Barbarossa A Tragedy - Brown, John 1715-1766; Garrick, David 1717-1779 (London Bell, 1795)
John Brown was an English Anglican priest, playwright and essayist. His major popular success was the Estimate of the Manners and Principles of the Times (2 vols., 1757–1758), a bitter satire. Brown knew Charles Avison, the Newcastle organist and composer, and wrote 'A dissertation on the rise, union, and power, the progressions, separations and corruptions of poetry and music' (1763).
Brown's play premiered in 1754 at Drury Lane and was originally published in 1755
the publisher, John Bell (1745-1831), was an important printer and typographer whose bookshop, 'British Library', was located in the Strand and who pioneered the regular s (instead of the long s) in English printing
Frontispiece engraving by William Satchwell Leney (1769-1831) after Samuel De Wilde (1751-1832) depicting Miss Miller as Zaphira in Act 2 scene 1 "O my heart. Can I bear this. Inhuman tyrant! Curses on my head." standing, whole length, gesturing up towards the sky with right hand clenched to a fist, facing to the left; in oval frame.
Contains a prologue by David Garrick "and spoken by him in the character of a Country Boy"
Contains an Epilogue by David Garrick, "spoken by Mr Woodward in the character of a fine gentleman" / Henry Woodward (1714-1777)
Keywords: Theatre Royal, Covent Garden (London, United Kingdom); 18th Century (1701-1800); Play (theater); London (United Kingdom)