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Cooper on Stage

by Edward Harris
(Central Missouri State University)
(Originally issued on disk as James Fenimore Cooper Society Miscellaneous Papers, Electronic Series No. 1)
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Introduction
This article is divided into four sections. The original paper covered an overview of the plays, music, burlettas, operas, and ballets adapted from James Fenimore Cooper's books in America and in Europe; Cooper's interest in the theater; and his attempts to write for the theater. Section two is a brief history of the adaptations by book. A more detailed listing of reported performances by date with cast lists, comments, and reviews comprise section three. The last section is a selected bibliography.
The author is indebted to: Dr. Thomas Gladsky who asked if the book I was writing had any plays based on Cooper's books and to John Small, Electronic Resources Librarian, Central Missouri State University, for his helping to create the society's original web page and the conversion of this paper to HTML. The author wishes to thank the Central Missouri State University library staff and especially the cataloging staff for helping him use OCLC; the Self Instruction Center Staff for computer help; Pat Downing and Lori Fitterling of the Interlibrary Loan Staff; and Terry McNeeley, Instructional Design, for helping to design the disc label and the web site.
The Author welcomes comments, corrections and updates. He may be contacted by e-mail at Edward Harris
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In a young country voraciously looking for native dramatic material, it
was inevitable that James Fenimore Cooper's books would be used as the basis for American drama. Cooper's popularity was riding high in the decade 1820-1830. He produced 10 novels [nine of them on American subjects]. It did not take Cooper long to prove English critic Sidney Smith wrong: "In the four quarters of the globe, who reads an American book?" [Smith, pp. 79-80]. Beginning with The Spy, Cooper's "American" books were widely published. Spiller and Blackburn provide long lists of American, British, European, and Asian editions. Despite many of the critics of the time, Cooper's books were discovered and were widely read by the public. Military, patriotic, and period adventure (Indians and pirates) themes were often portrayed on the early stage. Cooper's novels provided the dramatic action for all these themes. Consequently his books became a major influence on the theater both in America and in Europe. In 1834 James Rees said, ". . . suppose I dramatize Cooper's Headsman for you (Hugh Reinagle) ... The popularity of the work will attract, though the piece may be d--d."
[Rees, p. 117] Indians and the frontier were very much a part of the American experience. Cooper wrote eleven Indian Tales. Between 1820-1840 thirty Indian plays were staged and twenty have been accounted for between 1840 and the Civil War. Over one-third of Cooper's oeuvre were adapted for the stage. After the Civil War, new dramatic adaptations of Cooper's novels were written in 1870, 1873 and 1874. [Jones, p. 109]
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The 1790 American copyright law for books enabled any American author
who had published elsewhere to copyright their book regardless of when it was published. In England the first statute giving dramatists the exclusive right of performing their plays was passed in 1833. The United States granted stage-right in 1851 to dramatists who had their plays copyrighted here. The sole right to license the performance of a play was established by an act in America in 1856. Unfortunately the law required only the title to be registered; hence, often the same play was registered many times with a different title. Many stage productions in this era have been lost because of the lack of a published script and/or an official copyright record. Dramatists customary received the proceeds for the third night of production, but in the 1830's many playwrights had an additional arrangement with the theater manager for a one time payment of money. [Grimsted, p. 146-147] Of course, once the play was sold the author had no property rights to the play regardless of how successful it became. Novelists, like Cooper, whose works were adapted received no compensation. "Earlier story-tellers were not moved to protest when they saw their fictions employed by
the playwrights; in fact, they were often inclined to accept this as a
compliment to their original invention." [Matthews, 1916, p. 98] Some authors may have thought the dramatization was sound advertising for their novel.
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Except for a few adaptations, Cooper fared dramatically much better in Europe
than at home in America: there were more offerings of his works on foreign stage
and these adaptations had longer runs [ie: were more successful] than their
American counterparts. British playwright Edward Fitzball "borrowed" Long Tom
Coffin and made him into a British sailor with great success: a run of 200
nights. "The Indian chiefs of Fenimore Cooper lacked the popularity, on the
boards, of his pirates and sailors who took naturally to the footlights."
[Disher, p. 241]
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Several French plays were based on Cooper's books. C. C. Etienne used
Job Pray and Captain Polworth from Lionel Lincoln for the basis of his "Arwed, ou les Represailles [Arwed, or the Reprisals]" early in 1830 according to the Mercure de France au XIXe siècle in the Chronique Théâtrale. Anicet-Bourgeois wrote a five act drama, "La Vènitienne," based on The Bravo in 1834 as noted in La Quotidienne, March 24, 1834. Le Constitutionnel [May 26, 1838] reported that Hippolyte Romand's well received work, "Le Bourgeois de Gand," used The Spy as its inspiration. Honoré de Balzac [November 16, 1843 letter] was reported to have considered writing a play based on The Spy with the character of Harvey Birch adapted to the great French actor Lemaître. Frédéric Lemaître is said to have talked Balzac out of it after seeing the failure of Helvéy's "L'Espion (The Spy)." Conner reported that Balzac also considered a dramatic adaptation of The Red Rover. Alexandre Dumas wrote "Le Capitaine Paul" using Cooper's character from The Pilot. A translation by William Berger in 1839 played in New Orleans as "Paul Jones." Partridge [p. 177] stated that "The American novelist [Cooper in France] ... was popular in the theatres for about twelve years, but the sameness of his stories caused him soon to be exhausted as a `mine à exploiter.'"
According to Fritz Leuchs there were two dramatic versions of The
Spy produced in German. The earliest was in 1829 when "Der Spion" played on the Dresden stage. This may have been the same "Der Spion oder George Washington" by E. Doench that played in New York on Washington's birthday 1864. The second play, by Julius Dornau, was produced in Dresden in 1847. [Leuchs, p. 215]
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Several adaptations of Cooper's books found their way to the stage of
the opera house. The Spy was transformed into a three- act opera: "La Spia" by Luigi Arditi. Fillippo Manetta provided the libretto in both Italian and English. A second Italian opera "La Spia" was written by A. Villanis. "Le Pilote" by J. Urich is reported to have had one performance by Tower [Vol. 2, p. 1001]. The Bravo had several operas adapted from it: Marco Marliani's opera in three acts, libretto by A. Berrettoni, and Saverio Mercadante's "Il Bravo" with the libretto by Gaetano Rossi. Tower [p. 104] lists six French, German and Italian operas by this name. The novel/opera was adapted to the English stage by Thomas Cooke and entitled "The Red Mask." It was viewed by Henry Crabb Robinson at the Drury Lane Theatre on December 3, 1834. Robinson reported that the scenery was "worth the money -- the musick nothing." [Brown, E., p. 145] "The Last of the Mohicans," a lyric tragedy in three acts, was written by Carlo Zangarini with the score by Paul H. Allen. E. C. Phelps' "Last of the Mohicans" may not have been performed. To celebrate the American Bicentennial, Alva Henderson was commissioned to write an opera. "The Last of the Mohicans" was performed in Wilmington, Delaware in June 1976.
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There have been reported at least two French adaptations of Cooper's
works for the ballet. According to Le National, July 10, 1837, "Les
Mohicans" appeared as a ballet. Aldolphe Adam wrote the music and choreography was by Antonio Guerra. The two act ballet was produced at the Paris Opéra. Partridge [p. 177] reported that in 1847 Mercedes of Castille was used by Corali as a basis for the ballet "Ozaï" [L'Union, May 10, 1847]. Beaumont [p. 148], reported that Jean Coralli was the author of "Ozaï" in 1847; but Beaumont indicated that the ballet was based on "the voyages of the celebrated French explorer, M. de Bougainville (1729-1814)." Reading the scene by scene outline of the ballet would indicate that Beaumont was correct. Cooper's Wept of the Wish Ton Wish was also adapted as a ballet. [Rourke, p. 114]
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At least four songs survive that were used in stage productions
inspired by Cooper's novels. Fitz-Greene Halleck wrote a song for the popular
play "The Spy." Another song is alluded to in The New York Evening Post (March 5, 1822) article (by William Coleman) which indicates that although they did not know the "youthful dramatist" ... "it is enough for us that our friend Croaker has thought it not beneath him to volunteer a song, in aid of the piece, and as a mark of friendship for the author (Charles P. Clinch)." [Croaker was Dr. Joseph Rodman Drake who with Halleck (Croaker Junior) wrote for the Evening Post; Halleck wrote the poem for Clinch] Thomas Dibdin wrote one for his adaptation of The Pilot. George Herbert Rodwell wrote "My Brigantine, The Words from the Water Witch." Louis V. Saar got a copyright in 1901 for "My Brigantine" for mixed chorus and gave credit for the words to Cooper. M. H. Parnell composed the music to the words of the song "All Hands Unmoor!" which the Red Rover sings in Chapter 23 of Cooper's book. The English burlettas also featured various songs specifically written for their productions. Many of these are lost to us at this time.
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Opus 21, the well known "Le Corsair," by Hector Berlioz was originally
entitled "La Tour de Nice [The Tower of Nice]." He worked on the overture at
that ruin in 1831 and in 1844, but he was not satisfied with its first
performance on January 19, 1845. Berlioz (London 1851-1852) revised and renamed the work "Le Corsair Rouge" [the title of The Red Rover in French] memorializing Cooper who had died on September 14, 1851. Eventually Berlioz dropped "Rouge" from the title.
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Cooper's interest in the theater is reported at an early age. Cooper's second daughter, Susan Fenimore Cooper, in her introduction to The Pioneers, remembers her father delighting to recall his performances in Cory's amateur theatricals. At Cooperstown young Cooper was a student of Master Cory at the Academy where "The future author of "The Pioneers," then a child some eight years old, was much commended on one of these occasions for his moving recitation of the "Beggar's Petition," in the character of an old man, wrapped in a faded cloak, and bending over his staff."
Noah Miller Ludlow was traveling with Samuel Drake who was taking a theater company from Albany, NY to Frankfort, KY. In his first performance at Cooperstown, Ludlow forgot all of his lines. He reported that Cooper "did us the honor to attend" that performance of "The Prize" in 1815, and "encourage our pioneer efforts in the cause of the Drama." [Ludlow, pp. 9-10]
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From April 10-14, 1823 Cooper accompanied the "celebrated comedian" Charles Mathews from England on The Chancellor Livingstone (a steamboat) up the Hudson River to Albany, NY so "that he might see something more of America and American Manners than are to be found in a seaport town." [Dunlap, History, Vol. II, pp. 329-330] Mathews so loathed the US that he "actually came to rehearsal with his nose stopped with cotton, to prevent his smelling "the d--- American mutton chops!" The idea of the trip was to convert him, but he was offended "by both the matter and manner" of the only meal. When evening came and he found out that all the men were going to sleep in one cabin his "feeling revolted and he protested against taking rest on such terms." Cooper came to the rescue. He got permission to use the Captain's cabin and ordered food and whiskey punch to last
until morning. Mathews wrote to his wife: "most amply was I gratified." "The
Spy" which had been produced in March 1822 was the leading subject of
discussion. [Phillips, pp. 320-322] Cooper developed a life long friendship with the dramatist William Dunlap who accompanied them. Their diary/journals/letters indicate that they often visited each other and talked for hours. Dunlap dedicated his book on the theater in 1832 to Cooper. [Dunlap, History]
It is interesting to note that William Dunlap's last play "A Trip to
Niagara; or, Travellers in America," ran for 24 performances at the Bowery
Theatre opening on November 28, 1828. The setting of the second act is on a
steamboat going up the Hudson River. Mr. Wentworth, a stuffy Englishman who
flaunts his arrogance, and his sister, Amelia who is already persuaded of the quality and beauty of America, are aboard. Dunlap had Leatherstocking enter in the third act and recount some adventures from The Pioneers. Leatherstocking is successful in changing Wentworth's idea of America.
Cooper made his home in New York City from 1822 until 1826 when he and
his family sailed for Europe. We can assume that he attended the theater. In
1828 Cooper commented in Notions of Americans (p. 149) that the American theaters were generally superior to those in England partly because they were "not yet sufficiently numerous (though that hour is near)..." Cooper may have viewed some of the plays based on his books. We have no proof in his known correspondence of his seeing any plays in the United States. His only known theatrical attendance while living in New York is reported by both Adkins and Wilson. Cooper attended the opening of Italian Opera in New York in 1825 and sat beside Fitz-Greene Halleck.
Cooper's seven year stay in Europe was from the summer of 1826 to November 1833. We don't presently know whether he saw any of the dramatic adaptations of his books in Europe. Cooper's references to his attending the theater in Europe are sparse. From his knowledgeable comments about opera and the theater, we could surmise that he attended both. Cooper's discourse on the American stage in Notions of Americans (1828) would indicate that he was familiar with the dramatic milieu of his time. [Cooper, Vol. II, pp. 112-114] In a letter to Dr. James E. DeKay, Cooper reported attending a performance at Covent Garden with Samuel Rogers [they sat in a box with Sir John Leach, the vice chancellor]. An interesting observation Cooper made was that " . . . the lower tier was reserved for people in evening dress, and that the men sat with their hats off," (men wore them in American theaters; ladies often tied theirs to the columns by ribbons) this gave "the spectacle an appearance of respectability and comfort . . . that is now seldom seen in any of our own places of public resort." [Cooper, England, pp. 266-267] In Letter III to his nephew R(ichard) Cooper, he tells of his visit to old Drury and Covent Garden. Cooper and Mr. Lynch attended the opera in London to hear Madame Pasta, and Cooper compared her to Madame Malibran who was singing in New York. [Cooper, France, pp. 38-39]
During his four and one half years in France, Cooper saw some of the notable personages of the stage and compared them to American and English
performers. He concluded " . . . that a Frenchman is a great actor all the
while, and that when he goes on stage, he has much less to do, to be perfect, than an Englishman . . . or an American . . . " Cooper had seen Mademoiselle Mars and stated, "I have never beheld her equal." [She was the actress who played Frances Wharton in Ancelot's adaptation of The Spy. Cooper did not see her in "L'Espion" as he was not in Paris the latter half of 1828 nor the first two months of 1829 when the play was performed]. He commented on the morals of many of the pieces performed in Paris. [Cooper, France, pp. 181-185] Cooper felt that it was an immense advantage in having a National Theatre. He declared, "Our moralists have made a capital blunder in setting their faces against the stage . . . " "It should be patronized and regulated by the state, as the best means of . . . checking, if not totally repressing its abuses." "The common argument, that theatres are places of resort for the vicious, and particularly for women of light manners, is built on narrow views and great ignorance of the world." [Cooper, England, p. 267]
Cooper wrote a letter dated 20 December 1828 from Florence, Italy to
Mrs. Peter Augustus Jay, in which he said, "I have found a London acquaintance, here, who gives private theatricals, and we have been there . . . " [Walker] While in Florence, Lord Normanby invited the Coopers to his private theatricals in 1829 [Beard, Vol. 1, p. 346] There were . . . "two English theatres, with amateur-performers; at the head of one of which is Lord B(urghersh), and at the head of the other Lord N(ormanby). At the latter only, however, can one be said to see the legitimate drama; the other running rather into music . . ." according to Cooper. "We have seen Shakspeare in the hands of these noble actors once or twice, and found the representation neither quite good enough to please, nor yet bad enough to laugh at." Cooper found the American verses to a comic song about different nationalities . . . "an exaggerated and coarse caricature, positively suited only to the tastes of a gallery in a sea-port town." [Cooper, Italy, pp. 24-26]
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As far as we know, Cooper did not act as a consultant to any stage
productions as some modern writers do, nor did he aid any playwrights as Sir
Walter Scott aided Dan Terry in adapting Scott's novels for the stage. We do not know if Cooper wrote any of the scripts for the stage productions of his books. William Dunlap writes in his diary that the playwright Charles Powell Clinch ["The Spy"] "tells me that J. F. Cooper dramatized his Pioneers & that it did not succeed." (Sunday, April 28, 1833 entry). This may have been "The Pioneers" which played at the Park Theatre April 21, 22, 23, 1823, and it may have been the revised production entitled "The Wigwam; or, Templeton Manor" which played at the Park Theatre July 3, 7 and December 11, 30, 1830. Sherman [p. 432] indicated that "The Pioneers" was written by Cooper and played in New York in 1823. Whether Cooper wrote the play(s) or not, they were poorly received and only had a few performances. He may have tried in 1823, 1830, before 1847, as well as in 1850 to write for the theater as a medium of expressing his creativity.
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George B. Wittmer recounts a fascinating story of discovery of a two-act play "Mingos and Soldiers at Ft. Henry" in the base of Horatio Greenough's statue: "Chanting Cherubs." Cooper resided in Florence, Italy from October 1828 to July 1829. Here he met Horatio Greenough an American sculptor. While they were visiting the Pitti Palace, Cooper pointed out a painting (La Madonna del Baldacchino) by Raphael. Cooper asked Greenough if the two little angelic figures singing in the foreground would be a good subject for sculpture. Greenough executed the group in marble, incised on the back of the plinth "Sculptured in Florence for James Fenimore Cooper, 1830," and Cooper purchased it. After a grand tour of America, "Chanting Cherubs" rested for many years in the parlor at Cooperstown according to Wittmer. Cooper had to sell the statue in 1847 to settle his debts with Henry Ogden.
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In late June of 1980, Wittmer wrote that he went to a public auction of the Dobson family estate in Newton, KS. There he purchased the marble works given by Ogden to his daughter who married Elmo Dobson. They had staked out a claim near Newton just before Kansas statehood in 1858. Some minor damage at the lower right edge of the statue's base had loosened the felt. Within was found a scrap of yellowed printer's paper scrawled with these lines: "Tendered here as payment in full and in final [Cooper's italics] dramatic mss Mingos and statuette Cherubs to Henry Ogden, N. Y./ J. Fenimore Cooper/March 15, 1847." The twenty-one page play was also found secreted in the base. Ogden presumably had no use for the play, therefore it was never produced. One might hopefully wonder how many other plays by Cooper remain to be discovered? Wittmer's article indicated that he gave the manuscript to the "Bolton Galleries" the geographical location of the gallery is not cited.
Additional details and information about the "Chanting Cherubs" are found in: Cooper's letter to James Ellsworth DeKay, May 25, 1829 [Beard, Vol. 1, pp. 369-372]; Cooper's correspondence with Greenough [Beard, Vol. I, p. 389,
394-395, 398, 402, 407, 413, 431-433]; biographies of Horatio Greenough; and
Wright who indicated that the putti statue was sold to Mrs. Stevens (probably the wife of John C. Stevens)[Wright, 1963, p. 321]. Beard quotes a letter dated August 3, 1848 from Amariah Storrs to Cooper that a Mrs. Stephens bought the group. The statue was stored in NY for many years, and Cooper tried to interest several individuals in purchasing it. He also offered it to the House of Representatives. "Present ownership of the Cherubs, if it survived, is unknown." [Beard, Vol. V, pp. 109-110]
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Cooper's only known play that was produced was his unsuccessful venture
as a dramatic script writer in a comedy he called "The Law of Nature, or the
Female Philosopher." It was first produced under the name of "Upside Down; or, Philosophy in Petticoats" in New York at Burton's Chambers Street Theatre June 18, 1850. Cooper received $250 from William E. Burton for his script. The play "was never published and the manuscript has not been discovered." [Spiller and Blackburn, p. 209] Cooper had sent the manuscript to James Henry Hackett, "the American Falstaff," hoping that he would play the major role of Richard Lovel. John Atlee Kouwenhoven has written about the discovery of this play in the Autumn, 1938 issue of The Colophon: A Quarterly for Booklovers. Cooper was in Cooperstown June 11 September 12, 1850 and could not have attended his play. It is interesting that Cooper left New York City (June 11) a week before his play was produced. He also reported in a letter to James H. Hackett dated June 30, 1850 that he was unable to attend a rehearsal. [Beard, Vol. VI, p. 198] Cooper probably had disassociated himself publicly from the play because of his "negative image" as promoted by the press.
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Hackett reported the opening night: "The first act told exceedingly
well -- the second began pretty well but grew heavy towards the close, & the third act dragged very heavily . . . " [Cooper, Correspondence, II, p. 682-683] In a letter to Hackett after the play bombed, Cooper offered to repurchase the play from Burton. [Beard, Vol. VI, p. 198] The reviews of the play were not kind. The play only ran three nights [June 18, 20-21, 1850]. Reviewers found the play talky, too polemical, and the characters lacking motivation. The Albion did say that the dialogue was ". . . at all times smart, neat, and occasionally pointedly telling," but thought "The characters, too, are all the time talking, without incident, motives or action . . . " "The comedy is in three acts; the plot, however, is so meager that it might well have been condensed in one, for the last two are but duplications of the first." "... he (the novelist) may indulge in repetitions and re-productions -- but all this is not tolerated by theatrical audiences." [Albion, June 22, 1850] The Express wrote that "It showed up socialism beautifully" and that " . . . its
only fault is being upon the whole a little too conventional or closetty . . . " and the critic found the scene in which Burton (Lovel) was "wooded by the she-Socialist ... screamingly delectable." [Express, June 22, 1850] The Literary World reported that "The piece moves off extremely slow, the characters not appearing much interested in what they have to do, but preferring to `express their sentiments' on the topics of the day." "The plot has no probability . . . " "It is not dramatic . . . " "It might rather be called a lecture . . . thrown into a dramatic form . . . than a comedy." Cooper's play was an attempt . . . "to ridicule the follies of the time." The critic thought that Lovel, the gouty old bachelor, was a projection of Cooper himself: "the only wonder is, how he should have been able to have presented such another caricature of himself, . . . without seeming to be aware that he was doing so." The review, lists the cast, outlines the plot, and gives an accolade to Burton for his role of Richard Lovel. The June 29, 1850 Literary World ends on a positive note: "But he has never succeeded in his pictures of society . . . He
is at home only in the forest, or on the ocean, or prairie, where we have all been so often delighted to accompany him." Both The Albion (June 22, 1850) and William E. Burton, in a letter dated June 5, 1850 [Cooper, Correspondence, pp. 681 682], expressed the hope that Cooper would write again for the stage. Plays adapted from his novels by other dramatists were to fare better on the stage than Cooper's attempt at writing for the boards. Boynton [p. 382] states, "The incident matters only as showing that to the end of his life Cooper still had the impulse to try new things."
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Most of Cooper's books written from 1823 to 1833 became the basis for
stage productions both here and in Europe. Ten of Cooper's first 14 novels were adapted for the stage. No mention of Precaution nor of The Prairie being dramatized was found. Although Waples wrote that The Prairie received spectacular dramatization [Waples, p. 64], her citations would indicate that she meant The Red Rover. There is no present history of Notions of the Americans nor of The Heidenmauer taking the boards. Following the adaptation of The Headsman (1834) there was a long hiatus before The Deerslayer (1841) and Wing-and-Wing (1842) were given a brief life on stage.
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Cooper holds the distinction of writing the first American novel to be
dramatized. It was an adaptation of Cooper's second book which was published on December 22, 1821. The play was produced ten weeks later on March 1, 1822 in New York City at the New Park Theater. "The Spy" was written by Charles Powell Clinch with twenty two scenes and follows the novel fairly closely . Clinch contributed three original scenes, hence most of the play is Cooper's work. The play was also presented in Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington. Fitz-Greene Halleck wrote a song "The Harp of Love" which Miss Johnson sang in the role of Frances Wharton. "The Spy" remained a popular play over the decades and was still being presented in 1858. A new adaptation for the centennial by C. W. Barry was presented for the 1875-1876 New York theater season and ran for three weeks. Odell and Fishman both provide lists of the many performances and of the casts when available. Enoch Crosby gained some notoriety by claiming to be Cooper's model for Harvey Birch. Crosby was able to command a box seat at some performances based on his claim. Cooper indicated in a letter that the first
time he heard of Crosby was when he returned from Europe. [Cooper,
Correspondence, Vol II, p. 684]
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Auguste-Jean-Baptiste Defauconpret's first translation of Cooper's
books was The Spy in 1822 and began Cooper's popularity in France
[McBride]. Jacques Ancelot adapted The Spy [L'Espion] for the French stage in December, 1828, and it played at the Salle Richelieu of the Theatre Français. The play was originally scheduled to be produced at the less prestigious Theatre de l'Odéon, but Ancelot chose to change theaters. The director of the l'Odéon, Lemetheyer, commissioned Léon Halévy, Louis Marie Fontan, and Gustave Drouineau to adapt a play. The play was rehearsed and staged within two weeks and Halévy's "L'Espion" was presented at the l'Odéon on December 6, 1828 a week before Ancelot's adaptation. Halévy's play had twenty characters and reflected the short time taken in writing. The reviews were generally poor although the play was presented thirteen times between its December 6th opening and February 14, 1829. In contrast Ancelot and his collaborator E. J. E. Mazéres opened at the Theatre Français on December 13, 1828. The play was attended by the Duchess of Berry and the princes of the House of Orleans. It was a gala event that was well received by the public and by the reviewers. The play followed Defauconpret's translation of Cooper's novel fairly closely with some scenes played word for word. Mademoiselle Mars, the most celebrated actress of the time, played Frances Wharton. She appeared in 39 of the 44 scenes in this five-act play. Although out of proportion to Wharton's role in the novel, Mlle. Mars' appearance helped insure the success of the play. It was presented seventeen times between its opening on December 13th and February 1, 1829.
The play was enthusiastically awaited according to the article in the
Albion. "The Pioneers" opened at the Park Theatre, April 21, 1823. Odell provides a list of the full cast, but "Despite the good cast, The Pioneers failed to achieve the success of The Spy; it reached only the third performance --the traditional author's night." [Odell, Vol. III, p. 63] Cooper was in West Point from April 19-24, 1823, therefore we can assume that he did not see "The Pioneers" at the Park Theatre, April 21-23. Ireland noted that "The Pioneers" played with Maywood as Natty and lists the cast. [Ireland, I, p. 414]
William Dunlap's diary states that C. P. Clinch, who adapted The Spy, told him that Cooper had dramatized The Pioneers. [Dunlap, April 28, 1833 entry] This reference could be to "The Pioneers" which had the three night run in 1823.
A revised version of the play called "The Wigwam, or Templeton Manor"
was presented on July 3, 1830 at the Park Theatre. The new "Melodrama" was also produced on July 7th; it was revived on December 11, 1830 [Odell, full cast list, Vol. III, p. 492]; and repeated on December 30, 1830.
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Odell lists the cast of a May 19, 1849 production at William E.
Burton's Chambers Street Theatre (formerly Ferdinand Palmo's New York Opera
House, 39 & 41 Chambers St.), and this is the last we hear of "The
Pioneers." [Odell, Vol. V, p. 443]
The dramatization of this novel gave Cooper another first: the
successful adaptation of a pirate novel to the stage [others followed: "The
Water Witch" and "The Red Rover". Paralleling the success of Cooper's first sea novel was the great triumph of the dramatization of The Pilot. Fishman reported that Edward Fitzball wrote an adaption of The Pilot that was performed at the Park Theatre on October 29, 1824. Fitzball also wrote a burlesque version that takes place off the American coast with British sailors and which makes the ridiculous characters Yankees. This version had great success in England. Sir Walter Scott recorded his viewing the play and the support it got from British sailors. [Lockhart, Vol. 5, p. 10]
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"Paul Jones, or, a Storm at Sea" was written by W. H[enry] Wallack. It was first played March 21, 1827 at the Chatham Theatre. [Cooper was in Europe] Mrs. Wallack played Kate Plowden, and it is said that James M. Scott's Long Tom Coffin became a stage tradition with the name clinging to him. The 17th performance was on the 10th of April.
Theater based on The Pilot was very successful over a 45-year
span as evidenced by Odell's reporting a first performance in 1824 and the last reported performance in 1869 in the United States. A comic opera entitled "Paul Jones" played in 1889 [Nicoll, V, pp. 363, 791]. Brown also reported a comic opera by H. B. Farnie by the name of "Paul Jones" that played October 6, 1890 at the Broadway Theatre; February 20, 1892 at the Union Square Theatre; February 20, 1892 at the Harlem Opera House; and January 31, 1898 at the American Theatre. The only connection may have been the name.
Cooper's fifth novel, Lionel Lincoln, or, The Leaguer of Boston
was not a success. Thomas R. Lounsbury called it one of Cooper's worse failures [Lounsbury, p. 51], and Henry W. Boynton said, "The trouble with Lionel Lincoln is not that it is based on fact but that it fails to transmute fact." [Boynton, p. 126-130] Cooper may have had a similar evaluation because he did not attempt to write any of the other twelve novels in his planned series for the original thirteen states. Nevertheless, as adapted for the stage by Steven E. Glover we can see that it was performed for a period of 25 years from 1832 to 1857. The play incorporated much of the dialogue from the novel. "The Cradle of Liberty" was a popular Fourth of July offering with its exceptional description of the battle of Bunker Hill.
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The Last of the Mohicans, published in February, 1826, was a
great success as a book. Lounsbury states, "Of all the novels written by Cooper, "The Last of the Mohicans" is the one in which the interest not only never halts, but never sinks," [Lounsbury, p. 52-53]. One wonders why then with such wide acceptance it took until December 27, 1831 to produce a play from the novel. Captain Steven E. Glover adapted the book for the stage, and the play was presented at the Richmond Hill Theatre in NYC. The developments of the characterizations, dialogue and the plot were close to the novel. Hoole says that the play was presented in Charleston January 6, 1830; and Fishman states that it played in New Orleans at the American Theatre intermittently from April 1830 to March 1831. [Fishman, p. 88] The play did not catch on and was last seen in London at the Pavilion on March 3, 1866 according to Fishman and in America at the Broadway Theatre on June 20, 1873. [Fishman, p. 88 89] Brander Matthews wrote, "The dramatizations of Scott, of Cooper, and of Dickens, . . . were none of them good plays, nor were they ever wholly satisfactory to those who knew and loved the original novels." Matthews suggests a reason for a play from an excellent book not catching on: "The more famous the novel -- one might almost say the better the novel -- the less likely is it to make a good play . . . in the end the play becomes a mere series of magic-lantern slides to illustrate the book . . . " [Mathews, pp. 32-63]
The second of Cooper's sea novels was equally popular to his first.
Gordon tells us that at least seven adaptations (3 American; 4 British) appear to have been made with four available in print [Gordon, p. 66]. It only took six weeks after the book was at the printer to see an adaptation on the stage of The Red Rover. Francis C. Wemyss (manager of the Chestnut (Chesnut) Street Theatre, Philadelphia, PA) secured a copy from Carey and Lea (Cooper's publishers) in advance and gave it to Chapman to dramatize. The play was written by Samuel Henry Chapman who was offered $20.00 a night for every night it played. It was first produced on February 21, 1828 and ran for four nights in February; four in March; and two in April at the Chestnut Street Theatre, Philadelphia, PA. The play followed closely the plot, the dialogue, and the characterizations of the book. Chapman added only two scenes of his own to the thirteen scene adaptation. The play was reported to have been a challenge for the author, painter and machinist. According to Wemyss all acquitted themselves well including the excellent music of Mr. Braun. "Never in any theatre, was a more successful piece produced; enabling us to act on the Tuesday and Thursday nights, to five hundred dollars per night . . . " [Wemyss, 1847, pp. 149-150;
Wemyss, 1848, p. 129]
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A second adaption was produced at the Park Theatre on May 1, 1828 and a third at the Lafayette Theatre in May, 1828.
The play was last seen at the Park Theatre on April 16, 1879: a fifty-one-year life span. James Rees wrote that F. C. Wemyss wrote "Red Rover" which played at Pittsburgh, PA [Rees, p. 138]. This could have been Chapman's adaptation with which Wemyss had been closely associated.
Edward (Fitz)ball also adapted the book in a two-act nautical drama:
"The Red Rover; or, the Mutiny of the Dolphin." This played in Edinburgh at the Theatre Royal in April 1830 and had a long run at the Adelphi Theatre in London. Fitzball was successful in persuading the management to put his adaptation ahead of another adaptation that they had commissioned. His nautical burletta was produced at the Adelphi on February 9, 1829. Thomas Potter Cooke, a former British seaman, who had great success on the stage, played Fid. (Cooke also played Long Tom Coffin in Fitzball's "The Pilot")
Nicoll reports an anonymous adaptation was played at the Surrey Theatre
in London on September 27, 1829. [Nicoll, II, p. 516] A Surrey playbill in the Widener Library lists T. P. Cooke again playing Fid. John Gordon speculates that this could have been Fitzball's adaptation because of Cooke's role. There was also an anonymous English adaptation presented at the Royal Cobough Theatre in 1829. [Nicoll, Vol. IV, p. 97]
The February 15th John Bull announcement that the "Red Rover" a
play "originally written for the Adelphi Theatre but from certain circumstances never performed there" would indicate that this was the burletta that Fitzball succeeded in edging out. It was written by R. T. Weaver and performed at the Sadler's Wells Theatre on March 2, 1829. The three act, eleven scene play follows the story and uses Cooper's dialogue.
Attesting to the popularity of Cooper's work, there was also a
burlesque written years later by Francis Cowley Burnard [of "Box and Cox" and "Punch" fame] which played at the Strand Theatre December 26, 1877. [Clarence, p. 378]
The publication of Cooper's book in England spawned a school of
nautical sketches and stories between 1829-1831. Some writers feel that because of his peculiar origins and conflicting obligations, Frederick, the hero of Gilbert and Sullivan's "The Pirates of Penzance," is the replica of Cooper's Wilder.
The dramatization of this novel gave Cooper another first: the
successful dramatization of an Indian theme. The Wept of the Wish-Ton
Wish was published in September, 1829 and depicts the manners and customs of New England Puritans. The capture by Indians of the Heathcote's daughter (Ruth), being an Indian (Chief Conanchet's) wife (Narramatah) and a mother, and her return to her family are the elements of drama. The first adaptation of the novel written for the stage premièred on December 1, 1834. The last reported adaptation was a two act dramatization in 1851. [Moody, p. 104] A burletta by English playwright W. B. Bernard played at the St. Charles in New Orleans in 1835-36. The plays ran intermittently over a duration of decades: November 12, 1830 to November 30, 1878. Mlle. Celeste and later Marie Zoë played their favorite Narramattah character for many years.
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Dunlap lists a "Taylor" (Charles Western Taylor?) as the author of "The
Water Witch." Whether it was the one in which Mrs. Hamblin gave over 100
performances we do not know. Richard Penn Smith also wrote an adaption of "The Water Witch" one of which played on Christmas Day, 1830. There were at least two other versions produced after Penn Smith's attempt. [Quinn, p. 213] Josephine Fishman indicates that Smith's adaption was presented at the Philadelphia, PA Chestnut Theatre Christmas week 1831, and January 1832. [Fishman, p. 90] She also lists a performance of a version by Henry James Finn at the American Theatre, New Orleans on January 19, 20, 21, and November 20-22, 1839. Clapp [p. 295] noted that Finn's "Water Witch" "had a good run" at the Tremont Theatre in the 1831-32 season. J. S. Wallace is listed as the author of the play at the Arch Street Theatre Philadelphia on September 4, 6-9, 1841 and September 30, 1843, and C. W. Taylor is listed as the author of the play at the Bowery May 31, 1844 [Fishman, p. 91]. Performances are listed from 1830-1862. Davis said, "Of all the picaresque heroes the most popular was Tom Tiller, `The Skimmer of the Seas'. . . This stage piece of 1830 was performed more often than any other play of the period." [Davis, p. 14]
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Odell reported "The Bravo, or, The Black Gondola" played at the
American Theatre in the Bowery June, 1833. Richard Penn Smith wrote two
adaptations. One was called, "The Bravo, or, The Red Mask" which played in
Philadelphia in 1849, and an adaptation in blank verse called "The Venetian"
which was produced in New York in 1845 and in Philadelphia at the Arch Street Theatre in 1849. Quinn also indicated Penn Smith wrote a blank verse
dramatization as a five-act tragedy in 1836 that was produced as "The Venetian" at the Arch Street Theatre in 1849. According to Fishman, Richard Penn Smith wrote "The Bravo, or, The Red Mask" which played at the Walnut Street Theatre, Philadelphia, PA on October 2, 4, 6, 1849. [Fishman, p. 102] A. H. Wilson reported that W(illiam) T(homas) Moncrieff wrote a play entitled "The Bravo of Venice." [Wilson, pp. 555, 721] Last performance is reported on March, 1860 at the New Bowery Theatre.
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James Rees wrote an adaptation in 1834 for Hugh Reinagle, the scene
designer who also helped write the prologue, that played at the American Theatre in New Orleans on May 17, 1834. Mr. Scott, who played Long Tom Coffin so often, played the Headsman. Odell reported an adaptation called "Mount St. Bernard or The Headsman" which played at the American Theater in New York in March of 1834 and again in April, 1849. It would seem that this play had a short life.
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There were only two references found to the dramatization of The
Pathfinder. Jonas B. Phillips wrote the adaptation, and it reportedly played at the Bowery Theatre, NY in 1840.
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Odell reported a play by this name at the Bowery Theater in September
of 1841. He indicates that this was a revival. When was the original? Spiller and Blackburn report this performance at the Bowery Theatre, NY on September 23, 1841. Quinn lists "The Deerslayer" by an unknown author at the Bowery on the same date.
Robert St. Clair wrote a 3 act play called "Deerslayer" in 1937.
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There is only one report of a play by the title of "Wing-and-Wing." It
played sometime between December 16-26, 1842 at the Chatham Theatre as one of three or four plays presented in an evening.
Many of the minor theaters did not advertise in the major papers of the day, but rather depended on posted notices and/or on the distribution of
handbills. This practice makes it difficult to assure that some performances
were not missed. The actors moved from one theater to another with ease. The
producers of the plays often changed the spelling and/or the names of the
characters. Managers attempted to offer a variety in their theater's repertoire. This often resulted in their advertising subtitles of the play, sometimes changing part of the title, and/or creating an entirely new name for their play's promotion.
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Cost of a night at the theatre ran from 12½ cents to $.75 or $1.00 for
a box seat depending on which theatre you attended, where you sat, and the state of the economy of the country. Performances often included several plays and scenes from favorite plays, orchestra music, recitations, vocal solos, ballets, pantomimes, minstrel shows, etc. to round out the night's entertainment. These multiple offerings were a great bargain for an evening's entertainment compared to the theater in New York today -- although undoubtedly not as comfortable for the patron. Patrons sat on benches or stood which could make a long evening. Odell reported that one big improvement to the seating was when a theater ad indicated that ladies no longer had to walk over the benches as the seats were now hinged and could be raised. Early patrons had to put up with dripping wax from the chandlers (the first gas lights were installed in the Chestnut Street Theatre in 1816); dirty benches and filthy floors; the free flow of liquor empowered the patrons to yell out to the orchestra demanding their favorite songs, hiss and boo those on stage, and throw things at the actors. Segar smoking was finally limited during performances because many theaters perished in flames.
The history of the development of the theater in the United States is a
fascinating story which has already been well documented. Cooper saw many
changes in American theater. In 1841 the first box set was imported from England and used instead of the traditional backdrops and wings. P. T. Barnum, Tom Thumb, and the birth of the Minstrel Show also came in the early 1840's. America's first professional author, J. Fenimore Cooper, played a notable part in the history of the first half of eighteenth century theater creating narratives which were readily adapted to the boards.
Following are the occurrences of titles of plays by the same name as Cooper's published works. As few of these scripts exist today, it is possible that on occasion the name of the play is the only thing in common with Cooper's book.
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"The Wigwam"
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"Paul Jones"
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"Rake Hellies" or "The Cradle of Liberty"
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- Sherman, Robert L., p. 457. ["Red Rover" by R. T. Weaver played in
Philadelphia, PA in 1828 with Henry Wallack in a leading role]
Disher, Maurice Willson, p. 124. [Edward Fitzball (Ball) wrote "The Red
Rover; or, The Tiger Of The Seas," which played at the Adelphi Theatre, London in 1828]
- James, Reese D., pp. 422-428, 450, 487, 560-561, 576. ["Red Rover" played for the first time Thursday, February 21, 1828 in Philadelphia with receipts of $704.00 and on February 22, 26, 28; March 11, 13, 20, 26; and April 5, 10; July 9, 11, 1828; June 29, 30, 1831; June 26, 27, 28, and November 5, 7, 1833]
- Pagel, Carol Anne Ryan. [Chapter 5 includes a comparison of novel and of scenes from Chapman's "The Red Rover" through detailed analysis of plot, subplots, pace, themes, and characters]
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- Wemyss, Francis Courtney, Vol. 1, pp. 149-150. ["The Red Rover" played at the Chestnut Theatre, Philadelphia, on February 21, 1828 with Red Rover played by Samuel H. Chapman (who had written the play) and Homespun by Mrs. DeLacey]
- ____________________, Vol. 1, pp. 129-132. [includes the "Prologue to the "Red Rover" spoken by Mr. Wemyss and Mr. S. Chapman; written by R. P. Smith, Esq." Wemyss discusses the rain scene in which the rain (3 gauze curtains) "descended amid thunders of applause" but "after performing its part to admiration, had to ascend again to the skies, amid the laughter of the audience."]
- Saturday Evening Post, "Dramatic Intelligence," , VII, 846 (Saturday, March 15, 1828). [Chapman's adaptation of Red Rover at the Chesnut Theatre, Philadelphia, PA. (performances Tuesday March 11 and Thursday March 13, 1828); "The Red Rover continues to draw tolerable houses." "We wish that all our readers who have not seen this splendid production, would avail themselves of the first opportunity to do so, as it is really the finest scenic representation we have ever witnessed. Miss Clara Fisher, who has played at every theatre of note in Great Britain, is said to have remarked that the moving panorama of the departure of The Caroline is the finest scene she has ever beheld upon any stage..."]
- Durham, Weldon B., p. 301. ["Red Rover," a nautical melodrama, played at the Lafayette Theatre (NY) during the 1827-1828 season and "featured battles at sea between ships floating on the theatre's water tank"] Hodge, Francis, p. 20. ["When the spectacle was successful, as in the sinking of the Caroline in Red Rover, which many in the audience declared absolutely real, the staff's expert craftsmanship was fully apparent."]
- Odell, George C. D., Vol. III (1821-1834). [Edmund Simpson (manager of the Park) played the Red Rover, Barry Wilder, Hilson Fid, Placide Homespun, Woodhull Nightingale (D.) Reed the Pilot, Mrs. Hill Mrs. Wyllis, Mrs. Hilson Gertrude and Mrs. Wheatley Mrs. de Lacy played in "The Red Rover (a new nautical melodrama)" at the Park Theatre, on May 1, 1828, p. 319; Another version of Red Rover "dramatized by a gentleman of this city, expressly for this theatre" was elaborately staged at the Lafayette Theatre on May 26, 1828 (the night the Bowery burned)," "in consequence of the great display of scenery and machinery . . . it will constitute the entire" evening's entertainment, scenery by Grain and Jones, Watkins Burroughs played Red Rover, H. Wallack Dick Fid, Scott Scipio, Peter Richings Wilder, Mrs. Walstein Madame de Lacy, Mrs. Sandford Gertrude, and Miss Eberle Roderick, p. 351-352; The Red Rover was revived on January 2, 1829 with William Duffy as Red Rover, Laidley was Wilder, J. M. Scott (the manager) Scipio, Mrs. Greene Mrs Wyllis, and Mrs. Talbot Gertrude at the Lafayette Theatre, p. 422]
- Ireland, Joseph N., Vol. I. [lists cast for a May 1, 1828 production, p. 550; and a May 26, 1828 production, p. 583]
- Booth, Michael R., Southern, Richard, Marker, Frederick & Lise-Lone, & Davies, Robertson, Vol VI 1750-1880, p. 217-218. [Edward Fitzball's "The Red Rover" played at the Adelphi Theatre 1828]
- New-York Mirror and Ladies' Literary Gazette, "Park Theatre," V, 44
(Saturday, May 10, 1828), p. 351. ["Cooper's `Glorious Tale of the Sea,' as one of the leading London periodicals terms the Red Rover, is likely to have a successful run. It is skillfully dramatized, and has been produced in fine style.... The scene, in particular, where the gallant bark of the Red Rover bears down upon the boat, is as fine a scenic illusion, and ns (is) cleverly an executed ,mechanical manoeuvre, as we ever witnessed within the walls of a theatre.... there is some fine acting in it, particularly Hilson's Richard Fid, Messrs. Simpson and Barry, the former as the Rover and the latter as Lieutenant Wilder, acted with great spirit and discrimination. .... Mr. Povey, who as Sib, "the nigger," made a "gigantic stride in his profession." ... It is one of Mr. P.'s most felicitous performances."]
- ____________________, V, 47 (May 31, 1828), p. 375. [The nautical drama of the Red Rover, taken from Mr. Cooper's novel of that name, has been produced at the Lafayette theatre, in a very superior manner. The cast is strong, and the scenery exceedingly beautiful. The panoramic views alone are worth the
price of admission."]
- Brown, T. Allston, p. 35. [Thomas Abthorpe Cooper played in "Red Rover" at the Park Theatre on May 1, 1828]
- Nicoll, Allardyce, Vol. IV, p. 313. ["The Red Rover; or, The Mutiny of the Dolphin" was licenced by the Lord Chamberlain February 14, 1829 and played at the Adelphi Theatre February 9, 1829]
- Times [London] (February 9, 1829). [announcement of first production of Fitzball's "Red Rover"]
- ____________________, Review of Fitzball's "Red Rover" (February 10, 1829). ["...the chief merit is made to consist in the scenery, and all the bustle and noise of an animated melodrama..."]
- ____________________, Review of Weaver's "The Red Rover; or, The Mutiny of the Caroline (February 23, 1829). [announcement of first production]
- ____________________John Bull, IX, 41 (February 8, 1829). [ad for
Fitzball's "Red Rover"]
- ____________________, IX, 49 (February 15, 1829). [announcement of Weaver's adaptation of "The Red Rover" at Sadler's Wells Theatre for February 23rd]
- ____________________, IX, 57 (February 22, 1829). [play postponed to March 2nd because of the "very extensive machinery need for the production"]
- ____________________, IX, 65 (March 1, 1829). [play promised for the 2nd]
- ____________________, IX, 73 (March 8, 1829). [play would be "continued until further notice"]
- London Weekly Review, Review, "The Red Rover" [dramatization], III
(February 21, 1829), pp. 124-125. [thought the play a complete success; "so well known" that it didn't need to be summarized; produced at the Adelphi Theatre, London]
- Brown, Eluned, p. 127. [Adelphi Theatre performance on March 17, 1829: Mr. Yates: "He looked the bold pirate to perfection and his powers of mimicry made him an excellent performer of characters in disguise otherwise errant trash"] Daily Cincinnati Gazette, Announcement of "Grand Melo Dramatic Marine Spectacle, The Red Rover" (November 20, 21, 23, 25 and December 19, 1829). ["dramatized by a gentleman of this city"]
- Odell, George C. D., Vol. IV (1834-1843). ["The Red Rover" was revived as a second piece at the Franklin Theatre with William Sefton as the Red Rover on September 18 & 23 1837, p. 238; it was produced at the Chatham Theatre on August 10, 1840, p. 391]
- Odell, George C. D., Vol. V (1843-1850). ["Red Rover" was presented at the Bowery Theatre, November, 1843, p. 22; "Red Rover" was presented on New Years Eve, 1845 at the Chatham Theatre, p. 197]
- Wilson, Arthur H., p. 465. ["The Red Rover, or, The Meeting of the Dolphin" by S. H. Chapman played at the National Theatre on Monday, July 26, 1852]
- Odell, George C. D., Vol. VII (1857-1865), p. 407. ["Red Rover" played at the New Bowery Theatre in early April, 1862]
- Odell, George C. D., Vol. VIII (1865-1870), p. 663. ["The Red Rover" played at the Brooklyn Theatre on April 16, 1870] Rees, James, p. 138. [Francis C. Wemyss wrote "Red Rover" which played at Pittsburgh, PA (actually Wemyss had asked Samuel H. Chapman to write the adaption for which he paid Chapman $20.00 for every night the play was acted)]
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"The Indian Girl"
- Odell, George C. D., Vol. IV (1834-1843). ["The Indian Girl (Wept of Wish-ton Wish)" was produced with the ever popular Mlle. Celine Celeste at the National Theatre on October 7, 1838, p. 292]
"Miantonimoh"
- Davis, Blanche Elizabeth, p. 170. ["Miantonomoh" by an anonymous author played in New York City in 1830]
- Quinn, Arthur Hobson, p. 464. [Anonymous: "Miantonimoh" (dramatization of Wept of Wish-Ton-Wish) played at the Bowery Theatre, November 12, 1830]
Smither, Nelle, p. 87. ["Another native play ... was presented February 5
(1831) with the author in the role of Matacom, a Wampanoag Chief. According to an announcement which appeared in the Louisiana Advertiser on January 18, this play had been introduced in Richmond and was not the Miantonimoh which had been given in New York."]
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"Narramattah; or, The Lost Found"
- Brown, T. Allston, p. 38. ["Narramattah" played at the Park Theatre on April 15, 1830]
- Ireland, Joseph N., Vol. I, p. 625. [January 15, 1830 saw Simpson as
Conanchet, Barry as Metacom, Chapman as Heathcot, Placide as Dr. Ergot, Mrs. Hackett as Mrs. Heathcot, Mrs. Wheatley as Faith, and Mrs. Sharpe as
Narramattah]
"The Wept of Wish-Ton-Wish"
- Wemyss, Francis Courtney, Chapter XXVIII, p. 214. [Celeste played in the "Wept of the Wish-ton-wish" on December 22 at the Chesnut Street Theatre]
- Odell, George C. D., Vol. III (1821-1834). [the brilliant Augustus A.
Addams appeared as Conanchet and Mrs. Hamblin as Naramattah (also spelled
Narramattah) in the melodrama "Miantonimoh, or, the Wept of Wish-ton-Wish"
produced November 12, 1830 with the 7th performance on November 20th, entire cast listing, p. 518, a renewed run began December 3, 1830, at the Bowery Theatre, p. 519, and again on January 7, 1831 (although it was winter and the Bowery was almost in the country: Canal & Elizabeth Streets), p. 520]
- Durham, Weldon B., p. 115. [Thomas Sowerby Hamblin "started the practice of long continuous runs of a week's to a month's duration ... for successful spectacular melodramas, including, between 1830 and 1836, "Miantonimah; or, The Wept of Wish-Ton-Wish;" ... "The Water Witch"..."] Quinn, Arthur Hobson, p. 464. [Anonymous: "The Wept of Wish-ton-Wish" played at the Bowery Theatre
November 12, 1830]
- James, Reese D., p. 478. ["The Wept of Wish-ton-Wish" played in
Philadelphia April 18, 19, 20, 1831 with Mrs. Duff as Narrah Mattah; Adams as Conauchet; May 23, 1831 with same leads in "Miantonimoh"]
- Booth, Michael R., Southern, Richard, Marker, Frederick & Lise-Lone, & Davies, Robertson, Vol VI 1750-1880, p. 222. [W. B. Bernard's "The Wept of Wish-Ton Wish" played at the Adelphi in 1831]
- Literary Gazette and Journal of Belles Lettres, Arts, Sciences, Etc.,
Review, 775 (Saturday November 26, 1831), p. 764. ["A piece called the "Wept of the Wish - ton - wish" was produced at this theatre on Monday, for the purpose of introducing Mlle. Celeste to an Adelphi audience....Celeste is a fine-looking creature, with magnificent eyes and teeth. Her acting was very effective throughout... We do not remember to have seen a finer piece of acting (in dumb show) than the deaths of the Chief and Hope in the last scene. The author, Mr. Barnard complains that his drama has suffered much in effect and intelligibility by being cut down from a full piece to an interlude."]
- Nicoll, Allardyce, Vol. IV, pp. 265. ["The Wept of Wish-Ton-Wish" a
burletta by William Bayle Bernard was licensed by the Lord Chamberlain on
November 12, 1831; produced in London November 21, 1831 at the Adelphi Theatre and March 1, 1832 at the Royal Coburg Theatre; No. 546 of Dicks' Standard Plays]
- Athenaeum, Review of dramatization ["The Wept of Wish-ton-wish" at the
Adelphi Theatre, London], IV (December 3, 1831), p. 788. ["The story may have been clearly told in the book, but in that case the dramatist has got into a terrible tangle in winding it off."] Hamblin, Thomas S., Producer, "The Wept of Wish-Ton-Wish," Dramatization, Bowery Theatre, NY, Fall, 1834.
- Mayorga, Margaret G., p. 144. ["... Cooper's The Wept of the Wish-ton-Wish, which was dramatized by an unknown author (1834). "The two act play which evolved is remarkable for some excellent psychology of character; psychology, in fact, which was considerably in advance of popular dramatic usage."]
- Quinn, Arthur Hobson, p. 494. [Anonymous: "The Wept of Wish-Ton-Wish,"
Played at the Bowery Theatre December 1, 1834] Ireland, Joseph N., Vol. II, p.
120. [Celeste played in the "Wept" December 1, 1834; lists cast]
- James, Reese D., p. 628. ["The Wept of Wish-ton-Wish" played in
Philadelphia December 25, 26, 27, 1834 with Celeste as Hope Gough and as
Maramattah; receipts: on the 25th - $600; 26th - $340; and on the 27th - $560 (Celeste's benefit)]
- Brown, T. Allston, Vol. I, p. 113. [Celeste played in "Wept of the Wish-ton-Wish" at the Bowery Theatre on December 1, 1836; and Mme. took a benefit October 17, 1836 at the National Theatre, p. 242] Sherman, Robert L., p. 584. ["Wept of the Eishton Wist" (probably a typo) by an unidentified author played in NY in 1834 with Mlle. Celeste in the lead]
- New-York Mirror, and Ladies' Literary Gazette, "Notices of the Drama," 102 (Saturday December 6, 1834). [Celeste in "The Wept of the Wish-ton-wish:" "Her characters in each of these (3 plays) are silent... we have never seen any thing upon the New-York stage to equal Celeste. ... her profits will not fall short of ten thousand dollars for a month's performance."]
- Mlle. Celeste, having returned from Europe "a most extraordinary
pantomimist and one of the most graceful dancers" . . . she presented numerous melodramas of which The Wept of Wish-ton-Wish was one of the great successes. She gave "La Sylphide" for the first time in America on April 15, 1835. Unable to speak American, she played her earlier roles in pantomime.
- Wilson, Arthur H., p. 664. ["The Wept of Wish-ton-Wish, or, The Indian
Girl" played at the Arch Street Theatre on March 18, 19, 20, 27 1835; March 31 and April 1, 8, 1836; July 8, 1837; August 24, 25, 1847; July 19, 20, 1847 and at the Chestnut Street Theatre on June 8, 12, 20, November 6, 7, 13, 21, 1835; June 22, 23, September 12, 14, and December 7-9, 1836; October 29, 30 and December 4, 10, 1838; August 27, 30, 1839; January 6, 8, February 13, 1840; October 26, 28, 1842; February 6, 7, 1850; February 2, 3, 5, 1853 and at the Walnut Street theatre on July 6, 18, 19, 1844; July 12, 13, 1848; November 26, 27, 1851; May 14, 1852; June 16, 1853]
- Odell, George C. D., Vol. IV (1834-1843). ["The Wept of Wish-ton-Wish" was Celeste's third offering: Celeste played Hope Gough, the Puritan's daughter, and Naramattah, the Wept of Wish-ton-Wish, W. F. Gates played Satisfaction Skunk, Alexander Pickering as Maj. Gough, McClure as Fearnought Langton, Stickney as Ezekiel Davis, Mrs. Stevenson as Abundance, David Ingersoll as Conanchet, and Mrs. Flynn as Faith at the Bowery Theatre on December 1, 1834, p. 29, 30; and again in January, 1835, pp. 29-31; for the last of her many benefits she again appeared in scenes from the show on May 1, 1835, p. 33; Celeste returned September 25, 1835 and played the Wept with two other attractions until October 4th, p. 73; she returned with her third most popular presentation April 22, 1836, p. 82; Celeste played "The Wept of Wish-ton-Wish" at the National Theatre during September 1836, p. 137; again with C. R. Thorne playing Conanchet on October 22-24, 1836 and as a benefit for Miss Watson on November 8, p. 140; Celeste returned to the Park Theatre on December 16, 1839 for two weeks with the play in her repertoire, p. 349; Celeste returned to the
Bowery Theatre September 9-23, 1839 with the play, p. 364; She played in The Wept of Wish-ton-Wish for her final appearance at the Chatham Theatre on June 1, 1840, p. 388; Celeste returned to the Bowery Theatre and played Naramattah with J. M. Wallack, Jr. as Conanchet, Lewis as Uncas, J. M. Scott as Gough, W. F. Gates as Satisfaction Skunk, and Mrs. Herring as Faith during her second week beginning October 3, 1842, p. 626]
- Smither, Nelle, p. 372. ["The Wept of Wish-ton-Wish" a burletta by W. B. Bernard was presented at the St. Charles Theatre December 24, 25, 26, 28, 29, 1835; January 2, February 11, 13, 1836; March 10, 11, 13, 1837; March 11, 12, 20, 30, April 23, 1839; and May 1, 1840]
- Brown, T. Allston, Vol. I, p. 249. ["The Wept of Wish-ton-wish" played at the National Theatre January 21, 1839]
- Carson, William G. B., 1965, [St. Louis, May 24-25, 1838: Celeste played Narramattah]
- ____________________, 1965, p. 284. [Madame Celeste devoted two evenings of her 12 performances at the St. Louis Theatre to "The Wept of Wish-ton-Wish" in the first weeks of June, 1839]
- George C. D., Vol. V (1843-1850). [Benedict de Bar appeared as Conanchet in "The Wept of Wish-ton-Wish" on April 8, 1844 the Bowery Theatre [he also played Long Tom Coffin in The Pilot the same night], p. 25; Wyzeman Marshall played Virginius with Miss H. Vallee as Naramattah July 12, 1847 at the Bowery Theatre, p. 274; Benedict de Bar played Skunk with Miss Vallee as Naramattah November 5, 1847 at the Chatham Theatre, p. 359; Mrs. H. Lewis (the male impersonatrix) starred in "The Wept of Wish-ton-Wish", in June, 1850 at Chanfrau's New National Theatre (formerly the Chatham), p. 550]
- Hoole, William Stanley, pp. 124, 149, 150. [first performance of "Wept of Wish ton-Wish" at the Charleston Theatre was on November 16, 1846 and was repeated on November 20, 1846. Maggie Mitchell appeared in the role of
Narramattah on December 28, 1858 and on January 5, 1859]
- Moody, Richard, p. 104. ["One of the first of the few Indian plays brought out in the fifties was a two-act dramatization ..." "First produced in 1851, the play seems to have had some moderate degree of success and provided a strikingly faithful stage presentation of the events and characters of Cooper's novel"]
- Brown, T. Allston, Vol. I, p. 439. ["Wept of the Wish-ton-wish" was revived November 22, 1856 at the Chatham Theatre with J. H. Allen as Connanchet, Charles Warwich as Uncas, D. Oakley as Heathcoat, and Miss Hathaway as Narramatta; Maggie Mitchell played Narramattah on August 10, 1857 at Tripler Hall]
- Odell, George C. D., Vol. VI (1850-1857), p. 113; [Mlle. Celeste appeared in "The Wept of Wish-ton-Wish" (one of "her old favourites") in November, 1851 at the Broadway Theater, p. 113 and in June, 1852 at the Broadway Theater, p.120; Mrs. Barney Williams was seen as Naramattah on January 30, 1852 at the National Theatre, p. 142; Miss Vallee (Mrs. De Bar) played Naramattah and Benedict De Bar played Skunk September 29, 1853 at the Bowery Theatre, p. 304; The Wept was played again in January, 1855, p. 368; it played in January, 1856 at the National Theatre ("a stale January"), p. 466; Maggie Mitchell ("a reigning favorite") played Naramattah, August 10, 1857 at Burton's New Theatre (formerly the Metropolitan on Broadway opposite Bond St.), p. 529. ]
- Brown, T. Allston, Vol. I, p. 452. [Senorita Isabel Cubas' first attempt at a speaking part was as Narramatta when she had one word ("Father") to exclaim as the curtain fell. She managed to say "Farder."]
- Brown, T. Allston, Vol. II, p. 191. [Helen Western played Naramattah at the New Bowery Theatre February 18, 1860]
- Schoberlin, Melvin, p. 132. ["Probably most successful [play of the winter season 1864] of all was Wept of the Wish-ton-Wish." Second Lt. Harry Richmond, who returned with the ill-famed Third Colorado Calvary on Dec. 22nd, appeared as the leading man. Richmond probably wore the splendid war bonnet of Chief White Antelope which he had brought home with him. The play ran 3 nights to "jammed houses"]
- Daily Rocky Mountain News (December 28, 1864). ["The great Indian drama will be presented tonight at the Denver Theatre, with the new and splendid Indian costumes taken (as plunder) in the big battle of Sand Creek."]
- Odell, George C. D., Vol. VII (1857-1865). [Miss St. Clair played in "The Wept of Wish-ton-Wish" at the Bowery Theatre on November 20, 1857, p. 41; Annie Hathaway appeared as Naramattah at the National Theatre on October 12, 1857, p. 47; Miss Louise Wells added pantomimically The Wept as a second piece at the Bowery Theatre on February 10, 1859, p. 232; Charlotte Crampton and Susan Denin played at the Bowery in the last weeks of May, 1859, p. 235; it played again at the New Bowery Theatre in February 1860, p. 241; and at the Bowery the last of May 1862, p. 402; Senorita Isabella Cubas appeared at the Winter Garden on January 26, 1863, p. 478; Isabella Cubas and George C. Boniface were seen in the play at the Academy of Music, Brooklyn on May 11, 1863, p. 534; Fanny Herring revived the play as a second piece with "Vamp, the Fireman's Dog" at the Old Bowery on December 30, 1863, p. 566; Leo Hudson played Naramattah and Boniface was Conanchet at the New Bowery on December 4, 1863, p. 570; Fanny Herring appeared at the Park Theatre, Brooklyn on February 16, 1864, p. 615; Miss Leo Hudson appeared at the New Bowery Theatre on
January 16, 1865, p. 660]
- Brown, T. Allston, Vol. II. ["The Wept of the Wish-ton-wish" played
November 17, 1864 at the Academy of Music, p. 48; Leo Hudson acted Narramattah in "Wept of the Wish-ton-wish" and George Davenport made his first appearance at the New Bowery Theatre as Content Heathcote on December 4, 1864, p. 205]
- Kendall, John S. [the performance of "The Wept of Wish-ton- Wish" at the St. Charles Theater, in 1838, was denounced as unworthy of attention;
Clementine DeBar's singing was the only commendable feature of the play, p. 124; in the 1866-1867 season, Marie Zoë playing both Henry de Lacy and
Lavengro in "Narzamattah, The Indian Girl," p. 511]
- Odell, George C. D., Vol. VIII (1865-1870). [Marie Zoe played in "The Wept of Wish-ton-Wish" at the Academy of Music, Brooklyn on February 14, 1866, p. 107; Miss Fanny Herring appeared at the Bowery Theatre on February 18, 1867, p. 172; (" A succession of classic or at least famous plays must have delighted many Brooklyn hearts:") at the Park Theatre (Brooklyn) the last of May, 1867, p. 243; Fanny Herring appeared at Seaver's Opera House, Williamsburgh on June 5, 1867, p. 258; Mlle. Ravel appeared as Naramattah at The Bowery Theatre on June 27, 1868, p. 313; Brooklyn Opera House (formerly Seaver's and then Edward's) on October 9, 1867, p. 400; Brooklyn Opera House on March 3, 1868, p. 403; Marie Zoe, the "Cuban Sylph" recreated Celeste's role at the Bowery Theatre the last of February, 1869, p. 448; Miss Kate Raymond mimed The Wept of Wish-ton-Wish at the Olympic Theatre, Brooklyn on December 1, 1869, p. 673]
- Durham, Weldon B., p. 118. ["The Wept of Wish-Ton-Wish" continued to play at the Bowery Theatre under the direction of George L. Fox until May, 1867 when W. B. Freligh replaced Fox. In the summer the theater was sold at auction]
- Sherman, Robert L., 1947. [McVickers Theater, Chicago, Il, February 17, 1868: Mlle. Zoe in the "Wept of Wish-ton-Wish"]
- Odell, George C. D., Vol. IX (1870-1875). [Fanny Herring revived the "very old" play at Tony Pastor's Theater (Bouwerie) on July 3, 1871, p. 80; the three Watson Brothers, Little Josie, Miss Raymond and James Collins appeared in "The Wept of Wish-ton-Wish" at the Olympic Theatre, Brooklyn on January 16, 1871, p. 113; it played at the Olympic Theatre on April 20, 1872, p. 228; Marie Zoe appeared with Harry Sinclair as Conanchet, Thomas Jackson as Maj. Gough, and Lizzie Kelsey as Faith at the Metropolitan Theatre (585 Broadway; formerly White's Athenaeum) on March 2, 1874, p. 468]
- Tompkins, Eugene and Kilby, Quincy, p. 185. [Mlle. Zoe was seen in "The
Wept of Wish-ton-Wish" on May 18, 1872]
- Odell, George C. D., Vol. X (1875-1879), p. 654. [Mollie Williams ("sunk
from the Bowery Theatre") played "The Wept of Wish-ton-Wish" at the
Volksgarten on November 25-30, 1878]
- Fishman, Josephine, pp. 92-97. [lists performances of "The Wept of the Wish
Ton Wish" from February, 1831 to November, 1878]
Return to Table of Contents
Return to Table of Contents
- Phillips, Jonas B. "The Pathfinder; or, The Inland Sea," played at the
Bowery Theatre April 1840.
- Davis, Blanche Elizabeth, p. 43. ["the silent guide of the wilderness... is
the hero..." "a stirring dramatization of Cooper's novel which appeared in
1840."]
Return to Table of Contents
- Odell, George C. D., Vol. IV (1834-1843). ["The Deerslayer" was revived
with T. McCutcheon as Chingachook, William Hield as the Deerslayer, W. F.
Gates as Timothy Twintail, Mrs. Kerr-Hunt as Hetty Hutter, Miss Clarke as
Wat-a-Wah, and Mrs. Hield as Judith on September 23, 1841 at the Bowery
Theatre, p. 548]
- Quinn, Arthur Hobson, p. 440. ["The Deerslayer" by an anonymous author
played at the Bowery Theatre on September 23, 1841]
- Davis, Blanche Elizabeth, p. 169. ["The Deerslayer" by an anonymous author
played in New York City in 1841]
- Ireland, Joseph N., Vol. II, p. 375. [noted a performance of "The
Deerslayer"]
Return to Table of Contents
- Odell, George C. D., Vol. IV (1834-1843), p. 641. ["Wing and Wing", was offered as one of 23 plays (given in groups of three or four) at the Chatham Theatre between December 16 & 25, 1842]
Return to Table of Contents
Return to Table of Contents
- Adkins, Nelson F. Fitz-Greene Halleck Early Knickerbocker Wit and Poet. New
Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1930, 141-142, 417-418. [Halleck wrote a song
in 1822 beginning, "The harp of love..." for Charles P. Clinch's drama, "The
Spy." "Clinch was a friend of Halleck, and undoubtedly requested the poet to
write this lyric as an added distinction for his new drama. The lyric was sung
by Miss Johnson in the role of Frances."]
- Allen, Paul Hastings. "L'Ultimo dei Moicani [Last of the Mohicans]," Italian
vocal score and pianoforte, tragedia lirica in tre atti [lyric tragedy in three
acts], 52 pages, by Carlo Zangarini. Milano, Italy and New-York: G. Ricordi
& Company, 1916. [music by Paul H. Allen]
Return to Table of Contents
- American Quarterly Review, "American Drama," 1 (June, 1827), pp. 331-357.
[discusses Precaution, Pioneers, and The Spy ; parallels Cooper's and drama
writer's choosing of subjects and their treatment of them for success; pleaded
for a national drama]
- Ancelot, Jacques-Arsene-Polycarpe-Francois and Mazéres, Edouard-Joseph
Ennemond. "L'Espion, Drame en Cinq Actes et en Prose [The Spy, Drama in Five
Acts and in Prose]," Paris, 1829.
- Anicet-Bourgeois, Auguste, "La Vénitienne, drame en cinq actes et en huit
tableaux, par M. Anicet-Bourgeois, représenté pour la première fois sur le
théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin, le mardi 18 mars 1834 [The Venetian, drama in
five acts and eight scenes by Mr. Anicet-Bourgeois, performed for the first time
in the theater of Saint Martin's Gate Tuesday 18 March 1834]" 32 pages, Paris,
France: Marchant, 1834. [Paris: J. N. Barba, 1834, dedicated to Alexandre Dumas]
One microopaque (8 x 13 cm.), Louisville, KY, Falls City Microcards. [play based
on The Bravo]
- Les Annales de la Litterature et des Arts, XXXIII, 381-384 (December, 1828).
[review of Ancelot's "L'Espion (The Spy)"]
- Anonymous. "Miantonimoh; or, The Wept of Wish-Ton-Wish," 1830.
[dramatization] in Jones, Eugene H. Native Americans as Shown on the Stage
1753-1916. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1988, p. 60.
- Anonymous. "Naramattah; or, The Lost Found," 1830. [dramatization] in Jones,
Eugene H. Native Americans as Shown on the Stage 1753-1916. Metuchen, NJ:
Scarecrow Press, 1988, p. 70.
- Anonymous, "Leatherstocking; or, The Last of the Mohicans," seven pages. New
York: Cushing & Bardua, 183? [program and resume, given at Niblo's Garden]
- Anonymous. "Miantonimoh," 1831. [dramatization] in Jones, Eugene H. Native
Americans as Shown on the Stage 1753-1916. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1988,
p. 60.
- Anonymous. "Miantonimoh and Naramattah." 1840. [dramatization] in Jones,
Eugene H. Native Americans as Shown on the Stage 1753-1916. Metuchen, NJ:
Scarecrow Press, 1988, p. 60.
- Anonymous. "The Last of the Mohicans," a tragedy in five acts, founded on the
novel of that name, by J. F. Cooper, 52 pages. Sheffield, England: John Blurton,
1842.
- Anonymous. "The Last of the Mohicans: an Indian drama in 4 acts," 107 pages.
Based on the novel of the same title by James Fenimore Cooper, 1849?. Microfiche
of manuscript in the New York Public Library. [promptbook]
- Anonymous. "The Wept of The Wish-Ton-Wish," 1850. [dramatization] in Jones,
Eugene H. Native Americans as Shown on the Stage 1753-1916. Metuchen, NJ:
Scarecrow Press, 1988, p. 60.
- Anonymous. "The Wept of Wish-Ton-Wish" A Drama in Two Acts. From J. Fenimore
Cooper's Celebrated Novel of the Same Name. French's Standard Drama, No. CLIV.
New York: Samuel French, n. d. (185?). [26 page promptbook with ms. notes]
- Arditi, Luigi. "La Spia [The Spy], A Grand Opera in Three Acts," with
libretto founded on Cooper's great romance by Filippo Manetta, 26 pages. New
York: J. Darcie, 1856. [in Italian and English]
Return to Table of Contents
- Baker, H. Barton. History of the London Stage and its Famous Players (1576
1903). New York: Benjamin Blom, 1904, 1969, pp. 420-422.
- Balzac, Honoré de. Letters à l'étrangère, 1899-1906, 4 vols. Paris, Calmann
Levy, 1899. [letter dated November 16, 1843]
- Barzun, Jacques. Berlioz and the Romantic Century, 2 Vols. New York: Columbia
University Press, 1969, Vol. 2, pp. 49-50.
- Bates, Alfred, ed. American Drama. "The Drama," London: Athenian Society, 22
Vols., 1903-04, Vols. XIX & XX; New York: Smart and Stanley, 1903, Vol. XIX,
pp. 265-298, Historical Publishing Company, two vols. in one, 1909, New York:
AMS Press, 2 Vols., 1970. [complete dramatization of unknown author's The Wept
of Wish-ton-Wish]
- Beard, James Franklin, ed. Letters and Journals of James Fenimore Cooper, 6
Vols., [1800-1851]. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press,
1960-1968, Vol. 6, pp. 163-167, 172-173, 178, 182, 184, 186, 188, 190 191,
192-194, 197-199.
- Beaumont, Cyril W. "Jean Coralli, " in Beaumont, C. W. Complete Book of
Ballets A Guide to the Principal Ballets of the Nineteenth and Twentieth
Centuries. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1938, pp. 113-148.
- Berger, William. "Paul Jones a Drama in Five Acts," 89 pages, Philadelphia,
PA: T. K. & P. G. Collins, 1839. [translated and adapted from the French of
Alexander Dumas' "Le Capitaine Paul"]
- Bergquist, G. William. Three Centuries of English and American Plays: A
Checklist England: 1500-1800, United States: 1714-1830. New York: Hafner, 1963,
p. 216 [Chapman's "Red Rover"], p. 268 [Wallack's "Paul Jones"].
- Bernard, William Bayle. "The Wept of Wish-ton-Wish, adapted to the stage from
J. Fenimore Cooper's celebrated novel of the "Borderers," 13 pages, Dicks'
Standard Plays, Vol. 546, London: John Dicks, 183-. [first performed at the
Adelphi Theatre, November 21st, 1831]
- ____________________, "The Wept of the Wish-ton-wish, a drama in two acts
from J. Fenimore Cooper's celebrated novel of the same name," 26 pages, French's
Standard Drama, the acting edition, Vol. 154, "To which are added, a description
of the costume, cast of the characters, entrances and exits, relative positions
of the performers on the stage, and the whole of the stage business." New York:
S. French, 1856?. Microopaque. New York: Readex Microprint, 1974. [prompt-book
with ms. notes]
- Booth, Michael R., Southern, Richard, Marker, Frederick & Lise-Lone,
& Davies, Robertson. The Revels History of Drama in English, 8 Vols. London:
Methuen, 1975, Vol VI 1750-1880, pp. 217-218, 222.
- Boston Public Library. A Catalog of the Allen A. Brown Collection of Books
Relating to the Stage in the Public Library. Boston, MA: The Trustees, 1919.
- Boynton, Henry Walcott. James Fenimore Cooper. New York: Century, 1931, pp.
126-130, 381-382.
- Brentano, Joseph P. "The Spy, A Dramatization of J. Fenimore Cooper's Novel,"
3 acts, Brooten, MN: Catholic Dramatic Company, 1925.
- Brown, Eluned, ed. The London Theatre 1811-1866 Selections from the Diary of
Henry Crabb Robinson. London: The Society for Theatre Research, 1966, pp. 119,
127, 145.
- Brown, Thomas Allston. A History of the New York Stage From the First
Performance in 1732 to 1901, 3 Vols. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1902-1903, Benjamin
Blom, 1964.
- Bryant, William Cullen. The family library of poetry and songs; being choice
selections from the best poets, English, Scottish, Irish, and American;
including translations from ancient and modern languages/ edited by William
Cullen Bryant; with an introducing treatise by the editor on the "Poets and
poetry of the English language;" revised and enlarged by the addition of poems
and classified poetical quotations; also containing The Biographical Memoir of
Bryant, by James Grant Wilson; with indexes, illustrations, and autographic
facsimiles. New York: J. B. Ford, 1870, Fords, Howard and Hulbert, 1878, 1880,
pp. 626-627. [poem by JFC "My Brigantine" from "The Water Witch"]
- Burnand, Francis Cowley. "An Entirely New and Original Burlesque, Being the
Very Latest Edition of A Nautical Tradition Told by one of the Floating
Population to the Marines Who Entitled it `The Red Rover'; Or, I Believe You, My
Buoy!" London: Aubert's Steam Printing Works, n. d. [presented at the Strand
Theatre on December 26, 1877]
- Burton, William Evans., ed. "Socialism. A Scene from a Comedy. By J. Fenimore
Cooper. 1849," in Burton, W. E. Cyclopaedia of Wit and Humor: Containing Choice
and Characteristic Selections from the Writings of the Most Eminent Humorist of
America, Ireland, Scotland, and England, 2 Vols. New York: D. Appleton and
Company, 1858, Vol. I, pp. 297-299. [dialogue from the first act of "Upside
Down" and an illustration of a scene]
Return to Table of Contents
- Carson, William Glasgow Bruce. The Theatre on the Frontier: The Early Years
of the St. Louis Stage, 2nd ed. New York: Benjamin Blom, 1965, p. 284. Chicago,
IL: University of Chicago Press, 1932.
- ____________________, Managers in Distress, the St. Louis Stage, 1840 1844.
St. Louis, MO: St. Louis Historical Documents Foundation, Monograph Series, No.
1, 1949.
- Caverly, Robert Boodey. "Miantonimoh an Historical Drama, Years 1637 1649,"
Boston, MA: R. B. Caverly, 1884. [a closet drama (to be read not played) based
on The Wept of Wish-ton-Wish; Jones, E. H., p. 60]
- Chapman, Samuel Henry. "The Red Rover: a drama in three acts, founded on the
popular novel by J. F. Cooper, Esq. as performed at the London theatres," 52
pages. Philadelphia, PA: F. Turner, 1828? [typewritten copy of the original in
Brown University Library, copies in the Widener Library (Harvard) and the Yale
Libraries] Microfiche, New Canaan, CT: Readex, 1989]
- ____________________ "The Red Rover," Philadelphia, PA: F. Turner, 1828.
University of Chicago Library. [Chapman is listed in the "Dramatis Personae" as
"The Rover"]
- Chicorel, Marietta, ed. Chicorel Theater Index to Plays in Anthologies,
Periodical, Discs and Tapes. New York: Chicorel Library Publishing, 1971, p.
371. ["The Spy" by Clinch]
- ____________________ Chicorel Theater Index to Plays for Young People in
Periodicals, Anthologies, and Collections, 15 Vols. New York: Chicorel Library
Publishing, 1974, Vol. 9, p. 383. ["The Spy" adapted by Augusta Stevenson]
- Clapp, William Warland, Jr. A Record of the Boston Stage. Boston, MA: James
Munroe, 1853, New York: B. Blom, 1968, New York: Johnson Reprint Corporation,
1968. [the pages of this book were originally published in The Boston Evening
Gazette of which W. W. Clapp, Jr. was editor]
- Clarence, Reginald, compiler. "The Stage" Cyclopaedia: a bibliography of
plays; an alphabetical list of plays and other stage pieces of which any record
can be found since the commencement of the English stage; together with
descriptions, authors' names, dates and places of production, and other useful
information comprising in all nearly 50,000 plays, and extending over a period
of upwards of 500 years, London: "The Stage", 1909.
- Clark, Barrett H., ed. America's Lost Plays, 20 Vols. Bloomington, IN:
Indiana University Press, 1963, 1969.
- Clinch, Charles Powell. "The Spy, A Tale of Neutral Ground (from the novel of
that name)," A Dramatic Romance in Three Acts, 1822. Manuscripts and Archives
Division, New York Public Library. [manuscript/promptbook (does not include
Halleck's song written for the play)]
- ____________________, "The Spy, a Tale of the Neutral Ground, by C. P.
Clinch." in Page, Eugene Richard, ed, Vol. XIV, Metamora and other Plays,
America's Lost Plays, 20 Vols. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1941.
- Coad, Oral Sumner, ed. False Shame and Thirty Years, Two Plays by William
Dunlap. America's Lost Plays, Vol. II, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University
Press, 1940, p. xiv. [list of plays by William Dunlap include "A Trip to
Niagara; or, Travellers in America" "Acted November 28, 1828; published 1830"]
- Conner, Wayne. "Balzac et Cooper: `Un Sujet Anglais' [Balzac and Cooper; An
English theme or subject]," L'Annee Balzacienne, 1962, pp. 195-196. [A projected
dramatic adaptation of Red Rover]
- Connor, Billie M. and Mochedlover, Helene G. Ottemiller's Index to Plays in
Collections an author and title index to plays appearing in collections
published between 1900 and 1985, 7th Ed. Metuchen, NJ: The Scarecrow Press,
1988, p. 24. [Anonymous, "Wept of the Wish-ton-wish"]
- Le Constitutionnel (December 8, 1828). [review of Halévy's "L'Espion (The
Spy)"]
- _____________ (December 15, 1828). [review of Ancelot's "L'Espion (The Spy)"]
- Cooper, James Fenimore. Gleanings in Europe: France. Edited by Robert E.
Spiller, New York: Oxford University Press, 1928, Vol. 1., pp. 50, 51, 252-255.
- ____________________, Gleanings in Europe: England. Philadelphia, PA: Carey,
Lea, and Blanchard, 1837, Spiller, Robert E., ed. Ibid, New York: Oxford Press,
1930, Vol. 2, "On Stage and Off," pp. 340-351. [letter to Dr. James E. DeKay
from London].
- ____________________ Gleanings in Europe: England. Historical introduction
and explanatory notes by Donald A. Ringe and Kenneth W. Staggs. Text established
by James P. Elliott, Kenneth W. Staggs and R. D. Madison. Albany, NY: State
University of New York Press, 1982, pp. 29, 266-268.
- ____________________ Gleanings in Europe: France. Historical Introduction and
explanatory notes by Thomas Philbrick, Test established by Thomas Philbrick and
Constance Ayers Denne, Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1983, pp.
38-39, 182, 184 (English theatre), 181-185 (French theatre).
- ____________________ Gleanings in Europe: Italy. Historical introduction and
explanatory notes by John Conron and Constance Ayers Denne, Text established by
Constance Ayers Denne. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1981, pp.
24-26, 75-76.
- ____________________ Notions of the Americans Picked Up by a Travelling
Bachelor, 2 Vols. New York: Frederick Ungar, 1963, Vol. II, pp. 112-114, 149.
- Cooper, J. Fenimore. "Upside Down; or, Philosophy in Petticoats," played at
Burton's Chambers St. Theatre, NY June 18 - 21, 1850. [script not yet found]
- Cooper, Susan Fenimore. Pages and Pictures, from the Writing of James
Fenimore Cooper with Notes by Susan Fenimore Cooper. NY: James Miller, 1865.
- ____________________ Introduction to Cooper, J. F. The Pioneers or The
Sources of the Susquehanna A Descriptive Tale. Boston and New York: Houghton
Mifflin, 1898.
- Cooper, James Fenimore, ed. [Cooper's grandson]. Correspondence of James
Fenimore-Cooper, 2 Vols. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1922, Freeport,
NY: Books for Libraries Press, 1971. Vol. 2, pp. 676-677, 678, 680, 681-682,
682-684.
- Cumberland's Minor Theatre with Remarks, Biographical and Critical by D. G.
(George Daniel, ed). Printed from the acting copies, as performed at the
Metropolitan Minor Theatres. London: John Cumberland, 1828?-1844?, 16 Vols. Vol.
1, p. 5. [Cooper's "well known tale (The Pilot)" which has the "boldness of
character and colouring, that mark an original genius"]
Return to Table of Contents
- Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH. "The Last of the Mohicans", microform, an
Indian drama in 4 acts. Micropaque of manuscript in the New York Public Library,
Readex Microprint, 1967, 3 micropaques (23 x 15 cm.). [promptbook]
- Davidson, George Henry, 1825-1899? [microfiche (negative), 1 sheet, Seattle,
University of Washington, 1977]; G. H. Davidson, n.d. [1855?], No. 53 of
Cumberland's Minor Theatre, with Remarks, Biographical and Critical by D. G.
(1828-1844), London: John Cumberland, Vol. 1 as performed at the Theatres
Royal]. Davis, Blanche Elizabeth. "The Hero in American Drama 1787-1900; A
Critical Appraisal of American Dramas through a Consideration of the Hero" New
York: Columbia University, 1950, pp. 13, 14, 19, 24, 43, 155, 164, 169, 170,
172. American Doctoral Dissertations, DD W1951, Columbia University, 1951.
- Diabelli, Anton. "Potpourri in 2 Abtheilungen nach Motiven der Oper Il Bravo
[Medley in 2 parts according to motifs from the Opera "El Bravo"]," Wien,
Germany: A. Diabelli, 184? [for piano, four hands]
- Dibdin, Thomas John. "Paul Jones a Melo-dramatic Romance in Three Acts,"
London: John Cumberland, Cumberland's Minor Theatre, 20 Vols., 1828? Vol. 11.
[62 pages; as performed at the Metropolitan Minor Theatres; includes untitled
song to be sung, printed (without the music) from the acting copy with remarks
biographical and critical by George Daniel; "To which are added, a description
of the costume, cast of the characters, entrances and exits, relative positions
of the performers on the stage, and the whole of the stage business"],
Microopaque, New York: Readex Microprint, 1966.
- ____________________ "The Wigwam; or, The Red Men of the Wilderness," a
comedy in two acts. Founded on Cooper's celebrated novel "The Pioneers" and
adapted to the stage, by Thomas Dibdin, 15 pages, Dicks' standard plays No. 570.
London: J. Dicks, 1830?. [First performed at The Theatre Royal, Covent Garden,
on Monday, April 12th 1830; Readex Microprint, 1975, Courtesy of British
Library]
- John Dicks (Firm). Dick's Standard Plays a Collection of Plays edited and
Produced in the Nineteenth Century, 35 Vols. London: J. Dicks, 1875-1908. [the
plays are illustrated and printed from the original text]
- Disher, Maurice Willson. Blood and Thunder: Mid-Victorian Melodrama and Its
Origins. London: Frederick Muller, 1949, New York: Haskell House, 1974, pp. 94,
122, 124-125, 217, 240-241.
- Dormon, James H. Theater in the Ante Bellum South 1815-1861. Chapel Hill, NC:
The University of North Carolina Press, 1967, p. 58. [quotes Ludlow's story of
their first stop in Cooperstown; Cooper's attendance and encouragement]
- Dramatic Mirror and Literary Companion [edited by James Rees], "The Dramatic
Authors of America," Vol. 1 (Saturday, September 4, 1841), p. 1. [lists Samuel
Chapman "The Red Rover" and Charles P. Clinch "The Spy; a tale of the neutral
ground"]
- DuBois, William R. English and American Stage Productions: An Annotated
Checklist of Prompt Books 1800-1900. Boston, MA: G. K. Hall, 1973, p. 155. "Paul
Jones, A Melo-Dramatic Romance in Three Acts," 62 pages, London: John
Cumberland, n.d. (pp. 131- 132); "The Pilot: A Nautical Burletta, In Three
Acts," 51 pages, London: G. H. Davidson, n.d.
- Dumas, Alexandre. "Le Capitaine Paul [Captain Paul]," 106 pages, New York: E.
P. Williams, 1846. [written in collaboration with Adrien Dauzats; based on James
Fenimore Cooper's "The Pilot;" translated from the French by Thomas Williams]
- Dunlap, William. Diary of William Dunlap (1766-1839) the Memoirs of a
Dramatist, Theatrical Manager, Painter, Critic, Novelist, and Historian, 3 Vols.
New York: New York Historical Society, 1823, Benjamin Blom 1930, 1969.
- ____________________ History of the American Theatre and Anecdotes of the
Principal Actors. New York: J. & J. Harper, 1832; Burt Franklin, 1963.
["Dedicated to James Fenimore Cooper, Esq. by His Friend, The Author."]
- ____________________ Painting: scene from "The Spy" with original cast,
produced at the New Park Theater (NY) on March 1, 1822. [owned by Mr. Albert
Rosenthal, Philadelphia, PA (Odell, Vol 3, p. 18A); Ehrich Galleries, NYC; and
now at the New York State Historical Association, Cooperstown, NY. Durham,
Weldon B. American Theatre Companies, 1749-1887. New York: Greenwood Press,
1986, pp. 115, 118, 301, 390.
- Duviquet. Journal des Débats (December 9, 1828). [review of Halévy's "L'Espion (The Spy)"]
Return to Table of Contents
- Eddleman, Floyd Eugene. American Drama Criticism Supplement II to the Second
Edition. Hamden, CT: The Shoe String Press, 1992, p. 11 ["The Wept of the
Wish-Ton-Wish"] and p. 102 ["Last of the Mohicans"].
- Ellis, James, ed. English Drama of the Nineteenth Century an Index and
finding Guide. New Canaan, CT: Readex Books, 1985, pp. 76, 96.
- Erwin, Mary E. "Cooper's Novels on the Adelphi Stage, 1825-1835," Columbia
University, 1937. [thesis] [this citation was not located]
- Etienne, Charles Guillaume, "Arwed, ou, Les représailles: épisode de la
guerre d'Amérique drame en deux actes, mêlé de couplets de MM. Etienne, Varin et
Desvergers [Arwed, or, the reprisals: an episode of the American war in two
acts, mixed rhyming couplets by Messrs. Etienne, Varine and Desvergers]," 72
pages, Bruxelles, Au Bureau du répertoire, 1830. Représenté pour la première
fois à Paris, sur le Théâtre du Vaudeville, le 31 mars 1830 [performance for the
first time in Paris in the Theater of Light Comedy, the 31st of March 1830; play
based on Lionel Lincoln]
- Evening Journal [Wilmington, DE], "California Tenor to Star in `Mohicans'
Premiere at Grand," 44, No. 109 (June 3, 1976), p. 33. [Peter Van Derick will
sing the role of Uncas; Cary Smith, Chingachgook; Linda Roark, Cora; Kristine
Comendant, Alice; Robert Benton Col. Munroe; Alan Wagner, Hawkeye; William
Austin, Maj. Duncan; Lawrence Cooper, Magua; Emil Markow, Tamenund; production
costs exceed $85,000; to be staged at the Grand Opera House June 12, 15, 17, and
19; picture of Peter Van Derick], 44, No. 110 (Friday, June 4, 1976), p. 38. [3
- ____________________, "Principals in `Mohicans'," 44, No. 116 (Monday, June
14, 1976), p. 24. [pictures of Emil Markow (Tamenund) and Alan Wagner (Hawkeye),
both from West Chester, who portray these characters at the Grand Opera House
and on June 26 in Milford, DE] Falk, Armand Elroy. "Theatrical Criticism in the
New York Evening Post, 1801 1830," Michigan State University, 1968. DAI, 29,
10A, p. 3575.
Return to Table of Contents
- Field, Joseph M. "The Wigwam; or Templeton Manor," Dramatization of The
Pioneers, Park Theater, NY, July, 1829-30 season.
- Fishman, Josephine. "The Dramatization of the Novels of James Fenimore
Cooper," Department of Speech and Drama, Stanford University, 1951. [M. A.
thesis: compares subject matter of 6 early novels with the subject matter of the
plays adapted from them; appendix records theaters, dates, and casts of
performances]
- Fitzball [Ball], Edward. Dramatization, "The Pilot; or, A Storm at Sea, A
Nautical Burletta written by Edward Ball in Three Acts, as Performing with
Unanimous Applause at the Adelphi Theatre." by Edward Ball, 53 pages. London:
Simpkin and Marshall, 1825, music by G. H. Rodwell. Microopaque, New York:
Readex Microprint, 1965. [Thomas Potter Cooke debuted as Long Tom Coffin turned
into a British sailor; Borroughcliffe was made the ridiculous comic lead and
action was placed off the American coast; ran 200 nights at the Adelphi Theatre
beginning October 21, 1826; ran intermittently from 1830 to 1833]
- ____________________ "The Pilot: A Nautical Drama in Three Acts, from J.
Fenimore Cooper's Novel of the Same Name as performed in the various theatres
throughout the United States," 32 pages, New York: Samuel French, 185-? French's
American Drama. The Acting Edition, Vol. 41. [promptbook interleaved with
unnumbered pages of manuscript notes, "To which are added, A Description of the
Costume - Cast of the Characters - Entrances and Exits - Relative Positions of
the Performers on the Stage, and the whole of the Stage Business."] Microopaque,
New York: Readex Microprint, 1967, courtesy of the New York Public Library.
[also published under the title: "The Pilot, or, A Storm at Sea"]
- ____________________ "The Pilot: A Nautical Burletta, in Three Acts by Edward
Fitzball; printed from the acting copy, with remarks, biographical and critical,
by D. G," (George Daniel), 49 pages, London: John Cumberland, 1825? Cumberland's
Minor Theatre , London 1828-1844, Vol. I, No. 1 ["To which are added, a
description of the costume, cast of the characters, entrances and exits,
relative positions of the performers on the stage, and the whole of the stage
business. As performed at the Metropolitan Minor Theaters." Embellished with a
portrait of Mr. T. P. Cooke... Includes memoir of Mr. T. P. Cooke. Printed cast
list for the Adelphi Theatre's production, 1825. Victoria and Albert Museum's
copy is a promptbook for a production at the Theatre Royal, Birmingham]
- ____________________ "The Pilot, A Nautical Burletta in Thee Acts," British
Drama. London: John Dicks, 12 Vols., 1864, Vol. II, pp. 483-496. Readex
Microprint, 1981, Courtesy of the British Library.
- ____________________ "The Pilot," Modern Standard Drama. XVI. New York:
Samuel French, n.d.
- ____________________ "The Red Rover; or The Mutiny of the Dolphin: a Nautical
Drama, in Two Acts by Edward Fitz-Ball, Esq; printed from the acting copy, with
remarks biographical and critical, by D.-G." (George Daniel), London: John
Cumberland, 46 pages, n. d. ( circa, 1831). "To which are added, a description
of the costume, cast of the characters, entrances and exits, relative positions
of the performers on the stage, and the whole of the stage business. As
performed at the Metropolitan Minor Theatres," printed cast list for 1828 and
1831 production at the Adelphi Theatre, partial cast for the 1828 production:
The Red Rover: Mr. Yates; Lieutenant Wilder: Mr. Hemmings; Fid: T. P. Cooke."
Copy in New York Public Library is George Beck's promptbook for an unspecified
production. Readex Microprint, 1966, courtesy of the New York Public Library.
- ____________________ "The Red Rover or, The Mutiny of the Dolphin: A Nautical
Drama, in Two Acts," 46 pages, London: Davidson, n.d.
- ____________________ "The Red Rover or, The Mutiny of the Dolphin: A Nautical
Drama, in Two Acts," 15 pages, illustrated, No. 450 Dicks' Standard Plays,
London: J. Dicks, 18--.
- ____________________ "The Red Rover: a Nautical Drama in Two Acts Written
expressly for and Adapted only to Green's Characters and Scenes in the same," 30
pages, London: B. Pollock, 1946. [a 500 copy reprint of Green's Juvenile Drama,
London: J. K. Green, 1836]
- Fletcher, Edward Garland. A Title Index to Rees's Dramatic Authors of
America. Austin, TX: University of Texas, 1939. [unable to borrow on
Inter-library Loan]
- Francis, John W. [Cooper's physician and litterateur]. "Reminiscences of
Cooper," International Magazine, 4 (November 1, 1851), p. 453, also in Putnam,
G. P., ed. Memorial of James Fenimore Cooper. New York: G. P. Putnam, 1852, pp.
94-103. [Cooper's trip with British actor Charles Mathews up the Hudson River,
p. 100]
- French, Samuel. "The Pilot," by Edward Fitzball, No. XLI in French, S.
French's American Drama. New York: Samuel French, 1850, 1859. [returned the
action to the English coast and restored the characters to their original
nationalities]
Return to Table of Contents
- Genest, John, ed. Some Account of the English Stage from the Restoration in
1660 to 1830, 10 Vols. Bath, England, 1832; New York: Burt Franklin, 1965, Vol.
IX, 84, p. 493-494. [produced "The Pilot, or the Tale of the Sea" at Bath,
February 11, 1829. Montague played Long Tom; ..."the Pilot = Stuart:-in the Bath
bill this piece is called a new Melo-drama, but it seems to be nothing more than
an old piece revived-the Pilot, by Fitzball, as acted at the Adelphi, was
printed in 1825-is a tolerable piece in 3 acts."]
- Gebbia, Alessandro. La Citta Teatrale lo Spettacolo a Roma Nelle Impressioni
dei Viaggiatori Americani 1760-1870 [American Travelers in Rome (1760 1870) and
What They Wrote on the "theatrical exhibitions"]. Rome, Italy: Officina
Edizioni, 1985.
- Le Globe, VI (December 10, 1828), pp. 887-888. [review of Halévy's
"L'Espion;" contrasts Cooper's Harvey Birch with the bombastic character from
the Odéon production]
- Glover, Steven E. "The Cradle of Liberty, or, Boston in 1775 written and
adapted by Stephen E. Glover," A Drama in Four Acts, 39 pages, Modern Standard
Drama, XXXVIII. New York: Samuel French, 18--.
- _____________. "The Cradle of Liberty, or, Boston in 1775 written and adapted
by Capt. Stephen E,. Glover, from J. Fenimore Cooper's celebrated Novel of
"Lionel Lincoln; or The Leaguer of Boston" with original casts, costumes, and
the whole of the stage business, correctly marked and arranged, by Mr. J. B.
Wright, assistant manager of The Boston Theatre," 39 pages, Boston, MA: William
V. Spencer [Spencer's Boston Theatre, No. CXLV], 1857? Nicoll, Allardyce and
Freedley, George, eds. English and American Drama of the Nineteenth Century,
[American Drama 1801-1900], Microcard.
- ____________________ "The Last of the Mohicans an Indian Dama In Four Acts."
107 leaves. 1849? Manuscript Division, New York Public Library. [unpublished
manuscript promptbook]
- Gordon, John D. "The Red Rover Takes the Boards," American Literature, Vol. X
(March, 1938), pp. 66-75.
- Grimsted, David. Melodrama Unveiled, American Theater and Culture 1800 1850.
Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1968, passim.
- Grossman, James. James Fenimore Cooper. New York: William Sloane, 1949, pp.
244-245. ["Upside Down"]
Return to Table of Contents
- Hackett, Walter Anthony, adapter. "The Spy," [1 act play]. Plays, 9 (March,
1950), pp. 83-95 also in Hackett, W. A. Radio Plays for Young People; Fifteen
Great Stories Adapted for Royalty-free Performance. Boston. MA: Plays. Inc.,
1950, pp. 143-164.
- Halévy, Leon, Fontan, L. M., and Drouineau, G. "L'Espion, Drame en Cinq Actes
et en Prose [The Spy, Drama in Five Acts and in Prose]," Paris, 1828. [microfilm
copy at U. of Tennessee library]
- Hall, Lillian Arvilla. Catalogue of Dramatic Portraits in the Theatre
Collection of the Harvard University Library, 4 Vols. Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press, 1930. [No. 15: Thomas Potter Cooke as Dick Fid in "The Red
Rover"; W. L., standing, legs apart, looking to left, right arm upraised, club
in left hand. Publisher O. Hodgson. No. 76. New Series. Vol. I, p. 285]
- ____________________ Ibid., Vol. I, p. 286. [No. 30: Thomas Potter Cooke as
Long Tom Coffin in "The Pilot"; W. L., to left, standing, looking to right, hat
in upraised right hand, cloak over left shoulder, basket upset by right foot;
vignette. Publisher Jno. Cumberland, 1828. No. 31: T. P. Cooke as Long Tom
Coffin; W. L., to left, standing , legs apart, looking to right, gun in right
hand, spear in upraised left hand. Publisher O. Hodgson, 1832. No. 99. No. 32:
T. P. Cooke as Long Tom Coffin; W. L., to front, standing, legs apart, looking
to left, holding a gun in each hand, right arm upraised; vignette. Publisher W.
West, 1825. No. 83]
- ____________________ Ibid, Vol. II, p. 310. [a colored print of "Mr. Johnson
as the Red Rover from Sadler's Wells Theatre"]
- Halleck, Fitz-Greene. Fanny with Other Poems. New York: Harper &
Brothers, 1839. ["The Harp of Love" written for the drama "The Spy"]
- ____________________ The Poetical Works of Fitz-Greene Halleck. New York: D.
Appleton, 1847, pp. 255-256. ["Song for the Drama of "The Spy" composed for
Charles P. Clinch's 1822 drama "The Spy"]
- Haslinger, Carl. "Fantaisie ou potpourri sur des thêmes favoris de l'opéra Il
Bravo [Fantasy or Medley on the Favorite Themes of the Opera The Bravo],"
Musique de Mercandante, 14 pages, op. 21, no. 18, Vienne: Tobie Haslinnger,
1840. [piano]
- Hatch, James V. Black Image on the American Stage a Bibliography of Plays and
Musicals 1770-1970. New York: Drama Book Specialists, 1970, p. 4. ["The Spy"]
- Henderson, Alva. "The Last of the Mohicans," an Opera in Three Acts, music by
Alva Henderson; based on the novel by James Fenimore Cooper; libretto by Janet
Lewis; dramatic concept by Robert E. Darling, 1976. [Commissioned by the
Wilmington Opera Society to celebrate the American Bicentennial 1976, and the
gala reopening of The Grand Opera House, Wilmington, Delaware, June 12, 15, 17,
19, 1976]
- Herron, Ima Honaker. The Small Town in American Drama. Dallas, TX: Southern
Methodist University Press, 1969, pp. 36, 52, 54, 56, 58, 117.
- Hill, Frank Pierce. American Plays Printed 1714-1830 A Bibliographical
Record. New York: Burt Franklin, 1934, 1970, p. 15 ["Red Rover"], p. 109 ["Paul
Jones"].
- Hill, West Thompson, Jr. The Theatre in Early Kentucky 1790-1820. Lexington,
KY: The University Press of Kentucky, 1971.
- Hirsch, Steve. "Cooper Novel Gets New Life in Opera Version," Kite, Review
(August 17, 1977), p. 8. [picture of Magna threaten Cora; Henderson's "Last of
the Mohicans" performed by the Lake George Opera Company, NY with Sigmund Cowan
as Magua; Barbara Hochen, Cora; Maryanne Telese, Alice; John Sandor, Col.
Munroe; Ron Hedlund, Hawkeye; Harlan Foss, Chingachgook; Evan Bortnick, Uncas;
Janet Lewis, Librettist; and Patrick Bakman, Director. "The problem, by the way,
does not rest solely with the libretto; the music does not help much to define
the characters either."]
- Hixon, Don L. and Hennessee, Don A. Nineteenth-Century American Drama: A
Finding Guide. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1977, pp. 159, 224, 387, 433, 479.
- Hodge, Francis. Yankee Theatre The Image of America on the Stage, 1825 1850.
Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 1964, pp. 34, 36, 37, 43, 44, 66, 130.
- Hoole, William Stanley. The Ante-bellum Charleston Theatre. University of
Alabama: University of Alabama Press, 1964, pp. 88, 89, 90, 97, 123, 124, 149,
150.
- Hovland, Michael, compiler. Musical Settings of American Poetry A
Bibliography. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1986, p. 33. ["My Brigantine"]
- Hughes, Glenn. A History of The American Theatre 1700-1950. New York: Samuel
French, 1951, p. 110. ["The Pilot"]
- The Illustrated London News,"Sketches of Stage Favourites. Mr. T. P. Cooke,"
XXIII, 649 (Saturday October 15, 1853), p. 319. [T. P. Cooke played his second
longest sustained character, Long Tom Coffin, 562 times in "The Pilot." He
appeared 120 times in "The Red Rover" as of his present engagement at the
Standard Theatre; Cooke lived until April 1864 and last performed on stage in
1860, hence he most likely played these roles more often]
- Ireland, Joseph Norton. Records of the New York Stage from 1750 to 1860. 2
Vols. New York: T. H. Morrell, 1867, Burt Franklin, 1968.
Return to Table of Contents
- James Fenimore Cooper Society Newsletter, "A Cooper Musical," V, 3 (December
1994), p. 1. ["Glimmerglass" a new musical work in preparation: book by Jonathan
Bolt, Music by Douglas J. Cohen, Lyrics by Ted Drachman; set in 1809 with
flashbacks; plot combines elements and characters from The Pioneers, The
Pathfinder, and The Deerslayer]
- Jones, Eugene H. Native Americans as Shown on the Stage 1753-1916. Metuchen,
NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1988, pp. 47, 69, 70-74, 109. [Indians in plays written
from Cooper's books]
- ____________________ Ibid., p. 109. [Thomas Blaides DeWalden wrote a play:
"The Life and Death of Natty Bumppo," in 1873; used all five book of the
Leatherstocking series]
- ____________________ Ibid., p. 109. [George Fawcett Rowe wrote a play:
"Leatherstocking; or, The Last of the Mohicans" in 1874]
- Quinn, Arthur Hobson, p. 430. [Joseph Stevens Jones's. "Battle of Lake Erie,"
played at the Tremont Theatre, Boston, MA, October 31, 1842; probably not based
on Cooper's book]
- James, Reese Davis. Old Drury of Philadelphia A History of the Philadelphia
Stage 1800-1835. Including the Diary or Daily Account Book of William Burke
Wood, Co-Manager with William Warren of the Chestnut Street Theatre, familiarly
known as Old Drury. Reprinted New York: Greenwood Press, 1968 with permission of
the University of Pennsylvania Press (1932). [includes: dates, play titles, and
day's receipts of the Chesnut Street Company in Philadelphia, Baltimore,
Washington, and Alexandria]
- Journal des Débats (December 15, 1828). [review of Ancelot's "L'Espion (The
Spy)"]
Return to Table of Contents
- Kaiser, Joseph J. "Uncas (The Last of the Mohicans)," Characteristic,
march, two-step, 5 pages piano music, New York: Joseph J. Kaiser Music
Publishing Company, 1904.
- Keese, William L. William E. Burton, Actor, Author and Manager. New York: G.
P. Putnam's Sons, 1885.
- Keller, Dean H. Index to Plays in Periodicals, Revised and expanded edition.
Metuchen, NJ: The Scarecrow Press, 1979.
- Kendall, John S. The Golden Age of the New Orleans Theater. Baton Rouge, LA:
Louisiana State University Press, 1952, New York: Greenwood Press, 1968, p. 61
(Cradle), pp. 124, 306, 511 (Wept), and pp. 156, 171, 193, 234 (Paul Jones).
- Kouwenhoven, John Atlee. "Cooper's `Upside Down' Turns Up," The Colophon; a
Quarterly for Booklovers, III, 4 (Autumn, 1938), pp. 524-530.
Return to Table of Contents
- Leuchs, Fritz A. H. The Early German Theatre in New York 1840-1872. New York:
Columbia University Press, 1928, pp. 62, 98, 215.
- Lockhart, John G. Memoirs of the Life of Sir Walter Scott, 5 Vols. Boston and
New York: Houghton, Mifflin, 1901, Vol. V, p. 10.
- Lounsbury, Thomas Raynesford. James Fenimore Cooper. Boston, MA: Houghton,
Mifflin, 1882, p. 263, Detroit, MI: Gale Research, 1968.
- Macdonald, Hugh. Berlioz. London: J. M. Dent & Sons, 1982, p. 130. [Le
Corsaire]
Return to Table of Contents
- MacDougall, Hugh Cooke, Compiler. "`Upside Down; or, Philosophy in
Petticoats' A Scene from Cooper's Only Play," Cooperstown, NY: James Fenimore
Cooper Society Miscellaneous Papers, No. 1, January, 1992.
- ____________________, Compiler. "Where Was James? A James Fenimore Cooper
Chronology from 1889 to 1851," James Fenimore Cooper Society Miscellaneous
Papers, No. 3, Cooperstown, NY: James Fenimore Cooper Society, 1993.
- Ludlow, Noah Miller. Dramatic Life As I Found It. St. Louis, MO, 1880, New
York: Benjamin Blom, 1966.
- McBride, John D. America in the French Mind During the Burbon Restoration
(1814 - 1830). Ann Arbor, MI: University Microfilms, 1955. pp. 193-199.
- ____________________ "Cooper's The Spy on the French Stage," University of
Tennessee Studies in the Humanities, Tennessee Studies in Literature, 1 (1956),
pp. 35-42.
- Magnin, Charles. Review, Le Globe, VI, 903 (December 17, 1828). [Ancelot's
"L'Espion (The Spy)"]
- Marliani, Marco Aurelio. "Le Bravo: opera Italien en trois actes, paroles de
Mr. Berrettoni [The Bravo; Italian Opera in three acts, words by. . .]," Paris:
Pacini, 1834? [one vocal score, 202 pages]
- ____________________ "Songs, Duets, Choruses, &c. in The Red Mask: or,
The Council of Three, A Grand Operatic Drama, in Three Acts. London: J. Miller,
1834? first performed at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, on Saturday, November
15, 1834; music by Marliani; adapted to the English stage by Thomas Cooke]
- ____________________ "Il Bravo: opera in tre atti," Libretto by A.
Berrettoni. Milano, Italy: G. Ricordi, 1836. [vocal scores with piano, 203
pages]
- Matthews, Brander J. "The American on the Stage," Scribner's Monthly, XVIII,
3 (July, 1879), pp. 321-333. ["... as soon as the century got out of its teens
the American novelist caught up with his British predecessor, and became as
great a favorite as he (Scott) with play-makers and play-goers."]
- ________________, A Book About the Theater. New York: Charles Scribnet's
Sons, 1916.
- "The Dramatization of Novels," in Matthews, B. Books and Play Books; Essays
on Literature and Drama. London: Osgood, McIlvaine, 1895, Freeport, NY: Books
for Libraries Press [Essay Index Reprint Series], 1972, pp. 32-63 also in
Matthews, B. Studies of the Stage. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1894, pp.
1-38.
- Mayorga, Margaret Gardner. A Short History of The American Drama,
Commentaries on Plays Prior to 1920. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1932, 1934, pp. 75,
91, 144, 345, 347.
- Mercadante, Saverio. "Il Bravo", vocal score, 342 pages, libretto by Gaetano
Rossi et. al; music by Saverio Mercadante, New York: Garland Publishing, 1989.
[reprint of the 1st ed., Milan, Italy: G. Ricordi, 1839; introduction by Philip
Gossett]
- ____________________"Il Bravo: Melodramma in tre atti," ridotta per
piano-forte solo, piano score, 458 pages, Milano: G. Ricordi, 1839?
- ____________________"Il Bravo: melodramma in tre atti," vocal score, 281
pages, libretto by G. Rossi and Marco Marcello, Milano, Italy: Ricordi, 1888?,
1900, 1960.
- ____________________, "A te, mio suolo ligure [To My Land of Ligurea (a
province in Italy)]," vocal score, five pages, Milano, Italy: Ricordi, 186? [for
voice and piano from Il Bravo]
- ____________________, "All' et`adell' innocenza [To the Innocence of Adell],"
sheet music, five pages, Napoli, Italy: B. Girard e Ci, after 1839? [from Il
Bravo]
- Le Mercure du Dix-Neuvieme Siecle, XXIII (1828), pp. 524-525. [review of
Halévy's "L'Espion (The Spy)"]
- ____________________, XXIII (1828), pp. 574-576. [review of Ancelot's
"L'Espion"]
- Meserve, Walter J. An Emerging Entertainment The Drama of the American People
to 1828. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1977, passim.
- ____________________, Heralds of Promise The Drama of the American People
During the Age of Jackson. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1986, passim.
- Montgomery, W. J. "The Spy [St. Louis, MO, December, 1902]," microform.
Library of Congress Photoduplication Service, Washington, D.C., microfilm reel
#65, 35 mm, 1976. [4 act dramatization]
- _______________. The Month at Goodspeed's Book Shop, 40 Vols. Boston, MA:
Goodspeed's Book Shop. 1930-1969, "Exit, Pursued by a Turkey," XIX, 8 (May,
1948), pp. 247-251.
- Moody, Richard. America Takes the Stage Romanticism in American Drama and
Theatre, 1750-1900. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1955, New York:
Kraus Reprint Co., 1969, pp. 9-10, 14, 16, 24, 65, 82, 104, 109, 144, 147, 173,
236.
- Morgan, Winifred. An American Icon Brother Jonathan and American Identity.
Newark, NJ: University of Delaware Press, 1988, p. 168. [the plot of Thomas
Dibdin's "Banks of the Hudson, or the Congress Trooper" has minor parallels with
"The Spy"]
- Moses, Montrose Jonas. "American Plays of Our Forefathers," The North
American Review, CCXV, 799 (June, 1922), pp. 790-804.
Return to Table of Contents
- National Gazette [Philadelphia], Review (February 26, 1828). [unable to get
this citation on ILL] The New York Evening Post, "The Harp of Love" (June 25,
1831). [Halleck's poem written for Clinch's play "The Spy"]
- Nicoll, Allardyce. A History of Early Nineteenth Century Drama: 1800 -1850.
Vol. IV of Nicoll, A. A History of English Drama, 1600-1900, 6 Vols. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1923-1959. Late Nineteenth Century Drama 1850-1900.
Vol. V of Nocoll, A. A History of English Drama 1660-1900, 6 Vols. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1962.
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- Odell, George Clinton Densmore. Annals of the New York Stage, 15 Vols. New
York: Columbia University Press, 1927-1949.
- ____________________,Vol. I (to 1798), p. 105-106. [Cooper errs in placing a
play C. Littlepage and Anneke attended in 1757 because the theater wasn't opened
until December, 1758]
- ____________________, Vol. IX, pp. 565-566. [C. W. Barry's "The Spy" or,
America One Hundred Years Hence," New York, 1875 opened July 26, 1875 at Wood's
Museum and ran for three weeks].
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- Pagel, Carol Anne Ryan. "A History and Analysis of Representative American
Dramatizations from American Novels 1800-1860," University of Denver, 1970. DAI,
31, 10A, 5568. [Chapter 4 includes a comparison of novel and scenes of the play
through detailed analysis of plot, subplots, pace, themes, and characters for
Clinch's "The Spy" and Chapter 5 analyses and compares Chapman's "The Red
Rover"]
- Parnell, M. H. All Hands Unmoor! Boston, MA: C. Bradlee, n.d. [a musical
setting for the song the Rover sings in Chapter XXIII]
- Partridge, Eric. Fenimore Cooper's Influence on the French Romantics," Modern
Language Review, 20 (April, 1925), pp. 174-178.
- Phillips, J. B. "The Pathfinder; or, The Inland Sea," 72 page MS. Harvard
University Library.
- Phillips, Mary. James Fenimore Cooper. New York: John Lane, 1913, pp. 320
322. [an account of the trip up the Hudson River with English actor Charles
Mathews, William Dunlap, Dr. Francis]
- Powell, Thomas. "James Fenimore Cooper," in Powell, T. The Living Authors of
America. New York: Stringer and Townsend, 1850, pp. 25-27.
- Quinn, Arthur Hobson. A History of the American Drama from the Beginning to
the Civil War. New York: F. S. Crofts, passim.
- ____________________, "A List of American Plays 1665-1860," in Quinn, A. H. A
History of the American Drama from the Beginning to the Civil War, 2nd ed. New
York: F. S. Crofts, 1943, pp. 425-497. [lists the following plays with titles of
Cooper's works: Battle of Lake Erie (?); The Bravo/The Venetian; The Cradle of
Liberty, or, Boston in 1775; Rake Hellies (Lionel Lincoln); The Deerslayer; The
Headsman; Last of the Mohicans; Miantonimoh (Wept-of-Wish-Ton-Wish); The Pilot;
the Pioneers; The Red Rover; The Spy; The Water Witch]
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- La Quotidienne (December 8, 1828). [review of Halévy's "L'Espion (The Spy)"]
Return to Table of Contents
- Rees, James. The Dramatic Authors of America. Philadelphia, PA: G. B. Zieber,
1845, pp. 37-39, 115-118, 131, 138.
- Rodwell, George Herbert Buonaparte. "My Brigantine! The Words from Cooper's
novel The Water Witch," sheet music, three pages, New York: E. S. Mesier,
c.1830. [the words are from Chapter IV of The Water Witch; the words are also
printed in W. C. Bryant's Family Library of Poetry and Song]
- Romand, Hippolyte. "Le bourgeois de Gand ou, Le secrétaire du Duc d'Albe;
drame en cing actes et en prose [The Master of Gand or, the Secretary of the
Duke d'Albe; drama in five acts and in prose]" Répresenté a Paris, sur le
Théâtre Royal de l'Odéon, le 21 mai 1838 [performance in Paris in the Royal
Theater of l'Odéon, the 21 of May 1838] 140 pages, Paris, France: J. N. Barba,
1838. [play based on The Spy]
- Rourke, Constance. American Humor: A Study of the National Character. Garden
City, NY: Doubleday, 1931, pp. 98, 160, New York: Harcourt, Brace & Co.,
1931, pp. 114, 115, 200. [stage humor]
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- St. Clair, Robert "The Deerslayer: James Fenimore Cooper's Illustrious story
of Glorious Adverture, Frontier Dangers and Pioneer Bravery," in three acts, New
York: Samuel French, 1937.
- Saar, Louis Victor. "My Brigantine," [words credited to James Fenimore
Cooper] in Tomlins, William L. The Laurel Song Book. Boston, MA: C. V. Birchard,
1901, 1915, pp. 20-21. [the words are the same as in Bryant's Family Library of
Poetry and Song]
- Salvayre, Gervais. "Le Bravo: opera en quatre actes," paroles de Emile
Blavet, partition piano seul reduite par l'auteur [The Bravo: An Opera in Four
Acts, words by E. B. piano and vocal score condensed by the author], 273 pages,
Paris: Henry Lemoine, 1877? [first performance: Theâtre de l'Opera National
Lyrique, Paris, April 18, 1877]
- Samples, Gordon. The Drama Scholars' Index to Plays and Filmscripts: A Guide
to Plays and Filmscripts in Selected Anthologies, Series and Periodicals.
Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1974, p. 100 ["Paul Jones"], p. 129 ["The
Pilot"].
- Saturday Evening Post, "The Rover's Last Hour," VII, 343 (February 23, 1828),
p. 1. [a 32 line poem signed "SELIM"]
- Schoberlin, Melvin. From Candles to Footlights A Biography of the Pike
Theatre 1859-1876. Denver, CO: Old West Publishing, 1941, p. 132.
- Sears, Minnie Earl. Song Index An Index to More Than 12000 Songs In 177 Song
Collections. Shoe String Press, 1966, p. 374. [L. V. Saar's "My Brigantine"]
- Sharp, Harold S. and Sharp, Marjorie Z., compilers. Index to Characters in
the Performing Arts. Part III, Ballets. Metuchen, NJ: The Scarecrow Press, 1972,
p. 290.
- Sherman, Robert Lowery. Drama Cyclopedia A Bibliography of Plays and Players.
Chicago, IL: by the author, 1944.
- ____________________. Chicago Stage, Its Records and Achievements, Vol. 1
1834 - 1871. Chicago, IL: n. p., 1947.
- Smith, Horace W. The Miscellaneous Works of the Late Richard Penn Smith
Collected by his son, Horace W. Smith. Philadelphia, H. W. Smith, 1856, pp.
65-68. [prologue to the "Red Rover"]
- Smith, Irvine N. "American Plays and Playwrights of the Nineteenth Century,"
University of Denver, 1959. [dissertation]
- Smith, Richard Penn. "The Bravo," one act MS in Historical Society of
Pennsylvania revised and produced as "The Venetian."
- ________________. "The Venetian," played at the Arch Street Theatre,
Philadelphia, PA March 24, 1849. [holograph MS dated 1836, Harvard University]
- Smith, Sydney. Review, Seybert, Adam. Statistical Annals of the United States
of America, Edinburgh Review, XXXIII (January, 1820), pp. 69-80.
- Smither, Nellie Kroger. A History of the English Theatre in New Orleans. New
York: Benjamin Bloom, 1944, 1967.
- _________________. "A History of the English Theatre at New Orleans, 1806
1842," The Louisiana Historical Quarterly, Vol. 28, No. 1 (January, 1945), p.
171.
- Soulie, J. B. A. La Quotidienne (December 15, 1828). [review of Ancelot's
adaptation of The Spy]
- Specimens of Show Printing being Fac-similes in Minature of Poster Cuts
Comprising Colored and Plain Designs. Philadelphia, PA: The Ledger Job Office,
1869-1872, San Bernardino, CA: Borgo Press, 1987, Hollywood, CA: Cherokee Books,
19??, p. 501. [Cut No. 1003 - Red Rover - 1 sheet. Black, $3 per 100; this book
was originally a 300 page bound volume (9"x12") distributed to theater managers
of the 1860's and 1870's so they could order posters to advertise plays in their
repertoire]
- Spiller, Robert E. Fenimore Cooper Critic of His Times. New York: Russell
& Russell, 1963, p. 298. ["Upside Down; or, Philosophy in Petticoats"]
- _____________. "The Verdict of Sidney Smith," American Literature A Journal
of Literary History, Criticism, and Bibliography, I, 1 (March, 1929), pp. 3-13.
[Rev. Smith was Canon of St. Paul's Cathedral and founder of the Edinburgh
Review ; hence, his opinions had wide dissemination and great influence]
- Spiller, Robert E. and Blackburn, Philip C. A Descriptive Bibliography of the
Writings of James Fenimore Cooper. New York: Burt Franklin, 1903, 1968, p. 209.
["Upside Down"].
- ________________________________. "Dramatizations of Cooper's Stories by
Others," Ibid, pp. 211-212.
- Stevenson, Augusta. "The Spy," in Stevenson, A. The White Canoe and Other
Plays. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 1938.
- Stewart, J. C. [John Stewart Crossy] "The Last of the Mohicans, An Ethiopian
Sketch . . . as first produced at the Théâtre Commique, New York, May, 1870. "To
which are added, a description of the costume, cast of the characters, entrances
and exits, relative positions of the performers on the stage, and the whole of
the stage business." New York: Robert M. DeWitt, six pages, 187? Microopaque.
New York: Readex Microprint, 1968.
- Straker, D. "The Pilot, or A Storm at Sea," 24 pages, Juvenile Dramatic
Repository, January 14, 1828, London: D. Straker, 1828. Microfilm, Ohio State
University, 1960? [an adaptation of Fitzball's play for juvenile theater
contained stage-sets and cut-outs of characters for home production of the play;
original held by the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England]
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- Tomkins, William Lawrence. Laurel Songbook. Boston, MA: C. V. Birchard, 1901,
1915, pp. 20-21. [sheet music for "My Brigantine" by Louis V. Saar]
- Tompkins, Eugene and Kilby, Quincy. The History of the Boston Theatre 1854-
1901. New York: Benjamin Blom, 1908, 1969.
- Towers, John. Dictionary-Catalogue of Operas and Operettas, 2 vols.
Morgantown, WV: Acme Publishing, New York: Da Capo Press, 1967, Vol. 1, pp. 104,
371, 490, 503, 599.
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- University of Missouri, Columbia, MO. "The Spy", microfilm (71 pages), a
dramatization in four acts by W. J. Montgomery, St. Louis, MO, December, 1902.
Library of Congress, Washington, D. C., Photoduplication Service, part of 1
microfilm reel, No. 65, 35 mm., 1976.
- Urich, Jean. "Le Pilote: opéra in 3 actes and 4 tableaux/ paroles de Armand
Silvestre [The Pilot: Opera in 3 Acts and 4 Scenes/ words by...]," 256 pages,
London: J. R. Lafleur, 189? [vocal score in French with piano].
- _________, Ibid. "... paroles de Armand Silvestre and A. Gandrey," 262 pages,
Paris: P. Dupont, 1890? [vocal score in French with piano]
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- Walker, Jeffrey. New Letters of James Fenimore Cooper. [work in progress]
- Wallack, W. H(enry). "Paul Jones or, The Pilot of the German Ocean, A
Melodrama in three acts," 52 pages, New York: Elton's Dramatic Repository and
Print Store, 1828.
- Waples, Dorothy. The Whig Myth of James Fenimore Cooper. New Haven, CT: Yale
University Press, 1938; Hamden CT: Archon Books, Yale Studies in English, Vol.
88, 1968, pp. 63-64.
- Ware, Ralph H. and Schoenberger, H. W., eds. The Sentinels & Other Plays
by Richard Penn Smith, Vol. XIII, America's Lost Plays, 20 Vols. Bloomington,
IN: Indiana University Press, 1965.
- Weaver, R. T. "The Red Rover; or, The Mutiny of the Caroline. A nautical
burletta in three acts. The only edition correctly marked from the prompter's
book, with the stage business, situations, and directions. As performed at the
London theatres," 48 pages, London: J. Duncombe, 1829. [Vol. 4, No. 25,
Duncombe's Acting Edition of the British Theatre],
- Wegelin, Oscar. Early American Plays, 1714-1830; a compilation of the titles
of plays and dramatic poems written by authors born in or residing in North
America previous to 1830. New York: The Dunlap Society, 1900, Rev. ed., 1905,
Literary Collector Press, Johnson Reprint Corporation, 1968.
- Wells, Henry W., ed. Three Centuries of Drama; American (1714-1830). New
York: Readex Microprints, 1953 -. [26 boxes of cards]
- Wemyss, Francis Courtney. Twenty-six Years of the Life of An Actor and
Manager Interspersed with Sketches, Anecdotes, and Opinions of the Professional
Merits of the Most Celebrated Actors and Actresses of our Day, 2 Vols. New York:
Burgess, Stringer, 1847. see if we have this Vol. 1, pp. 149 150.
- ____________________. Theatrical Biography: or, The Life of an Actor and
Manager. Interspersed with Sketches, Anecdotes, and Opinions of the Professional
Merits of the Most Celebrated Actors and Actresses of our Day. Glasgow: R.
Griffin, 1848, pp. 129-132. [same as his book above]
- Wilson, Arthur Herman. A History of the Philadelphia Theatre 1835 to 1855.
Reprinted New York: Greenwood Press, 1968 with permission of the University of
Pennsylvania Press (1935), pp. 192, 465, 563, 632, 661, 664.
- Wilson, James Grant. The Life and Letters of Fitz-Greene Halleck. New York:
Appleton, 1869, p. 282. [Cooper sat beside Halleck at the 1st performance of
Italian Opera in NY: Il Barbiere de Seviglia (The Barber of Seville) on October
29, 1825; Adkins indicates that they sat side by side on November 29, 1825 at
the Park Theatre, p. 150. Odell writes that the first Italian Opera in NY played
at the Park Theatre on November 29, 1825. In 1819, Rossini's opera was first
produced in NY in English 3 years after its premiere in Rome. The 1825
performance was in Italian]
- Wittmer, George B. "James Fenimore Cooper, "M*A*S*H," and the Origins of TV
Drama, "Teaching English in the Two Year College, 14 (May, 1987), pp. 93 97.
[recounts the accidental discovery of a long forgotten drama "Mingos and
Soldiers at Fort Henry" by Cooper that has many similarities to a "M*A*S*H"
program; none of the citations from this article have been located]
- Woodworth, Samuel. "The Hunters of Kentucky," in Lloyd, Ruth and Norman. The
American Heritage Songbook. NewYork: American Heritage Publishing, 1969, pp.
34-35; also in Sandburg, Carl. The American Songbag. New York: Harcourt, Brace,
1927, pp. 427-429.
- Wright, Nathalia. "The Chanting Cherubs: Horatio Greenough's Marble Group for
James Fenimore Cooper," New York History, XXXVIII (April, 1957), pp. 177 197.
[the first group ever designed and executed by an American sculptor, 1829].
- _____________. "Glorious Fenimore," in Wright, N. Horatio Geenough; First
American Sculptor. Philadelphia, PA: Pennsylvania Press, 1963, pp. 66-75,
319-321.
THE END
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