The Counterfeit Bridegroom: Or, the Defeated Widow. a Comedy, As It is Acted at His Royal Highness the Duke's Theatre. [in Verse. an Adaptation, S Anonymous

Publisher Marketing: Title: The Counterfeit Bridegroom: or, the Defeated widow. A comedy, as it is acted at His Royal Highness the Duke's Theatre. [In verse. An adaptation, sometimes attributed to Thomas Betterton, of "No Wit, No Help like a Woman," by Thomas Middleton.]Publisher: British Library, Historical Print EditionsThe British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. It is one of the world's largest research libraries holding over 150 million items in all known languages and formats: books, journals, newspapers, sound recordings, patents, maps, stamps, prints and much more. Its collections include around 14 million books, along with substantial additional collections of manuscripts and historical items dating back as far as 300 BC. The POETRY & DRAMA collection includes books from the British Library digitised by Microsoft. The books reflect the complex and changing role of literature in society, ranging from Bardic poetry to Victorian verse. Containing many classic works from important dramatists and poets, this collection has something for every lover of the stage and verse. ++++The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to insure edition identification: ++++ British Library Anonymous; Middleton, Thomas; 1677. 58 p.; 4 . 643.d.13. Contributor Bio:  Middleton, Thomas Thomas Middleton (1570-1627) was an English dramatist, who excelled in both comedy and tragedy. Whilst his so-called 'city comedies' provide insight into 17th-century London life and manners, his tragedies are noted for their richly poetic verse, their emphasis on guilt and corruption, and their understanding of feminine psychology. His admirer T. S. Eliot wrote: "Middleton was a great observer of human nature, without fear, without sentiment, without prejudice." Middleton's first plays were acted by boy companies at Blackfriars Theatre and other venues. He often worked in collaboration with other dramatists for the theatre owner Philip Henslowe. With Thomas Dekker (c. 1570-1632) he wrote "The Honest Whore "(1604) and "The Roaring Girl "(1610), and with William Rowley he produced the powerful tragedy "The Changeling "(1622). Some modern scholars also believe that the texts we now have of Shakespeare's "Macbeth "and "Measure for Measure "were substantially altered by Middleton. "The Revenger's Tragedy" (1606) is now generally attributed to Middleton, rather than Cyril Tourneur. Middleton's social comedies include "A Trick to Catch the Old One" (1604-05), which provided the basis for Philip Massinger's "A New Way to Pay Old Debts "(1623), "A Mad World, My Masters "(1605), which introduced Sir Bounteous Progress, a lively country gentleman who is generous to all except his heir Dick Follywit, and" A Chaste Maid in Cheapside" (1619), which satirized ordinary Londoners. Other works include the tragedy "Women Beware Women "(1621) and the political satire "A Game of Chess "(1624), about the futile efforts to unite the royal houses of England (represented by the White Knight) and Spain (the Black Knight). The play drew huge crowds to the Globe Theatre but the Spanish ambassador protested and James I had "A Game of Chess" banned after only nine performances. It proved equally popular in print.