Editing Isaac Bickerstaffe

{{short description|Irish playwright and librettist}}
{{about|the authentic Irish playwright|the hoax pseudonym used by Swift, Steele, and Addison|Isaac Bickerstaff}}
{{Lead too short|date=December 2021}}{{EngvarB|date=October 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}}

{{infobox person
|birth_name = Isaac John Bickerstaffe
|birth_date = 26 September 1733
|birth_place = Dublin, Ireland
|death_date = after 1808 
|occupation = playwright, librettist
|notable_works = ''[[Thomas and Sally]]'' (1761)<br>''Love in a Village'' (1762)<br>''The Maide of the Mill'' (1765)
| module =
{{Listen
|title=Oh, What a Charming Thing's a Battle!
|filename=Dibdin - Oh, What A Charming Thing's A Battle.ogg
|description = "Oh, What a Charming Thing's a Battle!", from [[Charles Dibdin]] and Isaac Bickerstaff's ''[[The Recruiting Serjeant]]'' (1770). Sung by [[Leon Lishner]]
}}
}}
'''Isaac Bickerstaffe''' or '''Bickerstaff''' (26 September 1733 – after 1808) was an Irish playwright and [[librettist]].

==Early life==
[[File:Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield.PNG|200px|thumb|right|Bickerstaff's first patron [[Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield|Lord Chesterfield]] who served as [[Lord Lieutenant of Ireland]]]]
Isaac John Bickerstaff was born in Dublin, on 26 September 1733, where his father [[John Bickerstaff]] held a government position overseeing the construction and management of sports fields including [[bowls]] and tennis courts. The office was abolished in 1745, and he received a pension from the government for the rest of his life.<ref>Tasch p. 24</ref>

In his early years, Isaac was a [[Page (occupation)|page]] to [[Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield|Lord Chesterfield]],{{sfn|Cousin|1910}} the [[Lord Lieutenant of Ireland]], which allowed him to mix with fashionable Dublin society. When Chesterfield was replaced in the position in 1745 he arranged for Isaac to be given a commission in the army. In October 1745, Bickerstaff joined the [[5th Regiment of Foot]] known as the Northumberland Fusiliers. He served as an [[Ensign (rank)|Ensign]] until 1746, when he was promoted to Lieutenant. The regiment, under the command of [[Alexander Irwin]], was on the [[Irish Army (Kingdom of Ireland)|Irish Establishment]] and was based in [[Kinsale]] in Ireland.<ref>Tasch p.25</ref> In March 1755, the regiment was moved to [[Bristol]] in England. Having recently come into some money, Isaac resigned his commission in August and went on [[half-pay]].

He intended to become a writer, but his first work was published but not performed and he soon ran into financial difficulties. By March 1758, he was so short of money that he joined the Marine Corps as a lieutenant stationed at [[Plymouth]] and served through the [[Seven Years' War]]. In 1763, following the [[Treaty of Paris (1763)|Treaty of Paris]] he was honourably discharged as the Corps was reduced in size.

==Success==
Bickerstaff had first arrived in London in 1755 and worked as a playwright. His years growing up in Dublin, a cultural hub at the time, had greatly influenced his views on writing and the arts.<ref>Tasch p. 24–25</ref> He developed a view that the English language was totally unsuited for singing operas in, however skilled the composer, and that Italian was the natural language. Later in life, he was to challenge this view.<ref>Tasch p. 28</ref>

In London he initially struggled, and his first work ''[[Leucothoé]]'' (1756), a dramatic poem, was a failure. While critically well received by two reviewers, it had not been set to music and performed and was widely ignored.<ref>Tasch p. 27–29</ref> Bickerstaff also hurt his chances of success by publicly criticising [[David Garrick]], the leading actor-manager of the era, for "barbarity" in his recent attempts to set [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]] plays to music. These setbacks forced him to return to military service.

In 1760, while still serving in the marine corps, Bickerstaff collaborated with [[Thomas Arne]], the leading British composer, on a [[light opera]] ''[[Thomas and Sally]]'' which was an enormous success. It is possible that Bickerstaff simply wrote the play and approached Arne with it or sent it to the [[Covent Garden Theatre]] where he was working.<ref>Tasch p. 30-31</ref> It had its opening night at Covent Garden on 28 November 1760. The play was performed repeatedly in London and soon spread around Britain and across the [[First British Empire|British Empire]]. It was also performed in Dublin, [[Philadelphia]] and [[Kingston, Jamaica]].<ref>Tasch p. 32–34</ref> They subsequently worked together on ''[[Judith (oratorio)|Judith]]'', an [[oratorio]] first performed at Drury Lane in February 1760.<ref>Tasch p. 26, 40–42</ref> He went on to produce many successful comedies based on Marivaux and other French playwrights and opera librettos.

In 1762 he and Arne wrote ''[[Love in a Village]]'', considered the first English [[comic opera]].<ref>Tasch p. 43</ref>

His ''[[The Maide of the Mill]]'' (1765), with music by [[Samuel Arnold (composer)|Samuel Arnold]] and others, was also very successful. Bickerstaffe also wrote [[Thomas Bowdler|bowdlerised]] versions of plays by [[William Wycherley]] and [[Pedro Calderon de la Barca]].  His ''Love in the City'' (1767), ''[[The Padlock]]'' (1768), based on "The Jealous Husband" in Cervantes' Novelas (this included the character Mungo, a negro servant played by Dibdin, one of the earliest comic black roles in English drama).  He also wrote ''The Life of Ambrose Guinet'' (1770).<ref>[http://www.ricorso.net/rx/az-data/index.htm Profile of Isaac Bickerstaffe]</ref>

==Exile==
In 1770, a newspaper published a false report that in a fit of despair, he had thrown himself into the sea in the south of France, and perished.<ref>London, 19 October, Chester Courant, 23 October 1770, p2.</ref>

In 1772, Bickerstaffe fled to the Continent, suspected of homosexuality.<ref>McConnell Stott, p. 80</ref> The actor-producer [[David Garrick]] was implicated in the scandal by the lampoon ''[[Love in the Suds]]'' by [[William Kenrick (writer)|William Kenrick]]. The remainder of his life seems to have been passed in penury and misery, but little is known.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

However, in March 1772, it was reported that he was writing a small piece, which was to be called the ''Coterie,'' and would be performed at the Haymarket theatre that summer.<ref>London, Derby Mercury, 27 March 1772, p1.</ref>

In early August 1772, it was reported that "Bickerstaff...who lately absconded for a detestable crime, died miserably a few days ago in Sussex".<ref>London 31 July, Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette, 6 August 1772, p1.</ref> However this again appears to have been a false report, as records indicate he was still receiving his army half pay in 1808.<ref>Peter A. Tasch, ''The Dramatic Cobbler: The Life and Works of Isaac Bickerstaff'', Brucknell University Press, 1971, p249.</ref> "It seems he may have died soon after this."<ref>Bickerstaff, Isaac John; Oxford Dictionary of National Biography</ref>

Long after Bickerstaffe's disappearance, his colleague [[Charles Dibdin]] was frequently accused of plagiarising his songs.

==Selected works==
[[Image:Zoffany, James - A Scene from Love in a Village.jpg|thumb|right|A scene from [[Love in a Village]]]]
{{wikiquote}}
* ''[[Leucothoé]]'' (1756)<sup>[http://name.umdl.umich.edu/004812583.0001.000]</sup>
*''[[Thomas and Sally]]; or, The Sailor's Return'' (1760)<sup>[http://name.umdl.umich.edu/004870442.0001.000]</sup>
*''[[Judith (oratorio)|Judith]]'' (1761)<sup>[http://name.umdl.umich.edu/004799605.0001.000]</sup>
*''[[Love in a Village]]'' (1762)<sup>[http://name.umdl.umich.edu/004781647.0001.000]</sup>
*''Daphne and Amintor'' (1765)
*''The Maid of the Mill'' (1765)<sup>[http://name.umdl.umich.edu/004805589.0001.000]</sup>
*''[[The Plain Dealer (play)|The Plain Dealer]]'' (1766)
*''Love in the City'' (1767), better known as adapted into ''[[The Romp (play)|The Romp]]''
*''[[The Padlock]]'' (1768)<sup>[http://name.umdl.umich.edu/004789151.0001.000]</sup>
*''[[The Hypocrite]]'' (1768)
*''Lionel and Clarissa'' (1768)<sup>[http://name.umdl.umich.edu/004806995.0001.000]</sup>
*''The Royal Garland'' (1768)<sup>[http://name.umdl.umich.edu/004899921.0001.000]</sup>
*''Doctor Last in his Chariot'' (1769)<sup>[http://name.umdl.umich.edu/004838879.0001.000]</sup>
*''[[The Captive (1769 play)|The Captive]]'' (1769)<sup>[http://name.umdl.umich.edu/004839351.0001.000]</sup>
*''[[The Recruiting Serjeant]]'' (1770)<sup>[http://name.umdl.umich.edu/004900668.0001.000]</sup>
*''He Wou'd If He Cou'd; or, An Old Fool Worse Than Any'' (1771)
*''A School for Fathers'' (1772)<sup>[http://name.umdl.umich.edu/004901096.0001.000]</sup>
*''The Sultan; or, A Peep into the Seraglio'' (1775)<sup>[http://name.umdl.umich.edu/004902191.0001.000]</sup>
*''[[The Spoil'd Child]]'' (1792) (authorship questioned)<sup>[http://name.umdl.umich.edu/004834153.0001.000]</sup>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
*{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Bickerstaffe, Isaac}}
*{{Cite SBDEL|wstitle=Bickerstaffe, Isaac}}
*{{cite book | last= McConnell Stott| first=Andrew | year=2009| title=The Pantomime Life of Joseph Grimaldi| location=Edinburgh | publisher=Canongate Books Ltd| isbn=978-1-84767-761-7}}
*{{cite book|last=Smith|first= William|title=Early Irish Stage|place=Oxford|publisher= Clarendon Press|date= 1955|ref=p.&nbsp;287}}
*{{cite book|last=Tasch|first= Peter A.|editor-link=[[Peter A.Tasch]]|title= The Plays of Isaac Bickerstaff|volume= 3 vols|place=New York|publisher= Garland|date= 1981}}
*{{cite book|author= Peter A. Tasch|title=The Dramatic Cobbler: The Life and Works of Isaac Bickerstaff|place=Lewisburg|publisher=Bucknell UP|date=1971}}
*{{cite book|last=Stanford|first= W. B.|title=Ireland and the Classical Tradition|publisher=IAP|orig-year= 1976|date= 1984|ref= p.&nbsp;110}}

==External links==
* [https://www.eighteenthcenturypoetry.org/authors/pers00345.shtml Isaac Bickerstaff] at the [https://www.eighteenthcenturypoetry.org/ Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive]

{{Authority control}}

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