The Mermaid Series was a major collection of reprints of texts from English Elizabethan, Jacobean and Restoration drama. It was launched in 1887 by the British publisher Henry Vizetelly and under the general editorship of Havelock Ellis.[1] Around 1894 the series was taken over by the London firm of T. Fisher Unwin. Many well-known literary figures edited or introduced the texts. Some of the plays published had not been reprinted in recent editions, and most had dropped out of the stage repertoire.
The name alludes to the Mermaid Tavern in London. There has been a later New Mermaids Series.
The Best Plays of Beaumont and Fletcher
editNotes by John Strachey, two volumes
(volume I) The Maid's Tragedy - Philaster - The Wild Goose Chase - Thierry and Theodoret - The Knight of the Burning Pestle
(volume II) A King and No King - Bonduca - The Spanish Curate - The Faithful Shepherdess - Valentinian
The Best Plays of George Chapman
editEdited by William Lyon Phelps
All Fools - Bussy D'Ambois - The Revenge of Bussy D'Ambois - The Conspiracy of Charles, Duke of Byron - The Tragedy of Charles, Duke of Byron
The Complete Plays of William Congreve
editEdited by Alexander Charles Ewald
The Old Bachelor - The Double-Dealer - Love for Love - The Way of the World - The Mourning Bride
The Best Plays of Thomas Dekker
editNotes by Ernest Rhys
The Shoemaker's Holiday - The Honest Whore - Old Fortunatus - The Witch of Edmonton
The Best Plays of John Dryden
editEdited by George Saintsbury, two volumes
(Volume I) Almanzor and Almahide, or The Conquest of Grenada, parts 1 & 2 - Marriage A La Mode - Aureng-Zebe
(Volume II) All for Love - The Spanish Friar - Albion and Albanius - Don Sebastian
The Best Plays of George Farquhar
editEdited by William Archer
The Constant Couple - The Twin Rivals - The Recruiting Officer - The Beaux' Stratagem
Edited by Havelock Ellis
The Lover's Melancholy - 'Tis Pity She's a Whore - The Broken Heart - Love's Sacrifice - Perkin Warbeck
The Complete Plays of Robert Greene
editEdited by Thomas H. Dickinson
Alphonsus, King of Arragon - A Looking Glass for London and England - Orlando Furioso - Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay - James the Fourth - George-A-Green, the Pinner of Wakefield
The Best Plays of Thomas Heywood
editEdited by A. Wilson Verity, introduction by John Addington Symonds
A Woman Killed with Kindness - The Fair Maid of the West - The English Traveller - The Wise Woman of Hogsdon - The Rape of Lucrece
The Best Plays of Ben Jonson
editNotes by Brinsley Nicholson and C. H. Herford, three volumes
(Volume I) Every Man in His Humour - Every Man out of His Humour - The Poetaster
(Volume II) Bartholomew Fair - Cynthia's Revels; or, The Fountain of Self-Love - Sejanus His Fall
(Volume III) Volpone; or, The Fox - Epicœne; or, The Silent Woman - The Alchemist
The Best Plays of Christopher Marlowe
editNotes by Havelock Ellis, series introduction by John Addington Symonds
Tamburlaine the Great Part the First - Tamburlaine the Great Part the Second - Doctor Faustus - The Jew of Malta - Edward the Second
Also includes a biography of Christopher Marlowe and appendices.
The Best Plays of Philip Massinger
editNotes by Arthur Symons, two volumes
(Volume I) The Duke of Milan - A New Way to Pay Old Debts - The Great Duke of Florence - The Maid of Honour - The City Madam
(Volume II) The Roman Actor - The Fatal Dowry - The Guardian - The Virgin Martyr - Believe as You List
The Best Plays of Thomas Middleton
editIntroduction by Algernon Charles Swinburne, with Havelock Ellis, two volumes
(Volume I) A Trick to Catch the Old One - The Changeling - A Chaste Maid in Cheapside - Women Beware Women - The Spanish Gypsy
(Volume II) The Roaring Girl - The Witch - A Fair Quarrel - The Mayor of Queensborough - The Widow
Nero and Other Plays (1888)
editEdited by H. P. Horne, A. W. Verity, Arthur Symons and Havelock Ellis
Nero (anonymous) - The Two Angry Women of Abington (Henry Porter) - The Parliament of Bees (John Day) - Humour Out of Breath (John Day) - A Woman is a Weathercock (Nathan Field)- Amends for Ladies (Nathan Field)
The Best Plays of Thomas Otway
editNotes by Roden Noel
Don Carlos, Prince of Spain - The Orphan - The Soldier's Fortune - Venice Preserved
The Best Plays of Thomas Shadwell
editEdited by George Saintsbury
The Sullen Lovers - A True Widow - The Squire of Alsatia - Bury Fair
The Best Plays of James Shirley
editIntroduction by Edmund Gosse
The Witty Fair One - The Traitor - Hyde Park - The Lady of Pleasure - The Cardinal - The Triumph of Peace
The Complete Plays of Richard Steele
editEdited by G. A. Aitken
The Funeral - The Lying Lover - The Tender Husband - The Conscious Lovers - The School of Action - The Gentleman
The Select Plays of Sir John Vanbrugh
editEdited by A. E. H. Swain
The Relapse - The Provok'd Wife - The Confederacy - A Journey to London
Notes by John Addington Symonds
The White Devil (Webster) - The Duchess of Malfi (Webster) - The Atheist's Tragedy (Tourneur) - The Revenger's Tragedy (Tourneur, but now usually attributed to Thomas Middleton)
The Complete Plays of William Wycherley
editEdited by W. C. Ward
Love in a Wood - The Gentleman Dancing Master - The Country Wife - The Plain Dealer
Online editions
editBeaumont and Fletcher I • Beaumont and Fletcher II • George Chapman • William Congreve • Thomas Dekker • John Dryden I • John Dryden II • George Farquhar • John Ford • Robert Greene • Thomas Heywood • Ben Jonson I • Ben Jonson II • Ben Jonson III • Christopher Marlowe • Philip Massinger I • Philip Massinger II • Thomas Middleton I • Thomas Middleton II • Nero and Other Plays • Thomas Otway • Thomas Shadwell • James Shirley • Richard Steele • Sir John Vanbrugh • Webster and Tourneur • William Wycherley
References
edit- ^ Mermaid Series, seriesofseries.com. Retrieved on 28 November 2016.