Jeremy Collier

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Jeremy Collier
Jeremy Collier

Jeremy Collier (/ˈkɒliər/; 23 September 1650 – 26 April 1726) was an English theatre critic, non-juror bishop and theologian.

Life

Born Jeremiah Collier, in

Mary II after the Glorious Revolution. Furthering his obvious disapproval of the new monarchs, he publicly absolved two Jacobites who had conspired to assassinate the King and Queen. In 1713 he was consecrated a non-juror bishop by George Hickes and two Scottish bishops, Archibald Campbell and James Gadderar
.

Works

Collier was the primus of the nonjuring line and a strong supporter of the four usages. (see

anti-theatrical polemic but was a high-church monarchist, unlike the many Puritans
who wrote in this genre as well. Collier also translated the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius into English.

Collier Controversy

In the history of English drama, Collier is known for his

Elizabethan dramas by critics of the day. However, these plays were considered vulgar because they mocked and disrespected marriage, morals, and the clergy. Furthermore, King Charles II
allowed women to act on stage; some of the first actresses were of ill-repute. Collier's pamphlets sought to stem the spread of vice but turned out to be the sparks that kindled a controversial flame between like-minded Puritans and Restoration dramatists.

Collier devotes nearly 300 pages to decry what he perceived as profanity and moral degeneration in the stage productions of the era. This ranged from general attacks on the morality of Restoration theatre to very specific indictments of playwrights of the day. Collier argued that a venue as influential as the theatre—it was believed then that the theatre should be providing moral instruction—should not have content that is morally detrimental. These pamphlets began a

Vanbrugh
. Many of the playwrights responded with equally vehement attacks, but some were so deeply affected, they withdrew from theatre permanently or substantially changed their approach to writing comedies, Congreve amongst them.

Aftermath

Although the theatre styles of the

neoclassical
drama began to emerge even while Restoration drama was still flourishing. During Collier's time, Societies for the Reformation of Manners dedicated themselves to maintaining honour in playhouses.

Dictionary

Collier published an early encyclopedia in 1701, The great historical, geographical, genealogical and poetical dictionary. He freely admitted that the text was based on a number of earlier historians, but especially out of the eighth edition of Louis Moréri's Grand Dictionnaire Historique. This was issued in two volumes in London from 1701 to 1705 with an appendix covering the time period from 1688 "by another hand" being issued in the latter year. A further appendix was issued in 1721 and a second edition in 1727. The work was not considered a success as Collier's additions were not of the same quality as the source text and it came out during the same period as the Lexicon Technicum.[1]

Death

Collier died on 26 April 1726 and was buried on 29 April in

Burdett-Coutts Memorial
to the important graves lost therein.

References

  1. ^ Collison, Robert Lewis. Encyclopaedias: their history throughout the ages; a bibliographical guide with extensive historical notes to the general encyclopaedias issued throughout the world from 350 B.C. to the present day. New York, Hafner, 1966 p.97
  2. ^ The Environs of London: Pancras (1795)
  • Aurelius, Marcus (1701). T. Gataker; J. Collier (eds.). Meditations. Translated by Jeremy Collier. London: Sare.
  • Boster, Tania (2009). "BETTER TO BE ALONE THAN IN ILL COMPANY"JEREMY COLLIER THE YOUNGER: LIFE AND WORKS, 1650–1726. Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.
  • Collier, Jeremy (1996) [1698]. Yuji, Kaneko (ed.). A Short View of the Immorality and Profaneness of the English stage. London: Routledge.
  • Cornwall, R.D. (1993). Visible and Apostolic: The Constitution of the Church in High Church Anglican and Non-Juror Thought. University of Delaware Press.
  • Salmon, Eric (2004). "Collier, Jeremy (1650–1726)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. . (subscription required)
  •  Sutton, Charles William (1887). "Collier, Jeremy". In Stephen, Leslie (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 11. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 341–347.
  • Edward I. Bleiberg, ed. (2005). "The Hanoverian Theater". The Age of the Baroque and Enlightenment 1600–1800. Vol. 5. Detroit: Gale. pp. 431–435.
  • Westlake, E.J. (2005). "Drama: Drama and Religion". Encyclopedia of Religion. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA. pp. 2435–2440.
  • Dennis Kennedy, ed. (2003). "Collier Jeremy (1650–1726)". The Oxford Encyclopedia of Theatre and Performance. Vol. 1. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 287–288.
  • Edward I. Bleiberg, ed. (2005). "Important Events in Theater". The Age of the Baroque and Enlightenment 1600–1800. Vol. 5. Detroit: Gale. pp. 394–397.
  • "The proceedings against the three nonjuring clergymen, Mr. Collier, Mr. Cook, and Mr. Snatt, for publicly absolving Sir William Parkyns and Sir John Freind at Tyburn". A Complete Collection of State Trials and Proceedings for High Treason and Other Crimes and Misdemeanors. 13 (391, column 406). 1812.

External links