Actress in 18th century England

Tarley

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I'm trying to research a particular actress who performed in the 1770/80's England and having no luck. I'd love to find some archive with playbills but so far I haven't found anything online that goes back far enough. Maybe I'm just Google-challenged... but I would think such theatre history would be *somewhere* online. Any thoughts would be really appreciated. :)
 

Marlys

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Try Google Books, 18th century newspapers (check your local public and university libraries for access; otherwise see whether you can get a free trial or pay for one month only for something like The Times), your local library for theater history books that aren't online.
 

FrauleinCiano

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I tried looking at the British Library site to see what they had as far as digitized collections because I know Library of Congress's collections can sometimes be a godsend for older multimedia. Couldn't find any playbills viewable online, but they have an extensive newspaper archive going back to the 1700s right here. Maybe searching the actress might bring something up for you.
 

FrauleinCiano

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Lyra

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Click on I want this>view online> go
Just checked - it's working :)
(Plus I logged out of my account first, so it wasn't because it had my reader's card number)
 

Lyra

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I can understand you might not want to give her name, but if you could give an area - county where active, for example - it may be possible to point you elsewhere. England only? Or Scotland or Wales? People often say 'England' when they mean British Isles.
 

Tarley

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I do mean England. She apparently performed at Drury Lane and Haymarket in the 1770's but that's where I'm running into problems. I'm searching the British Library archives...so far no luck but it's fascinating nonetheless.
 

rtilryarms

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Message a name to me if you don't want to post and I might be able help.
 

Davy The First

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I do mean England. She apparently performed at Drury Lane and Haymarket in the 1770's but that's where I'm running into problems. I'm searching the British Library archives...so far no luck but it's fascinating nonetheless.

Darn. Was reading Phyllis Hartnoll's Concise History of Theatre yesterday. Now, miles away from it. Reveals a lot of actors of that time.
 

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I do mean England. She apparently performed at Drury Lane and Haymarket in the 1770's but that's where I'm running into problems. I'm searching the British Library archives...so far no luck but it's fascinating nonetheless.

Contact a scholar who studies the history of theater. Go to a physical library and check periodicals. On the 'net, try searching for her in Project Muse and JStor; you'll need to go to a library to actually download the .pdfs of articles.

The Clark Library at UCLA has a lot of 18th century theater resources; you might try asking there (via email) for resources to research or check.

Go to a public library or academic library and try the Dictionary of National Biography.