOODLE COURT. By a Lady. Baltimore: Printed for the Auth.o.r.ess, 1830. 18mo, pp. 146.

A dialogue, the Characters personating distinguished individuals of the day.

A Continuation of the above. Baltimore, 1830. 18mo, pp. 79, [1].

BRAY, JOHN

THE TOOTHACHE; OR, MISTAKES OF A MORNING. A Pet.i.t Comedy in One Act.

Philadelphia, 1814. 16mo, pp. 31.

BRECK, CHARLES

CHARLES BRECK, born in Boston, Ma.s.s., 1782, died at Amsterdam, Holland, May, 1822, was the third son of Samuel Breck, a wealthy merchant of Boston, who was agent to the army and fleet of King Louis XVI. after the French intervention in the American Revolution.

Charles Breck, while travelling in Italy, met and became engaged to a very beautiful young lady of that country. He built in Philadelphia, whither his father had removed from Boston, a residence exactly like that of his betrothed. Her sudden death, just before his arrival in Europe to claim his bride, hastened his own.

THE FOX CHASE. A Comedy in Five Acts, as performed at the Theatres, Philadelphia and Baltimore. New York, 1808. 18mo, pp. 64.

THE TRUST. A Comedy in Five Acts. New York, 1808. 18mo, pp. 82.

BRACKENRIDGE, HUGH HENRY

HUGH HENRY BRACKENRIDGE, born near Campbelton, Scotland, in 1748, died in Carlyle, Pa., June 25, 1816. He came with his parents to America, when only five years of age, was graduated from Princeton in 1771, and continued as a tutor in that college. He next studied divinity, and took charge of an academy in Maryland; was editor of _The United States Magazine_ in Philadelphia in 1776, and a chaplain in the American army in the war of the Revolution. He afterwards studied law under Samuel Chase. In 1781 he crossed the Alleghanies, established himself at Pittsburg, took an active part in the Whiskey Insurrection, and after that affair was over took pains to vindicate his conduct by the publication of _Incidents of the Insurrection in the Western Parts of Pennsylvania_. He was afterwards Judge of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL. A Dramatic Piece of Five Acts, in heroic measure; by a Gentleman of Maryland.

Pulchrumque mori succurrit in armis.--Virgil.

'Tis glorious to die in battle.

Philadelphia: Printed and sold by Robert Bell, in Third Street, 1776. Frontispiece. 8vo, pp. [8], 5-49, [1].

This play was recited by Brackenridge's pupils in 1776. It was dedicated to Robt. Stockton. The princ.i.p.al characters are well-known officers in the American and British Armies.

THE DEATH OF GENERAL MONTGOMERY, AT THE SIEGE OF QUEBEC. A Tragedy, with an Ode in honor of the Pennsylvania Militia, and the small band of regular Continental troops who sustained the campaign in the depth of winter, January, 1777, and repulsed the British forces from the banks of the Delaware. To which are added Elegiacal Pieces, commemorative of Distinguished characters.

Philadelphia: Printed and sold by Robert Bell, 1777.

Frontispiece. 8vo, pp. 79, [5].

Another edition, Norwich, J. Trumbull, 1777. 8vo, pp. 68.

Also Phila., 1797. 12mo, pp. 68.

BROWN, CHARLES BROCKDEN

CHARLES BROCKDEN BROWN, born in Philadelphia, Pa., January 17, 1771, died there, February 22, 1810, was originally intended for the bar, but gave up that study for literature about 1796. He soon took rank as a novelist of the first cla.s.s, and was the first American to take that place in English literature. His first writings were published in Philadelphia periodicals, notably, _The Rhapsodist_, which appeared in _The Columbian Magazine_. He published _The Monthly Magazine_ and _American Review_ (1779-1799), and edited _The Literary Magazine_ and _American Register_ from 1803 to 1808. He was with Dunlap and Dr. Elihu Hubbard Smith, a member of the "Friendly Club"

in New York, and one of Dunlap's most devoted friends. He was one of the first to advocate (in 1803) the purchase of Louisiana from France; and in a series of articles published in that year strongly urged the progressive territorial extension of the Union. He was married in November, 1804, to Miss Elizabeth Linn, daughter of Rev.

Dr. William Linn of New York, and thus became the brother-in-law of John Blair Linn, between whom and himself a lifelong attachment of affection existed.

ALCUIN. A Dialogue on the Rights of Women. New York, 1797. 16mo.

BROWN, DAVID PAUL

DAVID PAUL BROWN, born in Philadelphia in 1795, died in 1875, studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1816. He contributed in early life to a number of magazines, and wrote _The Prophet of St. Paul's_, Philadelphia, 1836; _The Trial_, a tragedy, and a farce called _Love and Honor_. The last two were not acted, and probably not published.

He was also the author of legal works. Besides the play mentioned below, he wrote and published a number after 1830, not included in this list.