Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Glapthorne, Henry

by Arthur Henry Bullen

GLAPTHORNE, HENRY (fl. 1639), dramatist, of whom no biographical particulars have come down, published:

1. A tragedy, 'Argalus and Parthenia. As it hath been Acted at the Court before their Maiesties: And at the Private-House in Drury-Lane, By thier Maiesties Servants,' 1639, 4to.
2. 'The tragedy of Albertvs Wallenstein. … Acted with good allowance at the Globe on the Banke-side, by his Majesties Servants,' 1639, 1640, 4to; dedicated 'To the great Example of Vertue and Trve Mecenas of Liberall Arts, Mr. William Murrey of his Majesties Bed-chamber, 'with a prefatory copy of Latin iambics by Alexander Gill (1597-1642) [q. v.]
3. 'The Hollander. A Comedy written 1635,' 1640, 4to, dedicated to Sir Thomas Fisher, knight.
4. 'Wit in a Constable. A Comedy written in 1639,' 1640, 4to, dedicated to Thomas, lord Wentworth.
5. 'The Ladies Priviledge, 1640, 4to, a comedy dedicated to Sir Frederick Cornwallis. The last three plays were acted at the Cockpit in Drury Lane and at court.

Two tragedies of Glapthorne, 'The Duchess of Fernandina' and 'The Vestal,' were entered in the Stationers' Register, 9 Sept. 1653, but were not printed. Another tragedy, 'The Paraside, or Revenge for Honor,' was entered 29 Nov. 1653 as the work of Glapthorne. This is probably the play published in 1654 under the title of 'Revenge for Honour,' with Chapman's name on the title-page. Chapman had certainly no hand in it, but it may have been revised by Glapthorne. 'The Noble Trial,' entered 29 June 1660, is to be identified with 'The Lady Mother,' a comedy preserved in Egerton MS. 1994, and printed in vol. ii. of Bullen's 'Collection of Old English Plays.' A note at the end of the manuscript copy, in the handwriting of William Blagrave (assistant to Sir Henry Herbert, master of the revels), shows that 'The Lady Mother' was licensed in October 1635; and from a passage in ii. 1 it would seem that the play was produced at Salisbury Court Theatre in Whitefriars. Glapthorne's plays are not of high merit; he had little dramatic power, but occasionally writes with grace. In 1639 he published a thin volume of indifferent 'Poems,' which he dedicated to Jerome [Weston], earl of Portland. Several pieces are addressed to a lady whom he designates as Lucinda; one is headed 'To Lucinda, he being in prison.' In 1641 he edited 'Poems Divine and Humane,' of his friend Thomas Beedome [q. v.], prefixing an address to the reader, and commendatory verses in Latin and English. His last publication was 'Whitehall. A Poem. Written 1642. With Elegies,' &c., 1643, dedicated 'To my noble Friend and Gossip, Captaine Richard Lovelace.' The elegies are of small account, but 'Whitehall' is not without interest. Glapthorne's works (with the exception of 'The Lady Mother') were collected in 1874, 2 vols.

[Memoir prefixed to vol. i. of Glapthorne's Plays and Poems, 1874; Retrospective Review, x. 122-59; Bullen's Collection of Old English Plays, ii. 101-2.]

A. H. B.