THE CASE

OF

Mrs. CLIVE

(1744)

Introduction by

RICHARD C. FRUSHELL

To

H.T. Swedenberg, Junior

founder, protector, friend

He that delights to Plant and Set, Makes After-Ages in his Debt.

Where could they find another formed so fit,
To poise, with solid sense, a sprightly wit?
Were these both wanting, as they both abound,
Where could so firm integrity be found?

The verse and emblem are from George Wither, A Collection of Emblems,Ancient and Modern (London, 1635), illustration xxxv, page 35.

The lines of poetry (123-126) are from "To My Honoured Kinsman JohnDriden," in John Dryden, The Works of John Dryden, ed. Sir WalterScott, rev. and corr. George Saintsbury (Edinburgh: William Patterson,1885), xi, 78.

GENERAL EDITORS

William E. Conway, William Andrews Clark Memorial Library

George Robert Guffey, University of California, Los Angeles

Maximillian E. Novak, University of California, Los Angeles

David S. Rodes, University of California, Los Angeles

ADVISORY EDITORS

Richard C. Boys, University of Michigan

James L. Clifford, Columbia University

Ralph Cohen, University of Virginia

Vinton A. Dearing, University of California, Los Angeles

Arthur Friedman, University of Chicago

Louis A. Landa, Princeton University

Earl Miner, Princeton University

Samuel H. Monk, University of Minnesota

Everett T. Moore, University of California, Los Angeles

Lawrence Clark Powell, William Andrews Clark Memorial Library

James Sutherland, University College, London

H.T. Swedenberg, Jr., University of California, Los Angeles

Robert Vosper, William Andrews Clark Memorial Library

Curt A. Zimansky, State University of Iowa

CORRESPONDING SECRETARY

Edna C. Davis, William Andrews Clark Memorial Library

EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

Jean T. Shebanek, William Andrews Clark Memorial Library

Typography by Wm. M. Cheney

INTRODUCTION

Among other things, the licensing act of 1737 stipulated that CoventGarden and Drury Lane exclusively were the patented and licensedtheaters (respectively) in London, a fact directly related to the revoltof prestigious players six years later. Although there were sporadicperformances of "legitimate" drama in unlicensed playhouses between 1737and 1743, full-time professional actors and actresses were in effectlocked into the approved theaters during the regular theatrical season.Suspecting a cartel directed against them personally and professionallyby the "Bashas" Rich at Covent Garden and Fleetwood at Drury Lane,^[1]the players from Drury Lane in the summer of 1743 b

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THE AUGUSTAN REPRINT SOCIETY

CATHERINE CLIVE