Partial Histories

Elaine M. McGirr is Head of Drama at Royal Holloway, University of London, UK.  She is the author of Heroic Mode and Political Crisis, 1660-1745 (2009) and Eighteenth-Century Characters (2007) as well as chapters and articles on Shakespearean adaptation, the novels of Samuel Richardson, the politics of Aphra Behn, and the authority of actresses.

• Introduction.- 1.Portrait of an Actor.- 2.Portrait of a Theatrical Despot.- 3.Authorship, Authority and the Battle for Shakespeare.- 4.Family Portraits.- Appendix.

“Partial Histories does usefully prod us to consider and reject the many dismissive and derogatory verdicts on Colley Cibber, who was an actor, manager, and theater historian of both importance and distinction.” (Robert D. Hume, Eighteenth-Century Life, Vol. 43 (3), 2019)