Dictionary of English literature, being a comprehensive guide to English authors and their works / [William Davenport Adams].

  • Adams, William Davenport, 1851-1904.
Date:
[1879?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Dictionary of English literature, being a comprehensive guide to English authors and their works / [William Davenport Adams]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Wives of Windsor, The Merry. A comedy by William Shakespeare (1564—1616), first published in 1602, and said to have been written by desire of Queen Elizabeth, who wished to see Falstatf (q.v.) represented as in love. It was afterwards revised and much improved by the author. The plot is founded upon more than one Italian story. The comedy itself is described by Warton as “ the most complete specimen of its author’s comic power.” See the criticisms by Johnson, Hazlitt, Schlegel, and Hallam. See, also, Bardolph ; Caius ; Evans, Sir Hugh ; Ford ; Nym; Page; Pistol; Shallow; and Slender. Wizard of the North, The. A title be- stowed upon Sir Walter Scott in allusion to the magical influence of his works, which on their first appearance fascinated their readers even more perhaps than they do now. Wodhull, Michael, poet (b. 1740, d. 1816), published a translation of Euripides into blank verse (1782), besides various miscellaneous poems, a collection of which appeared in 1804. Wodrow, Robert, ecclesiastical historian (b. 1679, d. 1734), wrote a History of the Sufferings of the Church of Scotland, from the Reformation to the Revolution (1721), and Collections upon the Lives of the Reformers and Most Eminent Ministers in the Church of Scotland (1834). Has Analecta: or, Materials for a History of Remarkable Providences were published in 1842, and his Correspondence, edited by M'Crie, in 1842—3. His Private Letters had already appeared in 1694—1732. See the pub- lications of the Maitland and Wodrow Societies. “Woe succeeds a woe, as wave a wave.”—Herrick’s Hesperides (“Aphorisms”). Young in his Might Thoughts has a very similar idea:— “ Woes cluster: rare are solitary woes; They love a train, they tread each other's heels.” Wolcot, John, M.D., poet (b. 1738, d. 1819), wrote a large number of Works, the most important of which were published in five volumes (1794—1801). A Life of him is included in the Annual Biography and Obituary for 1820. See Lousiad, The ; Pindar, Peter. Wolf of Badenoch, The. See Lauder, Sir Thomas Dick. Wolfstan, Bishop. See Lupus Episcopus. Wolfe, Charles, clergyman and poet (b. 1791, d. 1823), wrote various poems, of which the best known is The Burial of Sir John Moore (q.v.). His Remains were published by Archdeacon Russell in 1826. Wollaston, William, divine and scholar (b. 1659, d. 1724), wroto The Religion of Nature Delineated (1722), (q.v.), and The Design of Part of the Book of Ecclesiastes represented in an English Poem (1691). A sketch of his Life, Character, and Writings was prefixed to the seventh edition of the former in 1750. Wollstonecraft, Mary (Mrs. Godwin), miscellaneous writer (b. 1759, d. 1797), wrote Thoughts on the Education of Daughters (1787); Fe- male Reader : or, Miscellaneous Pieces (1789); Moral and Historical Relation of the French Revolution (1790) ; Original Stories from Real Life (1791) ; A Vindication of the Rights of Women, tvith Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects (1792) ; Origin and Progress of the French Revolution, and its Effects on Europe (1795) ; and Letters written during a short Residence in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark (1796). Her Posthumous Works were published, with a Memoir, by her husband, William Godwin, in 1798. A Defence of their Character and Conduct appeared in 1803. Wolsey, Cardinal, The Life and Death of Thomas. A poem by Thomas Storer (d. 1604), “divided into three parts: his Aspiration, Triumph, and Death,” and published in 1599. It is said to have suggested some passages in Shake- speare’s Henry VIII. See the second volume of Heliconia and the fifth volume of The Retrospective Review. Wolsey, The Negociations of Thomas. See Woolsey. Wolstan. A monk of Winchester (circa 990). See the Biography of this writer, by William of Malmesbury ; also, Wright’s Biographia Britannica. Wolves and the Lamb, The. An un- acted comedy, by William Makepeace Thackeray (1811—1863), of which he afterwards made use as the foundation of his novel of Lovel the Widower (q.v.). Woman, An Apology for. Written, in 1609, by William Heale, of Exeter College, of whom Anthony a Wood quaintly says that he “ was always esteemed an ingenious man, but weak, as being too much devoted to the female sex.” His book was composed primarily as a counter-blast to a certain Dr. Gager, who had maintained that it was lawful for husbands to beat their wives.” Woman in the Moon, The. A play by John Lyly (1553 —1601), which appeared in 1597. The woman is Pandora, who creates much mischief among the Utopian shepherds. Woman is a Weathercock, A. See Woman’s a Weathercock, A. Woman-Hater, The. A tragedy by Beau- mont and Fletcher (q.v.), first printed in 1607. A Woman-Hater is the title of a novel by Charles Reade (q.v.). Woman Kilde with Kindnesse, A. A play by Thomas IIeywood (1570—1640), the first edition of which (1607) is of extraordinary rarity. Tho drama is characterised by Campbell as tho author’s “ best performance.” “ In this play,” ho says, “ tho repentance of Mrs. Frankford, who dies of a broken heart for her infidelity to a generous husband, would present a situation consummately