Page:Cousins's Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature.djvu/43

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Dictionary of English Literature
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(1611?), Knight of Burning Pestle (1611), Maid's Tragedy (1611), Philaster (1611), Coxcomb (1612-13), Wits at Several Weapons (1614), Scornful Lady (1616), doubtfully, Thierry and Theodoret (1616), and Little French Lawyer (1620) perhaps by F. and Massinger, and Laws of Candy (?) perhaps by B. and Massinger. (4) Fletcher and Others.—Honest Man's Fortune (1613), F., Mass., and Field; The Captain (1613), and Nice Valour (p. 1647), F. and Middleton (?); Bloody Brothers (1616-17), F., Mid., and Rowley or Fielding and B. Jonson (?); Queen of Corinth (1618-19), F. and Row. or Mass. and Mid.; Barneveld (1619), by F. and Massinger; Knight of Malta (1619), False One (1620), A Very Woman (1621?), Double Marriage (1620), Elder Brother (p. 1637), Lover's Progress (p. 1647), Custom of the Country (1628), Prophetess (1622), Spanish Curate (1622), by F. and Shakespeare; Henry VIII. (1617), and Two Noble Kinsmen (p. 1634), by F. and Rowley, or Massinger; Maid of the Mill (1625-6), Beggar's Bush (?) (1622), by F. and Shirley; Noble Gentleman (?) Night Walker (1633?), Lovers Pilgrimage (1623?), Fair Maid of the Inn (1625-26), also with Middleton?

The latest ed. is that of Mr. Bullen (11 vols., 1904), and A.R. Waller (7 vols., pub. C.U.P., 1909); Dyce (11 vols., 1843-46); Francis Beaumont, G.C. Macaulay (1883); Lyric Poems of B. and F., E. Rhys (1897); Bibliography, A.C. Potter in Harvard Bibliograph. Contributions, 1891.

Beaumont, Sir John (1582-1627?).—Poet, elder brother of Francis B., the dramatist (q.v.). His poems, of which the best known is Bosworth Field, pub. by his s., 1629. Another, The Crown of Thorns, is lost.

Beckford, William (c. 1760-1844).—Miscellaneous writer, only s. of William B., Lord Mayor of London, the associate and supporter of John Wilkes, inherited at the age of 9 an enormous fortune. In these circumstances he grew up wayward and extravagant, showing, however, a strong bent towards literature. His education was entrusted to a private tutor, with whom he travelled extensively on the Continent. At the age of 22 he produced his oriental romance, Vathek (c. 1781), written originally in French and, as he was accustomed to boast, at a single sitting of three days and two nights. There is reason, however, to believe that this was a flight of imagination. It is an impressive work, full of fantastic and magnificent conceptions, rising occasionally to sublimity. His other principal writings are Memoirs of Extraordinary Painters (1780), a satirical work, and Letters from Italy with Sketches of Spain and Portugal (1835), full of brilliant descriptions of scenes and manners. B.'s fame, however, rests nearly as much upon his eccentric extravagances as a builder and collector as upon his literary efforts. In carrying out these he managed to dissipate his fortune of £100,000 a year, only £80,000 of his capital remaining at his death. He sat in parliament for various constituencies, and one of his two dau. became Duchess of Hamilton.

Beddoes, Thomas Lovell (1803-1849).—Dramatic poet and physiologist, s. of Dr. Thos. B., an eminent physician, and nephew of Maria Edgeworth. Ed. at the Charterhouse and Oxford,