George Colman the Elder

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George Colman the Elder, Joshua Reynolds , 1768–1770
Title page by Terence

George Colman the Elder (born April 1732 in Florence ; baptized April 18, 1732 in Florence, † August 14, 1794 in London ) was an English playwright and theater director. He is the father of the writer George Colman the Younger .

life and work

Gerge Colman was born in Florence in 1732, where his father Francis Colman was British resident at the court of the Grand Duke of Tuscany . Colman's father died in 1733, after which the little boy was raised by William Pulteney , later Lord Bath. William Pulteney was married to a sister of Colman's mother, Mary Gumley.

Colman received his first education in a private school in Marylebone . He then attended Westminster School in London and then studied at Christ Church (Oxford) . In his early youth he became acquainted with several men in both educational establishments who subsequently made themselves famous as writers, including Robert Lloyd and Charles Churchill , who gave him a creditable rating in his Rosciad . In Oxford Colman also made the acquaintance of the parodist Bonnell Thornton , with whom he founded the weekly newspaper The Connoisseur , which existed from 1754 to 1756. After completing his studies at Oxford in 1755, he became a member of the Lincoln's Inn Bar Association and on his return to London in 1757 as a barrister . Although his friendship with David Garrick was not conducive to his career as a lawyer, he practiced his legal practice out of respect for the wishes of Lord Bath until his death.

At a relatively early stage, Colman exchanged his legal practice for poetry, especially drama . He has written over thirty successful plays, including translations from French. His very first play Polly Honeycombe (1760), a witty parody of the taste of his time for sentimental literature, met with great acclaim, which was further acclaimed in his comedy The Jealous Wife , which premiered on February 12, 1761 at the Drury Lane Theater , London . The latter piece is based on Henry Fielding's Tom Jones . With the death of Lord Bath in 1764 Colman fell into an inheritance that gave him a certain financial independence. The next year he published a metric translation of the Comedies of Terence (London 1765). In 1766 he wrote The Clandestine Marriage with Garrick , but Garrick's refusal to take on the role of Lord Ogleby led to an argument between the two authors.

In 1767, John Beard gave up oversight of the Covent Garden Theater stage and sold it to Colman, Harris, Powels and Rutherford. Because of Colman's decision to become co-owner of the theater, General Pulteney is said to have revoked his will in which he bequeathed extensive goods to Colman. The general, who died in the same year, left him with a considerable annual income. Colman then directed the Covent Garden Theater for seven years, during which time he directed several adaptations of Shakespeare's plays . In 1768 he was elected to the Literary Club , which at that time consisted of 12 members.

Since Colman fell out with his partners, he sold his stake in the Covent Garden Theater to James Leake in 1774 and acquired the small Haymarket Theater from Samuel Foote three years later , which he led to its prime. In 1785 Colman became almost completely paralyzed on one side, and from 1789 his mental powers were also severely impaired. He died in a mental hospital in Paddington on August 14, 1794 at the age of 62 .

Colman also wrote many prologues and epilogues, such as for Sheridan's The School for Scandal , and edited the plays by Ben Jonson and, in 1778, those by Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher . He also made arrangements of Beaumont and Fletcher's tragicomedy Bonduca , Ben Jonson's Epicœne and Volpone , and John Milton's Comus . He also translated the Ars poetica des Horace (1783); he also published an excellent transcription of Plautus ' Mercator for the Bonnell Thornton (1769–72) edition. As early as 1777, an incomplete collection of his Dramatic Works was published in 4 volumes. His Miscellaneous Works appeared in 3 volumes in 1787, and in the same year his Prose on Several Occasions Accompanied with Some Pieces in Verse came out in 3 volumes.

Drama (selection)

  • Polly Honeycombe , 1760
  • The Jealous Wife , 1761 (German The jealous wife , 1764)
  • The Clandestine Marriage , with David Garrick , 1766 (German The secret marriage )
  • The English Merchant , 1767
  • The Man of Business , 1774

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Colman, George the Elder
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English writer
DATE OF BIRTH April 1732
PLACE OF BIRTH Florence
DATE OF DEATH August 14, 1794
Place of death London