INTRODUCTION
By Ben Ross Schneider, Jr
THE INDEX
* his Index contains all references to each
Jiyrne and title appearing in the calendar of
. London Stage, 1660-1800, listed alphabet-
’caily jn one merged index. References are to
e date and theatre of the calendar entry con¬
taining the item, rather than to the page, be-
cause it was felt that index entries would thus
convey more information and that citations
W()uld be easier to locate in the volumes them-
Ves> since they are arranged chronologically.
e fames are those of persons, places, busi-
ess establishments, clubs, and institutions
• ^ntioned in casts lists or commentary. The
es are those of plays, books, dances, songs,
()t_Usic> and entertainment, whether performed
c° fomented on. Approximate date refer-
“|Ces are represented by the number “o”:
UsUn|" 0 means “sometime in June.” “Sept o”
for 3 ^ r.e^ers to the list of plays probably per-
th me<^ ,'n a 8'ven season that is contained in
We J)tc^ace to some seasons. In other words,
eve 3ye ^ade these lists part of the calendar
though the month of the performance is
houhT anc* eVen though the year may be
end 1 U*' Otherwise, references are to the cal-
pre ar Sections of The London Stage, 1 660-1 800.
t0 JlCes to seasons and general introductions
Exh 6 s?Parate parts have not been indexed.
the$a^St'Ve tables of contents provided for
of fC '."troductions refer to the great number
ancj°P't:s covered in them. Variants of names
stand "'T 3re S'ven in parentheses after the
So ar<a form when a variation is considered
uS to cause difficulty in finding the
ln the text. Cross references from wide
variants in common usage to the standard
forms are made.
To avoid excessive cross references we have
observed one overriding general principle:
whenever a title is generic rather than specific
we have indexed it under the most specific
word describing the piece. For example “Dance
of Furies” is listed as “Furies Dance,” “Con¬
certo on the violin” as “Violin concerto.” We
have observed the same principle for names
with modifiers, listing, for instance, “Order of
Albions” as “Albions, Order of” and “Theatre
Royal, Bath” as “Bath Theatre.” The user of
the Index should look for generic terms and
modified names under the most specific word
in the item. Main entries for plays, operas, and
oratorios will be found under their authors’
names, but cross references from each title and
variant title will direct the user to the author.
No attempt has been made to assign titles of
songs, dances, musical pieces, and entertain¬
ments to authors; such items will be found
under their titles.
Nearly all persons have been identified by
first name or initials; performing specialties,
trades, professions, or titles are given when
known. Those acquainted with the calendar
are aware of the fact that a majority of per¬
formers go by their last names alone. When
the last name is common to a number of per¬
sons, identification must be deduced from the
available evidence, which is sometimes scarce.
The user is warned, therefore, that references
to persons may be misassigned, especially
when a considerable number of people bear
the same last name. Details of our methods for
identifying persons will be found in the section
IX