The Complete Plays of Frances Burney (Hardcover)

The first edition of the complete plays of Fanny Burney which is taken from the original manuscripts of her work. The edition will include a general introduction, headnotes to each play, explanatory notes and variant readings. It also reveals Burney in a hitherto little-known role as a comic and tragic dramatist and provides many new insights into her overall achievements. Fanny Burney (1752-1840) published relatively little during her lifetime: four novels, Evelina (1778), Cecilia (1782) and a pamphlet. In 1779 whe wrote The Witlings, a satire on the Bluestockings, but the play was never performed in case of possible scandal. Whilst a Keeper of the Robes of Queen Charlotte, Burney wrote historical tragedies, including The Siege of Pevensey, Hubert de Vere and Elberta and Edwy and Elgiva, which was performed at Drury Lane in 1795, but was an immediate commercial failure.