Front cover image for Bell's British theatre : consisting of the most esteemed English plays

Bell's British theatre : consisting of the most esteemed English plays

John Bell (Editor), George Cawthorn (Bookseller)
Print Book, English, 1797
Printed for, and under the direction of, George Cawthorn, British Library, Strand, London, 1797
Plays English 18th century
34 volumes : illustrations, portraits ; 15 cm (12mo)
10745655
v. 1. [1] Comus / John Milton. 1791. [12] The alchymist / Ben Jonson. 1791. [13] Love for love / William Congreve. 1791. [88] The rival queens / Nathaniel Lee. 1793
v. 2. [23] The Spanish fryar / John Dryden. 1791. [33] Boadicea / Richard Glover. 1791. [69] The minor / Samuel Foote. 1792. [74] The refusal / Colley Cibber. 1792
v. 3. [18] Cato / Joseph Addison. 1791. [9] Douglas / John Home. 1791. [7] The fair penitent / Nicholas Rowe. 1791. [26] Jane Shore / Nicholas Rowe. 1791. [72] The Roman father / William Whitehead. 1792
v. 4. [29] Every man in his humour / Ben Jonson. 1791. [37] The suspicious husband / Benjamin Hoadly. 1791. [54] The Grecian daughter / Arthur Murphy. 1792. [83] The choleric man / Richard Cumberland. 1793
v. 5. [46] Cleone / Robert Dodsley. 1792. [86] The discovery / Mrs. Frances Sheridan. 1792. [55] Isabella / Thomas Southerne. 1792. [75] She wou'd and she wou'd not / Colley Cibber. 1792
v. 6. [24] The distrest mother / Jean-Baptiste Racine. 1791. [25] The Earl of Essex / Henry Jones. 1791. [44] Medea / Richard Glover. 1792. [57] The gamesters / James Shirley and Charles Johnson. 1792. [84] The Battle of Hastings / Richard Cumberland. 1793
v. 7. [14] Love makes a man / Colley Cibber. 1791. [40] Alzira / François Marie Arouet de Voltaire. 1791. [79] The school for wives / Hugh Kelly. 1793. [81] The school for lovers / William Whitehead. 1793. v. 8. [2] The maid of the mill / Isaac Bickerstaffe. 1791. [11] Rule a wife and have a wife / John Fletcher and Francis Beaumont. 1791. [31] The careless husband / Colley Cibber. 1791. [85] The revenge / Edward Young. 1792
v. 9. [16] The orphan / Thomas Otway. 1791. [41] The country lasses / Charles Johnson. 1792. [39] She stoops to conquer / Oliver Goldsmith. 1791. [27] Edward the Black Prince / William Shirley. 1791
v. 10. [22] The beaux stratagem / George Farquhar. 1791. [64] The gamester / Edward Moore. 1792. [76] The double gallant / Colley Cibber. 1792. [87] Theodosius / Nathaniel Lee. 1793
v. 11. [5] The beggar's opera / John Gay. 1791. [20] The chances / Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher. 1791. [45] The miser / Henry Fielding. 1792. [66] The foundling / Edward Moore. 1792
v. 12. [35] A bold stroke for a wife / Mrs. Susanna Centlivre. 1791. [52] All in the wrong / Arthur Murphy. 1792. [68] The brothers / Richard Cumberland. 1792. [90] The siege of Damascus / John Hughes. 1793
v. 13. [4] Love in a village / Isaac Bickerstaff. 1791. [19] The country girl / William Wycherley. 1791. [28] The conscious lovers / Sir Richard Steele. 1791. [53] The recruiting officer. George Farquhar. 1792
v. 14. [42] The fair Quaker of Deal / Charles Shadwell. 1792. [51] Tancred and Sigismunda / James Thomson. 1792. [58] George Barnwell / George Lillo. 1792. [78] The clandestine marriage / George Colman and David Garrick. 1792. v. 15. [6] Venice preserved / Thomas Otway. 1791. [36] Lady Jane Gray / Nicholas Rowe. 1791. [43] Oedipus / John Dryden and Nathaniel Lee. 1791. [47] Ximena / Colley Cibber. 1792
v. 16. [15] The busy body / Mrs Susannah Centlivre. 1791. [48] All for love / John Dryden. 1792. [56] The constant couple / George Farquhar / 1792. [38] The Carmelite / Richard Cumberland. 1791
v. 17. [8] Zara / [Voltaire]. 1791. [50] The way to keep him / Arthur Murphy. 1792. [67] The good natured man / Oliver Goldsmith. 1792. [70] The Earl of Warwick / Thomas Francklin. 1792
v. 18. [30] Philaster / Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher. 1791. [32] The provok'd husband / Sir John Vanbrugh and Colley Cibber. 1791. [80] The fashionable lover / Richard Cumberland. 1793. [82] The Countess of Salisbury / Hall Hartson. 1793
v. 19. [10] The mourning bride / William Congreve. 1791. [34] Oroonoko / Thomas Southerne. 1791. [59] The West Indian / Richard Cumberland. 1792. [89] King Charles I / William Havard. 1793
v. 20. [21] The tender husband / Sir Richard Steele. 1791
[63] The committee / Sir Robert Howard. 1792. [71] The natural son / Richard Cumberland. 1792. [73] The jealous wife / George Colman. 1792
v. 21. [3] The school for fathers / Isaac Bickerstaffe. 1791. [60] The hypocrite / Colley Cibber. 1792. [62] The wonder / Mrs. Susannah Centlivre. 1792. [65] Amphitryon / John Dryden. 1792. v. 22. [17] The Albion queens / John Banks. 1791. [49] Tamerlane / Nicholas Rowe. 1792. [61] The city wives' confederacy / John Vanbrugh. 1792. [77] The drummer / Joseph Addison. 1792
v. 23. [129] The fatal curiousity / George Lillo. 1796. [95] Merope / François Marie Arouet de Voltaire. 1795. [105] Mahomet / François Marie Arouet de Voltaire. 1795. [106] Cymon / David Garrick. 1795. [122] The plain dealer / William Wycherley. 1796
v. 24. [101] The lady's last stake / Colley Cibber. 1795. [102] Cyrus / John Hoole. 1795. [103] Cleonice / John Hoole. 1795. [137] The orphan of China / Arthur Murphy. 1797
v. 25. [115] The gentle shepherd / Allan Ramsay. 1796. [116] The mistake / Sir John Vanbrugh. 1796. [117] The ambitious step-mother / Nicholas Rowe. 1795. [123] Irene / Samuel Johnson. 1796
v. 26. [93] Mariamne / Elijah Fenton. 1794. [100] Barbarossa / John Brown. 1795. [108] The relapse / Sir John Vanbrugh. 1795. [109] Eurydice / David Mallet. 1795
v. 27. [91] The provok'd wife / Sir John Vanbrugh. 1794. [94] The royal convert / Nicholas Rowe. 1795. [104] The man of the world / Charles Macklin. 1795. [92] The funeral / Sir Richard Steele. 1794
v. 28. [96] The double dealer / William Congreve. 1795. [97] The old batchelor / William Congreve. 1795. [98] Henry II / Thomas Hull. 1795. [128] Phaedra and Hippolitus / Edmund Smith. 1796. v. 29. [126] Pericles, Prince of Tyre / William Shakespeare. 1796. [127] Busiris, King of Egypt / Edward Young. 1796. [140] Albina, Countess Raimond / Hannah Cowley. 1797. [131] The rehearsal / George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham. 1796
v. 30. [99] False delicacy / Hugh Kelly. 1795. [111] A word to the wise / Hugh Kelly. 1795. [112] The school for rakes / Mrs. Elizabeth Griffith. 1795. [139] The brothers / Edward Young. 1797
v. 31. [110] Falstaff's wedding / William Kenrick. 1795. [130] Sir Harry Wildair / George Farquhar. 1796. [132] Caractacus / William Mason. 1796. [134] Lucius Junius Brutus / Nathaniel Lee. 1796
v. 32. [107] The inconstant / George Farquhar. 1795. [113] Edward and Eleanora / James Thomson. 1795. [118] The twin rivals / George Farquhar. 1795. [124] Gustavus Vasa / Henry Brooke. 1796
v. 33. [119] Bonduca / Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher. 1796. [121] Zenobia / Arthur Murphy. 1796. [125] The way of the world / William Congreve. 1796. [136] The school for guardians / Arthur Murphy. 1797
v. 34. [114] Timanthes / John Hoole. 1795. [120] The chapter of accidents / Sophia Lee. 1796. [133] Elfrida / William Mason. 1796. [135] Samson Agonistes / John Milton. 1797. [138] Creusa, queen of Athens / William Whitehead. 1797
Each play has separate title page and pagination, added engraved title page, and frontispiece
Each of the 140 plays originally issued separately by either John Bell (1-106, 108, 111, 114, 118) or George Cawthorn (107, 109-110, 112-113, 115-117, 119-140) from 1791-1797; their original issue number is indicated in the contents notes by brackets. Cf. A bibliography in short-title catalog form of Bell's British theatre, 1791-1797 / compiled by William J. Cameron
Some, but not all, volumes have plates