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On Sun, 28 Jul 2002 21:13:00 -0600 David Kathman <[log in to unmask]> wrote: >As I mentioned in a posting on the SHAKSPER list last week, I have >been >working to update my Biographical Index of Elizabethan Theater, now >rechristened the Biographical Index of English Drama Before 1660. >The new version is now online, at > >http://shakespeareauthorship.com/bd/ > >As before, the Index includes actors, playwrights, patrons, and >various >other people connected with dramatic activity in the pre-Restoration >period, roughly 2900 different people in all. Entries contain basic >biographical information, including a description of the person's >connection >to the drama, plus a chronological list of references to published >biographical information about him (or her). The main differences >from the old version are that the Index now includes: > >* People active before 1558, going back to the Middle Ages; >* People active between 1642 and 1660, a period largely neglected by >most theater historians despite its rich dramatic activity; >* All actors in academic plays at Oxford and Cambridge, who were only >partially indexed before; >* All known performers in court masques between 1604 and 1640; >* All known musicians in professional playhouses as well as in court >masques and entertainments, who were only partially indexed before; >* A greater number of employees of the Revels office, especially >from the early Tudor period; >* A greater number of contemporary critics of the theatre, both >positive (e.g. Francis Meres) and negative (e.g. William Prynne), >plus >more miscellaneous other people important important for theatre >history who do not fall into any of the other categories. > >While I have tried to be as thorough as possible in indexing those >who made their living in the theatre, the Index now includes many >more people whose connection to drama was more peripheral. >I think this is a good thing, since such connections can be >illuminating >for attempts to put dramatic activity in a larger context. It is >useful >and interesting to know, for example, that Cardinal Wolsey patronized >a playing company, that magician John Dee directed a comedy at >Cambridge, that the composer John Dowland and his son Robert both >performed in masques and entertainments, or that Thomas Howard, >1st Earl of Suffolk and Lord Chamberlain between 1603 and 1610, >had eight children who danced in Jacobean court masques. > >This index is a prolegomenon to a more ambitious work, namely a >Biographical Dictonary of English Drama Before 1660. That work will >flesh out the index entries with narrative biographies for each >person, >along with further details such as exact birth and death dates, >education and apprenticeships, and lists of works by playwrights. >The Index is still very much a work in progress, and I know for a >fact >that there are lacunae. I have made it available to the online >scholarly >community so that scholars can use the information it contains >without >having to wait for the full Dictionary; however, I also hope that >those >using the Index will inform me of any errors or omissions, so that >the >final product can be as accurate and complete as possible. I also >welcome >any suggestions for how it can be improved, including information >that people would specifically like to see included. > >Thanks, >Dave Kathman >[log in to unmask]