Archives West Finding Aid

This collection of 130 titles (with various fragments) represents the work of more than fifty English playwrights. Notable authors include Sir George Etherege, Ben Jonson, Thomas Shadwell, and John Dryden (multiple works). The playwrights themselves are representative of varying social classes and backgrounds; the collection includes plays by multiple Poets Laureate, common actors, and university-educated men. Featuring work by members of the Whig Kit Kat Club, the materials could serve as a showcase of the professionalization of playwriting. The collection also includes pieces written as singular efforts; many of these plays are unanthologized and rare.

Though works of both tragedy and tragicomedy are represented in the collection, most of the plays are grounded in sexual comedy and flirtation; the plotlines show a secondary focus on women and humorous, foppish characters. The majority of the items are unbound and fragmented, as they were likely used to make "sophisticated" copies (items made complete by adding missing portions from other copies). Most commonly, the body of the text remains largely intact; the introductory materials are frequently absent. Marginalia is included on some of the plays, and there are handwritten notes within the loose fragments at the end of the collection.