The Augustan Reprint Society

THE

HARLOT'S PROGRESS

THEOPHILUS CIBBER

(1733)

and

THE

RAKE'S PROGRESS

(MS., Ca. 1778-1780)

Introduction by

Mary F. Klinger

PUBLICATION NUMBER 181

WILLIAM ANDREWS CLARK MEMORIAL LIBRARY

University of California, Los Angeles

1977

GENERAL EDITORS

ADVISORY EDITORS

CORRESPONDING SECRETARY

EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

[pg i]

INTRODUCTION

The prints and engraved sequences of William Hogarth (1697-1764) inspired a wide range of dramatic entertainments throughout the eighteenth century. The types include comedy of manners (The Clandestine Marriage, 1766), burletta with tableau vivant (Ut Pictura Poesis! 1789), specialty act (A Modern Midnight Conversation, 1742), cantata (The Roast Beef of Old England, ca. 1759), ballad opera (The Decoy), [1] pantomime (The Jew Decoy'd and The Harlot's Progress, 1733), and a morality ballad opera (The Rake's Progress, ca. 1778-1780). Two of these are reprinted here. Theophilus Cibber's "Grotesque Pantomime Entertainment" of Hogarth's six-scene series "A Harlot's Progress" (1732), entitled THE HARLOT'S PROGRESS; or The Ridotto Al'Fresco," was first published 31 March 1733 for its Drury Lane debut as an afterpiece. [2] Less familiar is the anonymous "Dramatised Version" of Hogarth's eight-print sequence "A Rake's Progress" (1735), British Library Add. MS. 25997, entitled The Rake's Progress. [3]

Of critical interest in looking at the engravings along with the dramas they inspired is the evidence provided of significant visual-verbal reciprocities in the period. In particular, it shows one aspect of the interrelationship operative between (1) creation of the prints, with the artist often relying perceptibly on dramatic literature and theatrical sets, [4] and (2) inspiration from print to theater, as playwrights generated new stage pieces based on the graphic works. Moreover, these two dramas underscore the importance of music in eighteenth century theater where the use of songs in pantomimes and new lyrics for old tunes in ballad opera were alike commonplace by mid-century. [5] The plays lend support to Bertrand Bronson's observation that, in an age which "thought Man the proper study of Mankind," it is not surprising that the "major emphasis (and accomplishment) in music should be dramatic and, in a broad sense, social." [6] These dramas add visual and musical insights to literary concerns of the time.

In "A Harlot's Progress" (1732) Hogarth's six prints recount a few years in the young life of "M. Hackabout" from [pg ii] her innocent arrival in London (from Yorkshire) through debauchery, prostitution, and theft to death from venereal disease at the age of 23. Hogarth's engraved sequence shows about 12 characters, including Moll's child and supernumerary harlots at her funeral. The stage piece by Colley Cibber's son entitled The Harlot's Progress consists solely of stage directions and verses set to six "Airs." It has 27 characters, including a "little Harlequin Dog." The harlot's new name, "Kitty," probably refers to the actress (Mrs. Raftor, later Kitty Clive) who initially played this role. The music for the songs seems to be lost, though many tunes can be identified. [7] Furthermore, Roger Fiske reports that later in 1733 this work was offered at Bartholomew Fair with a band that included "oboes, bassoons, horns, trumpets, drums and strings." Though traditionally The Harlot's Progress has been treated as pantomime, Fiske considers it a "mixture of masque, ballad opera and pantomime." [8] Actually Cibber's piece, with its concluding "Masque," more closely fits Paul Sawyer's definition of pantomime as "a mixture of comic (sometimes called grotesque) elements" concerning the love adventures and misadventures of Harlequin and Columbine, "largely in dumb show," but "occasionally interspersed with songs and dances." [9] In addition, Sawyer notes, there is a "serious part," usually drawn from mythology, featuring dancing, recitative, song, and some dialogue. In the present case, this would be the masque of "The Judgment of Paris" which concludes The Harlot's Progress (p. 12).

On the stage, Cibber shifts the Hogarthian tone from an ineluctable moral formula (the wages of sin equal death) to one that transforms social and moral punishment into lyrical pageantry. To accomplish this, he uses the mechanical humor of harlequinade and omits three grim occasions portrayed by Hogarth: Hackabout's apprehension by Sir John Gonson in a garret (Pl. 4), her early death from venereal disease (Pl. 5), and her funeral with its morally dubious mourners (Pl. 6). Cibber replaces the potential moral commentary of these three prints with stage antics and dance. Cibber's harlot "Kitty" is sent to Bridewell like Hogarth's Moll Hackabout (Pl. 4), but her punishment there turns magically into a dance.

The "Keeper" forces her and other women to beat hemp, but the blocks suddenly disappear; in their stead appear her [pg iii] lover Harlequin, with Scaramouch and others, and all "dance off" to the "Ridotto al'Fresco," while the Keeper "runs away frighted." The threat of punishment vanishes with the blocks. At the "Ridotto," in a stage set depicting a Vauxhall scene, people appear in masquerade, and a grand "Comic Ballad" is performed to various musical tunes. But this is not the end of the pantomime, for yet to come is "The Judgment of Paris," John Weaver's "Dramatic Entertainment" after the "Manner of the Ancient Greeks and Romans," which had premiered in February 1733. [10]

Though he was quite consciously imitating Hogarth's "Celebrated Designs," Cibber's directions do not specify that costuming duplicate Hogarth's contemporary London figures such as the notorious Mother Needham, Colonel Charteris (Pl. 1), Justice Gonson (Pl. 4), or the quarreling doctors Misaubin and Rock at Moll's deathbed (Pl. 5). [11] In addition to changing the name "M. Hackabout" to "Kitty" the "Country Girl," Cibber dubs his Charteris character "Old Debauchee," Needham "Madame Decoy," and the Jew who keeps Kitty, "Beau Mordecai."

The comic element asserts itself in the first stage scene as Harlequin hides in Kitty's trunk and then disguises himself as a cadet, imitating Hackabout's lover in Hogarth's second print. During this stage trick, Madame Decoy sings new verses to an eighteenth century ballad celebrating the innocent beauties of rural poverty (Air I, "What tho' I am a Country Lass"). Clearly, audiences familiar with the more biting pictorial scenes of a harlot's life would be easily diverted, even relieved, by the elaborate mixture of Greek and Italian elements, and the flourish of songs in the parodic ballad opera tradition. Cibber of course capitalized on the occasion, popularity, and familiarity of Hogarth's six prints in 1733, but his theatrical realization clarifies the quality of pantomimic entertainment with its numerous contemporary graphic allusions, revealing an aborted moral embellished by a splay of music and masque.

Theophilus Cibber's entertainment was quite successful on the London stage, having a good run at the patent theaters and the fairs in 1733 and for a while thereafter. [12] Furthermore, it is related to an important event in Drury Lane history. Cibber seceded with a group of actors in May of 1733 from that theater [pg iv] because of management disputes. After playing at the fairs, the protesting actors performed at the Little Theatre in the Haymarket until the spring of 1734 when they returned to Drury Lane. In a letter to patentee John Highmore, Cibber wrote of the Harlot's Progress: "This entertainment (for which I am indebted to Mr. Hogarth's designs) the Town were pleased to approve of and encourage." But, he adds, it might have been performed "three months sooner than it was, but for the Obstructions I met with from my Partners." [13] This theatrical quarrel created much public discussion in the first decade of the century (LS, 3, 1, "Introduction," passim). Hogarth included in his print "Southwark Fair" (which came out after August 1733) a showcloth of John Laguerre's engraving "The Stage Mutiny," a print that in turn had been inspired by the actors' secession. Hogarth's additions to the Laguerre print demonstrate his close touch with these events (HGW, I, 156-7). [14] The Harlot's Progress provides us with a good example of the genre "Grotesque Pantomime," and throws much light on the London stage entertainment stream of an evening that included Hogarth, harlequin, Venus and Paris, as well as dancing and singing.

Hogarth's eight prints of "A Rake's Progress" of 1735 [15] provided the subject—the rise and fall of a libertine—for a morality ballad opera more than forty years later. The 15-scene stage piece, entitled The Rake's Progress, elaborates visually and musically the formula: follow virtue and avoid vice. The author clearly counted on audience familiarity with the graphic scenes many years after their appearance, and on an increased receptivity to explicit moralizing. This manuscript was submitted by the unknown playwright to Drury Lane sometime between September 1778 and June 1780. The possible date is most clearly focused in the Sheridans' joint management. Richard assumed the management in 1776 and held it to at least 1809, but his father Thomas managed it with his son only for the seasons 1778-1779 and 1779-1780. [16] I think it is therefore possible to suggest a date for the manuscript between September 1778 when Thomas Sheridan came to Drury Lane, and the end of the 1779-1780 theatrical season, when he left at the age of 61. [17] The piece was not performed.

Like the Cibber work, the text consists of stage directions [pg v] and songs. Allusions to Hogarth appear in title, characters, plot, and specific scenes. Moreover, a "transparency" introduces the artist in a literal stage portrait. This device praises Hogarth and reminds the audience of the graphic correspondences in dramatic form to come.

The Rake's Progress makes significant changes in the content of Hogarth's series, expanding characters and scenes, and altering the denouement somewhat from madness to suicide. New elements of music and clowning change his lugubrious didacticism to a lyrical warning in a form I call "morality ballad opera." The morality and masque features appear in such characters as "Virtue" and "Vice" who frame the piece, and "Liberty" and "Benevolence" who descend and ascend on a cloud, at the end taking Virtue with them. Not included in the theater version is Hogarth's depiction of the harsh realities of Bethlehem Hospital, or Bedlam, where spectators pay to gawk at the inmates, and where Rakewell's libertine journey ends dismally (Pl. 8). On the boards, the didacticism is even more emphatic. Rakewell shoots himself to background music which slows in tempo until it is "render'd as dismal as possible" and Virtue proclaims a triumph over the demonstrated "baneful influence of Vice."

In "A Rake's Progress" (1735), Hogarth depicts an inverse relationship between morality and the misuse of money. In the first of the eight prints, young Tom Rakewell inherits wealth from his miserly father and misspends it for the remainder of his life in copying the lifestyle of an aristocrat. His moral poverty is evident as he offers money to the mother of pregnant Sarah Young, his former girlfriend, who stands disconsolately poising a wedding ring. Letters containing his false promises to her clarify the situation. Material wealth is the cornerstone of this series as we next see the rake being measured by a tailor for new clothes while a lawyer pilfers cash; and an upholsterer's hammering to ready the room for mourning results in a shower of previously hidden gold coins (Pl. 1). The levee (Pl. 2) shows Rakewell in a fashionable morning gown, courted by a gardener, huntsman, and others, while a list of gifts from the nobility to opera star Farinelli includes a snuff box from Rakewell. His nocturnal taste shows in the Rose Tavern where he carouses and is himself raked by harlots (Pl. 3). As part of this debauched ambiance, a pregnant woman sings the bawdy [pg vi] ballad "Black Joke." In daylight, the faithful Sarah saves Rakewell from street arrest while a group of gamblers fills out the visual exposition of the rake's dissipation (Pl. 4). Saved by the middle class girl he ruined, Rakewell next weds a rich widow to recoup his losses. Sarah, her mother, and Rakewell's infant offspring unsuccessfully try to abort this clandestine wedding (Pl. 5). Rakewell's marriage of convenience cannot meet his needs, and he soon rails despairingly in a Covent Garden gambling house (Pl. 6). The juggernaut of vice presses on as he is jailed for debt in Fleet Street prison where he runs up more bills. A prisoner drops a "Scheme for paying y^e Debts of y^e Nation" to the floor as Sarah faints away and Rakewell's wife scolds (Pl. 7). The social nadir of Bedlam illumines darkly Rakewell's last loss—his reason—and this graphic anti-progress concludes, as it began, with Sarah's sorrow (Pl. 8).

What did the playwright do with Hogarth's harsh comment on the misappropriation of inherited wealth? He seems to have enhanced entertainment values and emphasized instruction at the same time. The drama embellishes the series by (a) adding stage links only imaginable by spectators of the print sequences, (b) framing the progress with a morality masque starring Virtue and Vice, and (c) replacing Hogarth's serious ironic tone with slapstick and songs drawn from stage musical fare, such as the burletta Poor Vulcan! by Charles Dibdin, which premiered in February 1778 (LS, 5, I, 109). Basically, Hogarth's eight prints of 1735 are transformed in part into a series of tableaux vivants which served, with variations, in the late 1770's as strong visual reminders for an audience already familiar with the original pictorial sequence.

For example, directions for the second scene attempt to put on the boards the initial print, adding music and slapstick as "money from the raftor falls into Clown's mouth." The play invites the spectator to follow Sarah and her mother after they leave Rakewell and listen to their duet, sung to the music of Air I of The Beggar's Opera. The lyrics change, so that Peachum's cynical comment "Through all the employments of life/Each neighbor abuses his brother" becomes "His vows, ah! Why did'st thou believe?/He ne'er meant a promise to keep," with the new association of Sarah's being cast off by Rakewell.

The drama closely follows the series for the rake's levee, where professionals "pay Court" to Rakewell. A new character, [pg vii] "Van Butchel," who sings in dialect, is added. The opportunism of those proffering services to the young man becomes clear in their musical medley when they announce they will "plunder him as fast as we can agree." At the Rose Tavern, stage directions for Rakewell state "the actor must let his intoxication gradually increase." Before Rakewell's arrest, the bailiff sings a solo. Sarah saves her lover, as in the sequence, but a small revelation of his character not in the print marks the incident: he "kisses her hand" before returning to his sedan chair.

The stage piece exploits the potential emotional element in such gestures to the point of sentimentality. For instance, Sarah's lament following Rakewell's marriage to the rich "Old Woman" shows grief driving her to despair; she sings "The Grave will extinguish my woes/Then Sarah—prepare thee to die" to the music of the seventeenth century ballad tune "Mary's Lamentation." The drama also exploits the sensational as the smoking fire in a Covent Garden gambling house (Hogarth's Pl. 5) becomes a public catastrophe with fire engines and furniture being carried into the street and "Confusion kept up as long as necessary."

In the jail scene, the rake turns out of his breeches a "Scheme to Pay the National Debt," a specific verbal echo of the Fleet Street print, and the prisoners sing a familiar tune ("Welcome, Brother Debtor") as musical background to his off-stage suicide. Then Virtue returns to ascend with "Liberty and Benevolence" on a cloud, able to relax now that Vice's influence has run its destructive course.

The Rake's Progress is an essentially uneven dramatic work. The playwright colors the didacticism of Hogarth's prints with music and farce, yet underscores it by adding Virtue and Vice and the melodrama of Rakewell's suicide and Sarah's probable death. The author capitalizes on the suspense of choice, characteristic of the morality play, by dramatizing it in conflicts between Vice and Virtue. Yet the effect remains unbalanced. This palpable form of Hogarth's visual satire loses much of its impact without a balance of serious, comic, and musical ingredients. Furthermore, the musical elements are so haphazardly distributed that they often contribute to a patchwork effect, as when the bailiff sings a solo prior to making an arrest.

Although The Rake's Progress purports to imitate Hogarth's [pg viii] "Comedy," where a "biginning, middle & an End/ Are Aptly join'd; where parts on parts depend,/ Each made for each, as Bodies for their Soul," the 15 scenes alternate too erratically between humor and melodrama to convey the artistic unity and moral conviction evident in the pictorial sequence. But this stage piece does demonstrate the persistence of Hogarth's visual presence in later eighteenth-century life along with the adaptability of his graphic scenes for the London theater.

Clearly Theophilus Cibber's comical, lyrical exploitation in The Harlot's Progress of Hogarth's designs exhibits a more coherent dramatic structure than the tentative, disjointed medley of music and moralism in The Rake's Progress. Further, Cibber's piece adds literary insight to our concept of the hardly dumb genre of pantomime, with its musical and masque components. The added melodrama and sentimentality in The Rake's Progress can help to index theatrical taste in the later period. For students of the century, both works demonstrate clearly an aspect of the reliance on Hogarth's art by playwrights. They also show the flexibility of the London stage in the use of elements of music and dance to link separate print scenes, and so attempt a bridge between the forms of art and drama. These two examples of the lively interplay operative between stage and print in the early and late decades heighten appreciation of the expectancies of cultural experiences of different audiences in the eighteenth century.

THE TUNES

The Harlot's Progress and The Rake's Progress are alike interesting for the parodic ballad opera pattern of setting new words to familiar tunes. Though neither work includes the music, some songs indicate familiar melodies such as "Let us take the road" from The Beggar's Opera. In The Harlot's Progress, the six "Airs" come from varied sources, with new lyrics by Theophilus Cibber. Of the approximately 24 unnumbered tunes and catches in The Rake's Progress, the most outstanding in connection with the print sequence is "Black Joke," Richard Leveridge's bawdy tune shown by Hogarth in the Rose Tavern print being sung by a pregnant woman (Pl. 5). In the stage piece, this song is part of a medley sung to Rakewell by the [pg ix] various professionals who compete for his money. The most important tunes are those from Poor Vulcan! the burletta by Charles Dibdin (February 1778), supporting my 1778-1780 date for The Rake's Progress manuscript.

The sources used to trace the musical airs include Claude Simpson's The British Broadside Ballad and Its Music (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1966); Minnie Sears' Song Index (and Supplement) (New York: Wilson Company, 1926 and 1934); Edythe N. Backus: Catalogue of Music Printed Before 1801 (San Marino, Cal.: The Huntington Library, 1949), and William Barclay Squire, "An Index of Tunes in the Ballad-Operas," The Musical Antiquary, II (October 1910), 1-17. [18] E. V. Roberts points out that "the lack of a ballad designation for a ballad-opera air usually means that the tune in question was composed specially for that ballad opera" and that, because most "unnamed tunes were unknown outside their ballad operas," they were "neither copied nor printed, and simply do not turn up in the collections." [19] The catches in The Rake's Progress are not traceable. The numbering for songs in The Rake's Progress is my own. Airs from both plays give us some idea of the rich musical treasure English stagewriters could draw upon for theatrical offerings in the eighteenth century. [20]

THE HARLOT'S PROGRESS

Air I: "What tho I am a Country Lass" is an eighteenth century ballad by Martin Parker printed in Orpheus Calendonius; or, A Collection of Scots Songs Set to Music by W[illiam] Thomson, II (London 1733), p. 85. Its first two lines are "Although I be but a Country Lass/Yet a lofty Mind I bear-a." It was used by Theophilus Cibber (as Air XII) in his 1732 one-act version of Charles Coffey's The Devil to Pay where the transformed cobbler's wife Nell sings: "Tho late I was a Cobler's Wife,/In cottage most obscure-a" (pp. 20-21). In The Harlot's Progress, this air, sung by Madame Decoy, is clearly appropriate for seducing Kitty-Moll into the world of bawds and prostitutes, with its theme of magical change and the conquest of innocence by vice.

[pg x]Air II: "Brisk Tom and Jolly Kate" is Air IX of Lacy Ryan's The Cobler's Opera (London 1729), which has tunes by Leveridge, Purcell, and others. The lyrics in Ryan's piece allude to Bridewell: "Pray; Sir, did I not give to you a Passage free/When Hemp did threaten," (pp. 14-15).

Air III: "Maggy Lawther" is a tune used by Theophilus Cibber (Air IX) in Patie and Peggy ... A Scotch Ballad Opera (London 1730), p. 10.

Air IV: "Oh! what Pleasures will abound" is Air VII of Henry Fielding's The Lottery (London 1732). Johann Pepusch composed the music for this air in collaboration with Lewis Theobald for the pantomime opera Perseus and Andromeda (1730). Fielding's name for the tune was "In Perseus and Andromeda."

Air V: "Lads a Dunce." The music is preserved in British Library Add. MS. 29371, fol. 30a, no. 45, and printed in Fielding's The Grub-Street Opera as Air II (ed. Edgar V. Roberts, Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1968), p. 92. Its composer is not known.

Air VI: "Maidens fresh as a Rose" appears as Air VI in Ebenezer Forrest's ballad opera Momus turn'd fabulist; or, Vulcan's Wedding, a work translated from the French of Fuzelier and Le Grand (London 1729), p. 12. It also could be the song in D'Urfey's Wit and Mirth: or, Pills to Purge Melancholy (1719), with a slightly different title, "Maiden fresh as a Rose," though the syllabic pattern does not seem to match: "Young buxome and full of jollity,/Take no Spouse among Beaux," (I, p. 57).

THE RAKE'S PROGRESS

Airs I-III are not traceable ("From Virue's sluggish Rules be free," "Mary's Dream" and "Alteration"). [pg xi]

Air IV: "Duett" to the tune "An Old Woman Cloathed in Gray" is the familiar first tune of John Gay's The Beggar's Opera, ed. Edgar V. Roberts (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1969), pp. 94-95.

Air V: Van Butchel's song ("See Martin dus his goods display") is not in the songbooks. Prof. Roberts suggests the lyrics could fit the music of "Lillibullero," sometimes used for songs in dialect. Henry Purcell wrote or arranged this Irish burden which was used in 12 ballad operas, including Fielding's Don Quixote in England (1733). Simpson (p. 454) gives one example in dialect: "By Creist my dear Morish vat makes de sho'shad" (ca. 1689).

Air VI: "Shelah O'Sudds" (to the tune "The Siege of Troy") is not traceable.

Air VII: "Medley. Tune, 'Petition Poor Vulcan'" is from Charles Dibdin's burletta Poor Vulcan! (London 1778) which begins: "The humble prayer and petition/Of Vulcan, who his sad condition" (I, 1, p. 7).

Air VIII: "Tune. Hunting Chorus, 'Poor Vulcan'" is the "Chorus and Air" from Dibdin's Poor Vulcan! It begins: "Blacksmith: 'Strike, strike, ton, ton ton, ron'/Huntsman: 'Sound, Sound, tan, ran, ran, tan'" (I, ii, p. 10).

Air IX: "Tune: 'Finale 1st act Poor Vulcan!'" seems to be the song "Pike; 'Pooltroon! Damnation! Zounds, unhand me;/ Either you villain, eat that word,'" (Poor Vulcan! I, p. 23).

Air X: "Medley. Tune, 'Black Joke'" is Leveridge's song of 1730. See E. V. Roberts, ed. Henry Fielding, The Grub-Street Opera (p. 105) and Charles Wood's The Author's Farce (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1966), p. 116.

Air XI: "Welcome, Brother Debtor" appears in many eighteenth-century song collections, including Henry Roberts' Calliope; or, English Harmony, a collection of ... English and Scots tunes (London, 1739-1749), p. 315.

Airs XII, XIII and XIV are not traceable. ("Medley tunes 'Stoney Batter,' 'Tyburn Tree,' and 'Ballance a Straw.'") [pg xii]

Air XV: "Bailiff's Song" has no tune and is not traceable.

Air XVI: "Mind the Golden Rule" is not identifiable.

Air XVII: "Tune 'Mary's Lamentation'" is the old ballad (set to the music of "Crimson Velvet"), the "lamentable complaint" of Queen Mary for the "unkind departure" of King Philip, "in whose absence she fell sick, and died," which begins "Mary doth complain;/Ladies be you moved," and appears in Richard Johnson's Crown Garland of Roses (1659), ed. Chappell, 1895. Though popular in the seventeenth century, it may have been written soon after Queen Mary's death in 1558 (Simpson, p. 141). Verses similar to Air XVII ("I Sigh and lament me in vain,/These Walls can but echo my moan,") appeared in Signior Giordani's "Queen Mary's Lamentation," printed in Domenico Corri's Select Collection of 1779 (III, No. 71).

Air XVIII: The "Clown's Song" seems to have been specially composed for this work.

Air XIX: "Tune: 'Let us take the Road'" is the famous "March in Rinaldo" by Handel. See Air XX, The Beggar's Opera (Act II, ed. Roberts, pp. 130-131).

Air XX: "Ballad Tune: 'The Race Horse'" with the title "The Rake's Progress." Thomas D'Urfey's tune is called "The Race Horse," and begins "To Horse, brave Boys of Newmarket, to Horse," and is "set to an excellent Scotch tune" called "Cock up thy Beaver" (Simpson, p. 112). It was first published with the music in D'Urfey's Choice New Songs (1684) and appears as an untitled air in Kane O'Hara's comic opera Midas (1764; ARS 167). It is also called "Newmarket," or "Newmarket Horse Race," Air XXII of the 1730 and 1750 versions of Fielding's The Author's Farce. The music is printed in Woods's edition of The Author's Farce, p. 133.

[pg xiii]

NOTES TO THE INTRODUCTION

[pg xv]

[pg xvi]

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

The facsimile of The Harlot's Progress (1733) is reproduced from the copy (Shelf Mark: 151783) in the Henry E. Huntington Library. The total type-page (p. 9) measures 155 x 115 mm. The Rake's Progress (ca. 1778-1780) is presented in type from a manuscript (Additional MS. 25997) in the British Library. Spelling, capitalization, and punctuation have been preserved, but colons and doubled colons used to indicate word divisions have been silently emended to hyphens or closed, and free-form brackets for stage directions have been standardized to parentheses.

THE

HARLOT'S PROGRESS;

OR, THE

RIDOTTO AL' FRESCO:

A

Grotesque Pantomime Entertainment.

As it is perform'd by his Majesty's Company of Comedians

AT THE

Theatre-Royal in Drury-Lane.

Compos'd by Mr. Theophilus Cibber, Comedian.

The SONGS made (to old Ballad Tunes) by a Friend.

Printed for the Benefit of Richard Cross the Prompter;

and Sold at the Theatre. 1733. [Price Six Pence.]

THIS

ENTERTAINMENT

Is Dedicated to the Ingenious

Mr. H O G A R T H,

(On Whose

Celebrated Designs it is Plan'd,)

By his Well-wisher,
and obliged
Humble Servant,

Theo. Cibber.

Saturday, March
31st, 1733.

Persons in the Harlot's Progress.

Persons in the Ridotto al' Fresco.

[pg 5]

THE

HARLOT'S PROGRESS;

OR THE

RIDOTTO AL FRESCO:

After the Overture, the Curtain rises;—the Scene represents an Inn; The Bawd, the Country Girl, the Debauchee and the Pimp, all rang'd as they are in the first Print.—The Parson on the Right Hand, reading the Letter, soon goes off——while the Bawd is persuading the Girl to go along with her, Harlequin appears at the Window, and seeing the Country Girl, jumps down, and gets into a Trunk which belongs to her, while the Bawd sings.

[pg 6] AIR I. What tho' I am a Country Lass.

After the Song, the Bawd beckons a Porter, orders him to take up the Trunk and follow her and the Girl, which he does, with Harlequin in it.—Then the Debauchee comes forward, who seems to be enamour'd with the Girl; the Pimp assures him he can procure her for him, upon which the Debauchee seems rejoic'd and sings in Praise of Women and Wine.

[pg 7] AIR II. Brisk Tom and Jolly Kate.

After the Song he follows her—the Pimp struts about and sings.

AIR III. Maggy Lawther.

[pg 8] After the Song he follows the Debauchee.—The Scene changes to the Street; the Debauchee having found Harlequin in Company with Miss Kitty, turns her out of Doors, and the Pimp kicks out Harlequin; Kitty goes out in the greatest Distress—Harlequin by his Action signifies he's in Love, and is in doubt whether to hang or drown himself, or cut his Throat, &c. At length he resolves to follow her, and determines to dress himself like a smart Cadet, in order to address her: To accomplish which he strikes the Ground, and there rises a Dressing-Table fix'd in a Cloud, furnish'd with all necessary Appurtenances.——After he is drest, the Table vanishes and he goes out. The Scene changes to the Lodging that Beau Mordecai has provided for Kitty, whom he has just taken into high Keeping. (This Scene is taken from the Second Print) she is discovered lolling upon a Settée, attended by her Maid and Black-Boy, admiring the Grandeur of which she is possess'd, and then sings.

AIR IV. Oh! what Pleasures will abound.

[pg 9] After the Song Harlequin creeps from under her Toilet, in the Habit of the Cadet, and courts Miss Kitty; she appears Coy at first, but at length yields to him.—Then sings.

AIR V. Lad's a Dunce.

After the Song they retire to the Bed; immediately is heard a knocking at the Door; the Maid looks out and perceives [pg 10] it to be the Jew, upon which she runs and tells her Mistress, who comes out with Harlequin in the utmost Confusion.—But she advises him to retire to the Bed, which he does; she sits down upon the Settée, and orders the Maid to let Mordecai in—when he enters he seems angry that she made him wait so long at the Door, but is soon pacify'd when he sees Kitty alone.—He sits down by her, and is very fond of her; then orders the Maid to get Tea, which she does—while they are drinking it, Kitty appears in Confusion, and makes Signs to the Maid to let Harlequin out; but while he is attempting to steal away, he accidentally drops his Sword and Cane, which surprizes the Jew, who turning about perceives Harlequin, upon which Miss Kitty in a Passion over-sets the Tea-Table.—The Jew enrag'd, runs to secure the Door, and is in the greatest Passion with her, she laughs at him, and they sing the following Duette.

AIR VI. Maidens as fresh as a Rose.

After the Song he turns her and her Maid out of Doors, then pursues Harlequin.—A Picture falls down, Harlequin jumps thro' the Hangings, and the Picture returns to its place and conceals him.—The Subject of the Picture, which was before an Historical Story, is now chang'd to a Representation of the Jew with Horns upon his Head.—While he stands in astonishment the other Picture changes likewise, and represents Harlequin and Kitty embracing—upon which the Jew runs out in the greatest surprize. Scene changes to the Street. Harlequin meets the Jew, who immediately draws; Harlequin catches him by the Leg, and throws him down, jumps over him, and runs off, the Jew pursues him.——The Scene changes to a poor Apartment in Drury-Lane. (This is taken from the Third Print) Kitty is discover'd sitting disconsolate by the Bedside, drinking of Tea, attended by Bess Brindle (a Runner to the Ladies of Pleasure) Harlequin jumps in at the Window; she seems overjoy'd to see him—just as they are going to sit down to drink Tea, they hear a Noise without—Harlequin looks thro' the Key-hole, and discovers it to be the Justice, Constable, Watch, &c. He is very much surpris'd, and jumps into a Punch-Bowl that stands upon a Table, to hide himself—Justice Mittimus enters with the Constable, [pg 12] &c. the Watch seize Kitty and the Runner, and carry 'em off.—The Constable stays behind to pilfer what he can, during which, Harlequin creeps from under the Table; the Constable seeing him, goes to seize him, but he jumps thro' the Window and escapes—the Constable runs off.—The Scene changes to the Street. A melancholy Tune is play'd, while several Ladies of Pleasure (alias unfortunate Women) are led cross the Stage as going to Bridewell, with Kitty and her Maid, the Bawd, &c. Three Justices bring up the Rear.—Scene changes to Bridewell. The Women are discover'd all leaning in an indolent manner upon their Blocks.—The Keeper enters, and seeing them so idle, threatens to beat 'em—as they take up their Hammers and Beetles, and are going to beat, the Blocks all vanish, and in their stead appear Harlequin, Scaramouch, Pierrot, and Mezetin, each takes out his Lady to dance, and signify they'll go to the Ridotto al Fresco; the Keeper runs away frighted, they all dance off.—Scene changes to the Street. A great Number of People pass over the Stage, as going to the Ridotto, among whom appears the Marquiss ae Fresco, perform'd by the little Harlequin Dog.

The Scene changes to the Ridotto al Fresco, illuminated with several Glass Lustres, (the Scene taken from the place at Vaux-Hall) Variety of People appear in Masquerade, and a grand Comic Ballad is perform'd by different Characters to English, Scotch, Irish and French Tunes, which concludes the whole.

Then follows the Masque of the Judgment of Paris, &C.

F I N I S.

The

Rake's Progress.

from W. Shaw.

The Rake's Progress.

("Hogarth's Series of Pictures Dramatised." P.G.P.)

25,997 British Museum

[pg 1] The Rake's Progress

Before the Curtain—Prefaratory Address.

Scene 1^st

Enter Vice.

[pg 2]

Enter Virtue.

Recitative.

Vice. But Virtue comes!—Offends my sickening Eye!

(Virtue touches the Scene & a Transparency of Hogarth appears with a Scrool in his hand on which is inscribed "The Rake's Progress.")

(Approaches to Destroy the Transparency.)

Recitative.

Before the Drop—Enter Virtue.

Air. Tune, "Mary's Dream."

[pg 3] Scene 2^nd (No Music.)

A Loud knocking at Street Door

Enter Starved Maid O.P.—She goes across so slow that the Knocking increases; just before she gets to the Door it is burst open by Rake (a Youth from College) follow'd by attorney, Upholsterer & Clown Servant. Rake flourishes about, kicks against Closet Door, breaks it open. (Tune "Alteration") takes Keys from thence—Opens an Iron chest, assisted by Clown—Rake scatters Cash about from out of Bags—Lawyer having sat down & produced a Paper with the Word "Inventory" written at Top, begins to count Cash, pocketing some at opportunities; Upholsterer fetches a Ladder & goes to work to take down Tapestry. Rake breaks open Bureau, throws parchments about; seeming to look for one in particular. Clown having observed the Lawyer pocke[ts] some Cash, places himself so near Lawyer, that he puts the money into Clown's pocket, supposing to have put it into his own. A Knocking at the Door obliges Clown to go. Taylor, with a Roll of Black Cloth, is introduced by Clown, much ceremony between Taylor & Clown.—Taylor proceeds & measures Rake. Clown gets his fingers snipp'd for interfering. The Door having been left open—Enter Starv'd Maid with wood; & goes to the Fireplace; Clown then looking at Upholsterer at Work, the money from the raftor falls into Clown's mouth, at which he Spits & makes a piece of work as if hurt, puts his hand to his mouth & finding it is money Returns & holds up the flap of his coat to catch more. Enter P.S. Mother & Daughter, at sight of whom Rake stands aghast.—Girl approaches him. Rake turns from her—She retreats in Tears—Mother enraged shews Letters—Girl shews a Ring—Rake takes a handful of Guineas, offers mother—who rejects them, striking his hand, scatters them on the Ground; Lawyer Turns Mother & Daughter out, placing Clown with his back against the Door. Rake in great agitation, walks about, Taylor following him to finish measuring him: Lawyer picking up the money & pocketing some.—Clown points to Rake—who, on seeing Lawyer at it, takes Rolls of Parchment & beats Lawyer about the Head—upon which Clown takes the Roll of Black Cloth & knocks it about Taylor's head, Taylor resists, Upholsterer on his Ladder Laughs—The Scuffle increases, in which they knock down the Ladder, Upholsterer falls—Rake & Clown turn them all out.

[pg 4] Scene 3^d

Enter Mother & Daughter

Duett—Tune—"An Old Woman Cloathed in Grey."

Scene 4^th

Discovers all the Characters in Waiting at Rake's Levee. Italian Singing &c—Clown introduces Van Butchel, who displays a variety of his Articles.—Van Butchel Sings.

[pg 5] Enter Rakewell to whom they all pay Court &c

Medley.

(Tune
Petition
Poor Vulcan

(Tune
Black Joke.)

(Tune
Stoney Batter.)

(Tune Tyburn Tree)

(Tune
Finale
1^st act
Poor Volcan)
(Hunting
Chorus
Poor Vulcan)

Chorus. Tune—"Ballance a Straw"

Exeunt.

[pg 6] Scene 5^th

Link Boys &c &c. The Characters in next Scene to pass from P.S. to O.P.

Rakewell—Well—but not full dup'd—Chairmen take great notice of him bowing very low &c—Clown—loiters behind—seems well acquainted with Constables—Chairmen Girls &c. Clown treats Constables with Beer & while drinking with them has his pocket picked.—During the Whole Scene the following Catch is Sung.

Catch.—"See Bob, See, the play is done."

Scene 6^th

Some Ladies discoverd—One President.

Rake: Enters they all get up & greet him, some kiss him (a Black Girl & waiter on)—After much Ceremony they sit Other Ladies & Gentlemen Enter—When all are Seated

Omnes. A Song! A Song!— (NB: Plenty of Bottles & Glasses on.—)

Ladies Sing a Duett.

Rake: Drinks freely during the Duett—When Ended

Omnes. Bravo! Bravo!

Rake. Continues drinking freely—the actor must let his intoxication gradually increase. They all Sing.

during the Catch—Ballad Singer Enters & Joins them, Singing—"I say no more" &c—The Catch Ended the Scene Closes.

Scene 7^th

Enter Bailiff & Follower.

Song, Bailiff.

(2.)

(3.)

Enter Sarah Young & her Servant Girl, with a Box—on which is written "Sarah Young"—Bailiffs, come forward, look pryingly about—The Chair comes on P.S. Bailiff stops Rake and arrests him,—Boy Steals his Cane—Sarah Young pays the money for Rake, he kisses her hand, returns into Chair & is carried back: She goes off O.P. supported by her Girl; having left the Contents of her Box on the Ground—The Shoe-Boy is picking them up, when Clown Enters, who reads, & recollects the name, disputes with Boy about the Contents of the Box, & seeing his Master's Cane claims it—a Scuffle ensues.—Whenever Clown attempts to Strike Boy—Boy throws his Stool in Clown's way over which he breaks his Shins—Clown has already a great Leak in his Hat, & finding a Muff in the Box, wears it, & apes the Welchman who is going to Court.

[pg 8] Scene 8^th

Bells Ringing—Marrow Bones & Cleavers &c &c

Rake & Old Woman. Richly dress'd coming from Church. Men Servants in Rich Liveries—Clown.—old Lady's maid Serv^t &c all in favours.—Parish Clerk Bows very low—Old Lady Stops & makes him a present—Marrow Bones & Cleavers beg of Rake who throws money on the Ground, they Scramble for it. Company go off.—Tune during the Whole time—"Mind the Golden Rule." Sarah Young, on coming out of Church, faints against a Monument: Recovers to see them go off—Looks after them.—pause—Sings

Air.—Tune—"Mary's Lamentation."

(Exit.)

[pg 9] Scene 9^th

Servants attending—Enter Rake follow'd by Clown, who is ridiculously dress'd—Rake gives Orders to Servants and Exit—Clown follows a little way—then conceitedly returns & Sings to Servants.

Song. Clown.

(2.)

(3.)

Noise without. Enter Porter with a Washing Machine, puts it down—Enter Beat'em, pursued by Washerwomen, who beat him & break his washing machine—Tear his Bills &c &c two or three of the Women hold him, while an Irish Washerwoman sings the following Song.

[pg 10]

Song Shelah O'Sudds—Tune "The Siege of Troy."

(2.)

(3.)

Exeunt—beating him off.

Scene 10^th

One O'Clock in The Morning.

Two or More Chairmen playing at All-fours & Singing—

Catch.—"Agree, Agree, if not d'ye see."

Piano & Forte, according to the distance of the Watchman who calls the Hour, & when the Watchmen Enter they cover their Lanthorn with a Coat-Flap, & resume the Game when Watchman is gone. During this time the Gamblers who are in the next Scene, are to pass from P.S. to O.P. Sculkingly. Rake passes,—Stops,—pulls out his purse, shakes it, and Shutting one Eye—Signifies he had it from his One Ey'd Wife. Catch Continues—"Agree Agree" &c—Scene Closes.

[pg 11] Scene 11^th

Discovers Gamblers at play. Rake Seated.

Rake looses all his Cash—then his Watch—Sword Knee-Buckles —Snuff-Box—Ring—Everything. A Man Stands at his Back—supplies him with money on them 'till all is gone—When he Kneels.—Smoke is issuing thro' the Pannel, which does not alarm Gamblers in the least. Enter Watchmen—They continue playing & Singing—Scene Closes.

Scene 12^th

Red Blinds waved Sometimes Quick Down then rais'd again. Watchmens Rattles heard, all bustle & noise at a little Distance. Enter some Loosers with Characters of Suspicious look—they produce Pistols to the Chagrin'd Loosers.—The Loosers take the Pistols.—Tune—"Let us take the Road."—They go off. Enter watchmen with Rattles. Beadle, Mob with Fire Engine (Covent Garden or Hadley.) Furniture carried across from the Gaming Room. Enter Fire Men.—Hose & Pipe conveyed across. Variety of Characters alarmed by Fire. A Boy carries a Feather-bed across—he falls down—Some Characters fall on it. NB: Confusion kept up as long as Necessary.

Scene 13^th

Rake—is inhumanly dragg'd off by Bailiffs P.S.

Wife follows in great Agitation.

Enter Ballad-Singer

A Ballad Entitled & Call'd—"The Rake's Progress"—

Ballad. Tune "The Race-Horse."

[pg 12] (2.)

(3.)

(4.)

Scene 14^th

Chymist—Discover'd. Tune "Welcome, Brother Debtor." Enter Goaler O.P. Introducing Rake & Old Wife He Sits P.S. Enter Men & Women Prisoners-OP.—All Sing.

[pg 13] Rake Strips his Coat off & turns out his Breeches Pockets;—At this Period Financer drops his paper; it is picked up by another Prisoner, who holds it so to Read that the audience may Read also. "Scheme to Pay the National Debt."—

During the above Business—They all Sing—

Tune continues; but is Slower & Slower, till render'd as Dismal as possible. Rake takes a Pistol from his Pocket, which only the Audience observe—he in great agitation of Mind goes off, & the Report of a Pistol is heard—at which they all stand aghast.—Pause awhile.—

Enter Virtue.

Recitative.

Chorus of Prisoners.

Recitative. Virtue.

Scene Changes.

Scene 15^th

Cloud Descends: Liberty seated in the Center, with her Attributes; on her left hand a Vacant Seat which Virtue ascends, on her Right hand Benevolence, over whose head is a Medalion of The King—over that of Virtue one of the Queen.

[pg 14] Aerial Chorus.

Recitative. Virtue.

Full Chorus.

This let the Captives &c—

Finis

WILLIAM ANDREWS CLARK

MEMORIAL LIBRARY

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES

The Augustan Reprint Society

PUBLICATIONS IN PRINT

The Augustan Reprint Society

PUBLICATIONS IN PRINT

1948-1950

16. Henry Nevil Payne, The Fatal Jealousie (1673).

18. "Of Genius," in The Occasional Paper, Vol. III. No. 10 (1719), and Aaron Hill, Preface to The Creation (1720).

19. Susanna Centlivre, The Busie Body (1709).

22. Samuel Johnson, The Vanity of Human Wishes (1749), and two Rambler papers (1750).

23. John Dryden, His Majesties Declaration Defended (1681).

1951-1953

26. Charles Macklin, The Man of the World (1792).

31. Thomas Gray, An Elegy Wrote in a Country Churchyard (1751), and The Eton College Manuscript.

41. Bernard Mandeville, A Letter to Dion (1732).

1964-1965

110. John Tutchin, Selected Poems (1685-1700).

111. Political Justice (1736).

113. T. R., An Essay Concerning Critical and Curious Learning (1698).

1965-1967

115. Daniel Defoe and others, Accounts of the Apparition of Mrs. Veal (1705, 1706, 1720, 1722).

116. Charles Macklin, The Covent Garden Theatre (1752).

117. Sir Roger L'Estrange, Citt and Bumpkin (1680).

120. Bernard Mandeville, Aesop Dress'd or a Collection of Fables (1740).

124. The Female Wits (1704).

1968-1969

133. John Courtenay, A Poetical Review of the Literary and Moral Character of the Late Samuel Johnson (1786).

136. Thomas Sheridan, A Discourse Being Introductory to His Course of Lectures on Elocution and the English Language (1759).

137. Arthur Murphy, The Englishman from Paris (1756).

1969-1970

138. [Catherine Trotter] Olinda's Adventures (1718).

139. John Ogilvie, An Essay on the Lyric Poetry of the Ancients (1762).

140. A Learned Dissertation on Dumpling (1726) and Pudding and Dumpling Burnt to Pot or a Compleat Key to the Dissertation on Dumpling (1727).

141. Sir Roger L'Estrange, Selections from The Observator (1681-1687).

142. Anthony Collins, A Discourse Concerning Ridicule and Irony In Writing (1729).

143. A Letter From a Clergyman to His Friend, with an Account of the Travels of Captain Lemuel Gulliver (1726).

144. The Art of Architecture, A Poem (1742).

1970-1971

145-146. Thomas Shelton. A Tutor to Tachygraphy, or Short-writing (1642) and Tachygraphy (1647).

147-148. Deformities of Dr. Samuel Johnson (1782).

149. Poeta de Tristibus: or the Poet's Complaint (1682).

150. Gerard Langbaine, Momus Triumphans: or the Plagiaries of the English Stage (1687).

1971-1972

151-152. Evan Lloyd, The Methodist. A Poem (1766).

153. Are These Things So? (1740), and The Great Man's Answer to Are These Things So? (1740).

154. Arbuthnotiana: The Story of the St. Alb-ns Ghost (1712), and A Catalogue of Dr. Arbuthnot's Library (1779).

155-156. A Selection of Emblems from Herman Hugo's Pia Desideria (1624), with English Adaptations by Francis Quarles and Edmund Arwaker.

1972-1973

157. William Mountfort. The Life and Death of Doctor Faustus (1697).

158. Colley Cibber, A Letter from Mr. Cibber to Mr. Pope (1742).

159. [Catherine Clive] The Case of Mrs. Clive (1744).

160. [Thomas Tryon] A Discourse ... of Phrensie, Madness or Distraction from A Treatise of Dreams and Visions [1689].

161. Robert Blair, The Grave. A Poem (1743).

162. [Bernard Mandeville] A Modest Defence of Publick Stews (1724).

1973-1974

163. [William Rider] An Historical and Critical Account of the Lives and Writings of the Living Authors of Great Britain (1762).

164. Thomas Edwards, The Sonnets of Thomas Edwards (1765, 1780).

165. Hildebrand Jacob, Of the Sister Arts: An Essay (1734).

166. Poems on the Reign of William III [1690, 1696, 1699, 1702].

167. Kane O'Hara, Midas: An English Burletta (1766).

168. [Daniel Defoe] A Short Narrative History of the Life and Actions of His Grace John, D. of Marlborough (1711).

1974-1975

169-170. Samuel Richardson, The Apprentice's Vade-Mecum (1734).

171. James Bramston, The Man of Taste (1733).

172-173. Walter Charleton, The Ephesian Matron (1668).

174. Bernard Mandeville, The Mischiefs That Ought Justly to be Apprehended From a Whig-Government (1714).

174X. John Melton, Astrologaster (1620).

1975-1976

175. Pamela Censured (1741).

176. William Gilpin, Dialogue upon the Gardens ... at Stowe (1748).

177. James Bramston, Art of Politicks (1729).

178. James Miller, Harlequin-Horace or the Art of Modern Poetry (1731).

179. [James Boswell] View of the Edinburgh Theatre during the Summer Season, 1759 (1760).

180. Satires on Women: Robert Gould, Love Given O're (1682); Sarah Fige, The Female Advocate (1686); and Richard Ames, The Folly of Love (1691).

Publications of the first eighteen years of the society (numbers 1-108) are available in paperbound units of six issues at $16.00 per unit, from Kraus Reprint Company, Route 100, Millwood, New York 10546.

Publications in print are available at the regular membership rate of $5.00 for individuals and $8.00 for institutions per year. Prices of single issues may be obtained upon request. Subsequent publications may be checked in the annual prospectus.

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