James Shirley’s Works
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James Shirley’s Works
A list of James Shirley’s Plays
by Barbara Ravelhofer
This list comprises plays authored by Shirley. In addition, Shirley revised plays by others and co-authored some works. A list of such works will be added in due course.
HS = Alfred Harbage, Annals of English Drama, 975-1700, rev. by S. Schoenbaum and Sylvia Stoler Wagonheim (London: Routledge, 3rd edn, 1989)
OM = Ogilby’s Men
SR = Stationers’ Register
| The School of Compliment/ Complement (Love Tricks) | lic. 11 Feb 1625; 4o 1631, 4o 1637, 4o 1667 SR 25 Feb 1631 |
| The Maid’s Revenge | lic. 9 Feb 1626; 8o 1639 & rpr. 1793, 4o 1639, 4o 1640. SR 12 April 1639 |
| The Wedding | -1626? (HS limit) 4o 1629, 4o 1633, 4o 1660. |
| The Witty Fair One | lic. 3 Oct 1628; 4o 1633. SR 15 Jan 1633; Herbert’ s licence to print 14 Jan 1633 |
| The Grateful Servant | lic. 3 Nov 1629; 4o 1630, 4o 1637, 4o [1662?] earliest SR 26 Feb 1630 |
| The Traitor | lic. 4 May 1631; 4o 1635, 4o 1692, 8o 1718 SR 3 Nov 1634 |
| The Humorous Courtier (The Duke) | lic. 17 May 1631; 4o 1640 SR 29 July 1639 |
| Love’s Cruelty | lic. 14 Nov 1631; 4o 1640 SR 25 April 1639 |
| Changes, Or Love in a Maze | lic. 10 Jan 1632; 4o 1632 SR 9 Feb 1632 |
| Hyde Park | lic. 20 Apr 1632; 4o 1637 SR 13 April 1637 |
| The Ball | lic. 16 Nov 1632; 4o 1639 SR 24 Oct 1638 |
| The Bird in a Cage (The Beauties) | lic. 21 Jan 1633 as The Bewties; 4o 1633 SR 19 March 1633 |
| The Young Admiral | lic. 3 [or 5] Jul 1633; 4o 1637 SR 13 April 1637 |
| The Gamester | lic. 11 Nov 1633; 4o 1637 SR 15 Nov 1637 |
| The Example | lic. 24 June 1634; 4o 1637 SR 18 Oct 1637 |
| The Opportunity | lic. 29 Nov 1634; 3 4o variants 1640 SR 25 April 1639 |
| The Coronation | lic. 6 Feb 1635; 4o 1640 SR 25 April 1639 |
| The Lady of Pleasure | lic. 15 Oct 1635; 4o 1637 SR 13 April 1637 |
| The Duke’s Mistress | lic. 18 Jan 1636; 3 4o variants 1638 SR 13 March 1638 |
| The Royal Master | HS: 1637? SR 13 March 1638. lic. 23 Apr 1638; 2 4o variants 1638, 8o 1638 rpr. 1793 |
| The Gentleman of Venice | lic. 30 Oct 1639. 4o 1655, 8o 1655 SR 9 July 1653 |
| The Arcadia | SR 29 Nov 1639; 4o 1640, 8o 1754 |
| The Constant Maid (Love Will Find out the Way) | HS: 1638 (1630? – 1640) 4o 1640, 4o 1657, 4o 1661, 4o 1667 [SR 28 April 1640?] |
| St Patrick for Ireland | HS: 1639 (c.1637-1640), OM Dublin. 4o 1640, 4o 1657, 12o 1750, 12o 1751 SR 28 April 1640 |
| The Doubtful Heir (Rosania, or Love’s Victory) | HS: 1638 (c. 1638), OM and King’s. lic. 1 June 1640 for King’s Men; 8o 1652 [1653] SR [4] Sept 1646 |
| The Imposture | lic. 10 Nov 1640; 8o 1652 [1653] SR 4 Sept 1646 (?) |
| The Politician | HS: 1639? 4o 1655, 8o 1655 SR 9 Sept 1653 |
| The Brothers (The Politic Father) | lic. 26 May 1641; 8o 1652 [1653] SR 4 Sept 1646 (?) |
| The Cardinal | lic. 25 Nov 1641; 8o 1652 [1653] SR [4] Sept 1646 |
| The Sisters | lic. 26 Apr 1642[1641?]; 8o 1652 [1653] SR 4 Sept 1646 (?) |
| The Court Secret. Rev. as The Secret, 1664? | before 1642 (Woudhuysen)? 8o 1653 SR 10 Sept 1653. HS: 1642, unacted. |
James Shirley’s Masques and Entertainments
| A Contention for Honour and Riches | ?1631; 4o 1633 |
| The Triumph of Peace | 1634; multiple 4o 1634 |
| The Triumph of Beauty | ?1646; 8o 1646 |
| Cupid and Death | 1653; 4o 1653, 2 4o edns 1659 |
| The Contention of Ajax and Ulysses | ?1658; 8o 1659 |
| Honoria and Mammon | ?1658; 3 8o edns 1659 |
James Shirley’s Grammars and other prose works
| ‘To the Reader’, first Beaumont/Fletcher folio edn | fol. 1647 |
| Eisagoge (E/Lat/Gk grammar, Aesop’s fables, Lucian’s Dialogues of the Dead) | composed 1630s?, 4o 1656 |
| The Rudiments of Grammar: The Rules Composed in English Verse | 1644-46? 12o 1656 |
| Manuductio: or, a Leading of Children by the Hand Through the Principles of Grammar. A re-issue of Rudiments. | 1644-46? 8o 1656, 12o 1660, 12o 1668 |
| Via ad Latinam Linguam Complanata. The Way Made Plain to the Latine Tongue | comp. 1644-46? 8o 1649 |
| Grammatica Anglo-Latina. 2nd edn of Via ad Latinam linguam complanata | 1651; 8o 1651 |
| Grammaticae Latinae Institutiones ‘by J.S.’ ESTC: ascribed to Shirley | 8o 1654/1684 |
| J.T. Philipps, An Essay towards an Universal and Rational Grammar, ‘formerly composed by Mr Shirley’. | 8o 1726, 12o 1731, 12o 1741 |
… to be expanded.
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