Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Celesia, Dorothea
CELESIA, DOROTHEA (1738–1790), poet and dramatist, daughter of David Mallet, the poet, by his first wife Susanna, was baptised at Chiswick on 11 Oct. 1738 (Memoir of Mallet prefixed to his Ballads and Songs, by F. Dinsdale). As a child she was remarkable for brightness. Thomson, in a letter to Mallet, dated 9 Aug. 1745, speaks of his having met ‘two servants of yours, along with charming little Dolly.’ In early life she was married to Signor Pietro Paolo Celesia, a Genoese patrician, who while residing here as ambassador from 1755 to 1759 had been honoured by admission to the Royal Society and Society of Antiquaries. Mrs. Celesia accompanied her husband on his return to Italy in 1759, and thenceforward resided at Genoa, except for one brief interval in 1784, when Celesia was gazetted minister plenipotentiary to the court of Spain (Woodward and Cates, Encyclop. of Chronology, p. 299). During the summer of 1768 she wrote an adaptation of Voltaire's ‘Tancrède’ and offered it to Garrick, who had been her father's friend and her guest while travelling in Italy (Private Correspondence of Garrick, 1831–2, i. 354, 379, 399, 415). After undergoing some modifications at the hands of Garrick the piece, under the title of ‘Almida,’ was brought out at Drury Lane on 12 Jan. 1771, with a well-written prologue by W. Whitehead, Garrick himself contributing the epilogue. Thanks to Mrs. Barry's inimitable performance as the heroine, aided by some excellent scenery, the play kept the boards for about ten nights, a success far beyond its merits, for while the numbers are uncouth, the plot where it deviates from the original is improbable (Baker, Biographia Dramatica, 1812, i. 97, ii. 20). It was printed the same year with the title ‘Almida, a Tragedy, as it is performed at the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane, by a Lady,’ 8vo, London, 1771. The year following there appeared ‘Indolence, a poem, by the author of Almida,’ 4to, London, 1772, which is commonplace. Mrs. Celesia died at Genoa in September 1790 (Scots Mag. liii. 203). Her husband, who filled several important offices in the legislature of his native city, survived until 12 Jan. 1806.
[Genest's History of the Stage, v. 295–7.]