concealed behind the pulpitum, which was elevated on the stage about
the height of a man, and hence that the spectators saw only the
gesticulating actor. If this plan was actually adopted, the
representation may have been conducted without any apparent
incongruity or violation of the scenic illusion. In Lord
Gardenstoun’s “_Travelling Memorandums_,” we have an account of a
play which he saw acted at Paris, where, in order to elude a
privilege, the actors who appeared on the stage did not speak one
word. “Their lips,” continued his lordship, “move, and they go on
with corresponding action and attitudes. But every word of the play
is uttered with surprising propriety and character by persons behind
the scenes. The play was nearly over before this singularity was
discovered to me and others of our party. The whole was so strangely
managed, that we could have sworn the visible actors were also the
speakers.” (Vol. I. p. 24.) I have not, however, been able to
discover any ancient authority, from which it can be inferred that
the representation of a Roman play was conducted in this manner by
the reciting actor being placed either behind the scenes or
pulpitum; and all authorities concur as to this strange division of
dramatic labour, at least in the monologues of tragedies.
621 Cicero, _Paradox._ III. c. 2.
_ 622 Epist._ 121.
_ 623 Inst. Orat._ Lib. XI. c. 3.
624 Athenæus, Lib. I. Dubos, _Reflexions sur la Poésie_, Lib. III. c.
14.
625 Cicero, _De Oratore_, Lib. I.
626 Quintil. _Instit. Orat._ Lib. II. c. 10.
_ 627 Mem. de l’Acad. des Inscriptions_, T. 21.
628 Bonarota, _Addit. ad Dempster. Etruria Regalis_, § 36.
_ 629 Dissert. dell’ Acad. Etrusc._ T. III.
630 Virgil. _Georg._ Lib. II.
631 Berger, _Comment. de Personis_, Lib. II. sect. 9.
632 Au. Gellius, _Noct. Attic._ Lib. V. c. 7.
633 Lib. I. Fab. 7. “O quanta species, inquit,” &c.
_ 634 De Oratore_, Lib. II. c. 47.
_ 635 Noct. Attic._ Lib. V. c. 7.
_ 636 Mem. de l’Academ. des Inscriptions_, &c. Tom. IV.
637 Athenæus, Lib. XIV. Pitiscus, Lexicon, voce _Persona_. Berger,
_Comment. De Personis_, c. II. § 9.
_ 638 De Oratore_, Lib. III. c. 59. “Nostri illi senes personatum ne
Roscium quidem magnopere laudabant.” This passage, however, is of
somewhat doubtful interpretation. It may mean that these old men,
having been accustomed to the natural countenance, did not applaud
even so great an actor as Roscius, because he was invariably masked:
or it may signify, that they did not greatly admire him when masked,
and only applauded him when he appeared in his natural aspect. As
some authorities say that Roscius _invariably_ used the mask, the
former interpretation may, perhaps, appear the most probable.
_ 639 Institut. Orator._ Lib. XI. c. 3.
640 Lib. IV. c. 19.
_ 641 Onomasticon_, Lib. IV. c. 19. See also Scaliger, _Poet._ Lib. I. c.
14, 15, 16.
642 Quintil. _Instit. Orator._ Lib. XI. c. 3.
643 Ibid.
_ 644 Onomasticon_, Lib. IV. c. 18. See also Stephens, _De Theatris_.
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE
The table of contents has been added in the electronic version. The index
has been repeated from the second volume.
On page 49, the second footnote is referenced twice; on page 312, a
footnote is missing.
The book has many inconsistencies in spelling, capitalization or
punctuation, especially in the quotations from foreign languages, where
sometimes diacritical signs are missing or wrong. They were not corrected
or modernized, except in the following places which can be regarded as
printing errors.
page vi, “it” changed to “its”
page xiii, “Abregee” changed to “Abregée”
page 21, “antient” changed to “ancient”
page 24, “harkened” changed to “hearkened”
page 27, “agrandizement” changed to “aggrandizement”
page 28, “Estruscans” changed to “Etruscans”
page 29, “Guarnicci” changed to “Guarnacci”
page 30, “vitious” changed to “vicious”
page 32, “Schutz” changed to “Schütz”
page 33, comma added following “Ginguené”
page 37, “licenta” changed to “licentia”
page 45, “feodera” changed to “fœdera”
page 46, “the the” changed to “the”
page 46, “Gnavoid” changed to “Gnaivod”
page 47, “Estruscan” changed to “Etruscan”
page 48, “dipthong” changed to “diphthong”
page 54, period added following “dell”
page 55, italics removed from “Cicero”
page 55, “coeptum” changed to “cœptum”
page 57, “where” changed to “were”
page 60, “democrary” changed to “democracy”
page 61, “Cyrian” changed to “Cyprian”
page 64, “questor” changed to “quæstor”
page 65, “Muller” changed to “Müller”
page 65, “furtur” changed to “fertur”
page 66, “stongly” changed to “strongly”
page 68, “translaed” changed to “translated”
page 70, “Schonen” changed to “Schönen” and “Romern” to “Römern”
page 71, “corse” changed to “corpse”
page 72, “Hiedelberg” changed to “Heidelberg”
page 87, “Gelius” changed to “Gellius”
page 87, “Attacinus” changed to “Atacinus”
page 88, quote added before “Even”
page 90, quote added following “Glaucum,”
page 91, “.” changed to “,” following “Ennius”
page 96, “conprehends” changed to “comprehends”
page 101, “and and” changed to “and”
page 153, “picturesqe” changed to “picturesque”
page 154, “Lucretio.” changed to “Lucretio,”
page 169, quote added following “nituerunt.”
page 170, “coetûs” changed to “cœtûs”
page 180, “enuuch” changed to “eunuch”
page 190, “Schmeider” changed to “Schmieder”
page 185, single quote changed to double quote added following
“discours,”
page 201, 319, 333 and 351, “appropiate” changed to “appropriate”
page 212, “Schönem” changed to “Schönen”
page 216, quote added following “again.”
page 216, “oderunt dum metuunt” changed to “oderint dum metuant”
page 227, quote added before “Attonitusque”
page 228, double “and” removed before “epithets”
page 231, period added following “c”
page 231, “Kunste” changed to “Künste”
page 236, quote added following “piabant;”
page 249, “Praef.” changed to “Præf.”
page 257, “Cynogeticon” changed to “Cynegeticon”
page 261, “Hine” changed to “Hinc”
page 263, quote added following “cubandum est.”
page 273, “16.” changed to “10.”
page 278, “eumdem” changed to “eundem”
page 290, “teritories” changed to “territories”
page 291, “vestages” changed to “vestiges”
page 295, “powful” changed to “powerful”
page 305, quote removed following “libido est,”
page 312, “verti” changed to “vertice”
page 342, “woof” changed to “wool”
page 344, “entremely” changed to “extremely”
Some variant spellings were not changed (e. g. “truly” and “truely”,
“obscænus” and “obscœnus”, “groundwork” and “ground-work”, “tombstone” and
“tomb-stone”).