Charles Gildon's The Life of Mr Thomas Betterton, the Late Eminent Tragedian

Roberts reveals how Gildon's fusion of biographical study with neoclassical aesthetics and theatrical theory makes The Life an essential text for understanding early eighteenth-century performance.


Charles Gildon's The Life of Mr Thomas Betterton is a landmark text in English theatrical biography. First published in 1710, it not only commemorated the death of Thomas Betterton, the most renowned English actor of his era, but is the first major study in English to focus on an actor's craft rather than his personal life. However, despite its pioneering nature, Gildon's work has long been overshadowed by controversy. With one quarter of the text copied from a French oratorical treatise, many readers and scholars dismissed it as a plagiarized work.

This first modern edition reassesses the value of a text that is part biography, part textbook, and part borrowed from French sources. Here, David Roberts, reframes The Life as an essential resource not only for theatre history and life writing, but also for the study of publishing practices and early theories of plagiarism. Furthermore, as in Gildon's original publication, Roberts presents the Life with Betterton's comedy, The Amorous Widow.

In a comprehensive introduction, Roberts explores Gildon's relationships with both his publishers and with Betterton himself, presenting the Life as a classical dialogue based on a personal knowledge of the actor. It also sheds light on how Gildon exploited early definitions of plagiarism, balancing his unacknowledged borrowings with original insights into acting theory.

With old spelling and detailed annotations, this edition provides a rich foundation for understanding Gildon's impact on theatre, publication, and the evolving standards of intellectual property.