| Summary: | The aim of this edition is to present an old-spelling, critical text of The Great Favourite; or, the Duke of Lerma (1668), a tragicomedy attributed to Sir Robert Howard. The thesis begins with a literary introduction which, after a brief survey of Howard's life, and a discussion of his literary career, examines the historical background of the play (including possible historical sources), and evaluates the various claims put forward concerning the play's authorship. The candidate most frequently proposed is John Ford. In an attempt to keep the question of attribution in perspective, this introduction considers, too, the political background against which the play was written, and the relationship between The Great Favourite and Howard's other works (which reveal the influence of both Jacobean and Restoration dramatic tastes and techniques). The literary introduction concludes with a critical appreciation of the play in its own right. The text has been prepared from a copy of the first edition, collated with five other copies of the same edition and with all subsequent editions. It is preceded by a bibliographical introduction which includes a statement of the principles on which the present edition is based. A commentary attempts to provide such textual, critical, and explanatory material as may assist the reader's understanding and appreciation of the play. Emendations are recorded at the foot of the relevant page of the text and appendices record alterations in lineation, historical collation details, and an interesting discrepancy in the binding of the early gatherings of copies of the first edition. other appendices look at contemporary satire directed against Howard, explore a connexion between Howard and Milton, and provide details of the contact between Rubens and the Duke of Lerma that resulted in an equestrian portrait of the great favourite (reproduced as the frontispiece to the present edition).
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