The Letters of Richard Cumberland

Richard Cumberland (1732-1811) is best remembered for The West Indian (1771) and The Jew (1794). He knew great persons in government and in literature, if not well, at least familiarly. The 224 letters collected here stretch from 1764 to 1811, and though many of them are neither literary nor theatrical, they may make informative reading. As a whole they may constitute a valuable source for historians of all sorts. There is information about Colonial administration, place-getting, and sale of posts, as well as about negotiations with dubious theatre managers and coping with recalcitrant or irresponsible actors. There has been no previous edition of Cumberland's letters.