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Howard, Sir Robert, 1677

 File — Box: 1, Folder: 11

Scope and Content

Two documents pertaining to monies received or owed, one with a red wax seal. Handwriting difficult to read due to English style of 17th century.

Dates

  • Creation: 1677

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Advance notice is required for access.

Biographical note

Sir Robert Howard, (b. 1626, England—d. Sept. 3, 1698), English dramatist, remembered chiefly for his dispute with John Dryden on the use of rhymed verse in drama.

Howard was knighted by the royalists in 1644 and was imprisoned during the Commonwealth, but after the Restoration he was elected to Parliament and ultimately became a member of the Privy Council. His proud and pretentious character provoked frequent attacks.

Of Howard’s plays, the best were The Indian Queen (first performed 1664), a tragedy written in collaboration with Dryden; and The Committee (first performed 1662), a comedy of humours that satirized the Commonwealth regime and gained durable popularity from the character of the Irish footman Teague.

Howard’s preface to Four New Plays (1665) began his dispute with Dryden, who had married Howard’s sister, Lady Elizabeth Howard, in 1663. In his preface Howard opposed Dryden’s dedicatory epistle to The Rival Ladies (1664), which held that rhyme was better suited to heroic tragedy than blank verse. Dryden replied in Of Dramatick Poesie, an Essay (1668). In the preface to The Duke of Lerma (1668), Howard replied in a rather more personal tone, but Dryden had the final word in the crushing Defence of an Essay of Dramatick Poesie prefaced to The Indian Emperour (1667).

"Sir Robert Howard." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2010. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 24 Nov. 2010 http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/273466/Sir-Robert-Howard

Extent

From the Collection: 0.42 Linear Feet (1 legal-size document box)

Language of Materials

From the Collection: English

Repository Details

Part of the USC Libraries Special Collections Repository

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