Samuel Crisp (1707 – 24 April 1783) was an English dramatist. He is known for the play ''Virginia'', produced at

Drury Lane Drury Lane is a street on the boundary between the Covent Garden and Holborn areas of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. The northern part is in the borough of London Borough of Camden, Camden and the southern part in the City o ...

in 1754.

Life

He was baptised on 14 November 1707. His father Samuel Crisp, a London merchant, was a grandson of the theologian Tobias Crisp; his mother was Florence, daughter of Charles Williams. Crisp was educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

. By the age of thirteen he had lost both his parents; he was a residuary legatee and he is not known to have followed a profession. He led the life of a dilettante. He lived in Italy for a few years, studying art and music, returning in 1740. In England he knew Fulke Greville and the music historian

Charles Burney Charles Burney (7 April 1726 – 12 April 1814) was an English music historian, composer and musician. He was the father of the writers Frances Burney and Sarah Burney, of the explorer James Burney, and of Charles Burney, a classicis ...

. At the request of the Countess of Coventry he wrote the play ''

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

'', a tragedy based on the story of

Appius Appius (), feminine Appia, is a Latin praenomen, or personal name, usually abbreviated Ap. or sometimes App., and best known as a result of its extensive use by the patrician '' gens Claudia''. The praenomen also gave rise to the patronymic '' ge ...

and

Verginia Verginia, or Virginia (c. 465 BC449 BC), was the subject of an ancient Rome, ancient Roman story recounted in Roman historian Livy's text ''Ab Urbe Condita Libri (Livy), Ab Urbe Condita''. Upon a threat to her virtue, Verginia was killed by her ...

. The play was reluctantly accepted by

David Garrick David Garrick (19 February 1716 – 20 January 1779) was an English actor, playwright, Actor-manager, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of European theatrical practice throughout the 18th century, and was a pupil a ...

, who contributed prologue and epilogue, and in February 1754 it was produced at

, where it ran for eleven nights. Although there was little open censure, it was felt that an experiment had been made on the patience of the public which would not bear repetition. When a few weeks later ''Virginia'' appeared in print, the critics, particularly in the ''

Monthly Review The ''Monthly Review'' is an independent socialist magazine published monthly in New York City. Established in 1949, the publication is the longest continuously published socialist magazine in the United States. History Establishment Following ...

'', condemned plot, characters, and diction. Crisp, however, devoted himself to the task of revision, in the hope of being completely successful in the following year; but Garrick showed little disposition to bring the amended tragedy on the stage, and at length was obliged to return a decided refusal. Crisp was bitterly disappointed. "He became," wrote Macaulay, "a cynic and a hater of mankind". He sought retirement with his friend Christopher Hamilton at the latter's country-house, Chessington Hall. He remained after Hamilton's death in 1759, as a boarder of Hamilton's unmarried sister Sarah. Crisp was frequently visited by his sister, Mrs Sophia Gast of Burford, Oxfordshire, by his old friend and protégé Charles Burney, and by Burney's family; he was a close friend of Burney's daughter, the writer

Frances Burney Frances Burney (13 June 1752 – 6 January 1840), also known as Fanny Burney and later Madame d'Arblay, was an English satirical novelist, diarist and playwright. In 1786–1790 she held the post of "Keeper of the Robes" to Charlotte of Meckle ...

, and advised her on her writing. He died at Chessington on 24 April 1783, aged 76, and was buried in the parish church. A marble tablet was erected to his memory bearing lines by Burney. He was unmarried.

References

Attribution * {{DEFAULTSORT:Crisp, Samuel 1707 births 1783 deaths People educated at Eton College 18th-century English dramatists and playwrights