The Bab Ballads
Published on 30. April 2003
Book
Paperback/Softback
384 pages
978-0-674-05801-9 (ISBN)
Description
W. S. Gilbert, renowned author of the Savoy Operas, was also the creator of the Bab Ballads--"possibly the best comic verse--and surely the best illustrated--in the English language," according to James Ellis. Gilbert published these poems, together with his own, grotesque drawings signed "Bab," a childhood nickname, in Fun and other magazines in the late nineteenth century.
In 1898, the older and by then distinguished Gilbert substituted pallid and inoffensive drawings for the originals, which he had come to believe "erred gravely in the direction of unnecessary extravagance." Since then the ballads have been collected and published in various editions, most of which have featured the revised drawings and only a selection of the poems.
This is the only book to offer the complete collection of ballads with all original illustrations, a tribute to the comic genius of a writer known as "the most original dramatist of his generation." This collection will delight readers with its irreverence and wit.
In 1898, the older and by then distinguished Gilbert substituted pallid and inoffensive drawings for the originals, which he had come to believe "erred gravely in the direction of unnecessary extravagance." Since then the ballads have been collected and published in various editions, most of which have featured the revised drawings and only a selection of the poems.
This is the only book to offer the complete collection of ballads with all original illustrations, a tribute to the comic genius of a writer known as "the most original dramatist of his generation." This collection will delight readers with its irreverence and wit.
Reviews / Votes
The Bab Ballads of W. S. Gilbert, admirably introduced and annotated by James Ellis, is a real treat. * New Yorker * Thanks to Mr. Ellis, all the known poems...dress-rehearsals as it were for the operas, are now printed together. And of course they are accompanied by the original Chesterton-delighting illustrations. * Christian Science Monitor *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge, Mass.
United States
Publishing group
Harvard University Press
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
355 line illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 248 mm
Width: 181 mm
Weight
712 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-674-05801-9 (9780674058019)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
James Ellis has been directing and performing in Gilbert and Sullivan operas for almost fifty years. He was for many years Professor of English at Mount Holyoke College.
Content
3. Introduction The Bab Ballads 33. The Advent of Spring 34. The Cattle Show (Fun) 36. The Cattle Show (The Comic News) 37. Sixty-three and Sixty-four 39. The Dream 41. The Baron Klopfzetterheim 51. Down to the Derby 54. Something Like Nonsense Verses 55. Ode to My Clothes 56. The Student 58. Tempora Mutantur 59. The Bachelors' Strike 60. A Bad Night of It 61. To Phoebe 62. Ozone 63. To the Terrestrial Globe 64. The Monkey in Trouble 64. Back Again! 65. To My Absent Husband 66. Musings in a Music Hall 66. Pantomimic Presentiments 68. The Bar and Its Moaning 69. To Euphrosyne 69. The Phantom Curate 71. To a Little Maid 72. Ferdinando and Elvira; or, The Gentle Pieman 74. The Pantomime "Super" to His Mask 76. The Yarn of the "Nancy Bell" 79. Monsieur Le Blond on London 81. Haunted 82. The Reverend Rawston Wright 83. The Story of Gentle Archibald 86. To My Bride 88. Only a Dancing Girl 89. To My Steed 90. King Borria Bungalee Boo 92. Jack Casts His Shell 93. How to Write an Irish Drama 93. General John 95. Sir Guy the Crusader 97. Sir Galahad the Golumptious 98. Disillusioned 100. John and Freddy 101. Lorenzo de Lately 104. The Bishop and the Busman 106. Babette's Love 108. Fanny and Jenny 109. Sir Mackiln 111. The Troubadour 113. Ben Allah Achmet; or, The Fatal Turn 115. The Folly of Brown 118. Joe Golightly; or, The First Lord's Daughter 120. The Rival Curates 122. Thomas Winterbottom Hance 124. A. and B.; or, The Sensation Twins 126. Sea-Side Snobs 127. The Bishop of Rum-ti-Foo 129. The Precocious Baby 131. Baines Carew, Gentleman 133. A Discontented Sugar Broker 135. The Force of Argument 137. At a Pantomime 139. The Three Kings of Chickeraboo 141. The Periwinkle Girl 143. Captain Reece 145. Thomson Green and Harriet Hale 148. Bob Potter 150. The Ghost, the Gallant, the Gael, and the Goblin 152. Ellen McJones Aberdeen 155. The Sensation Captain 157. Trial by Jury 160. The Reverend Micah Sowls 162. Peter the Wag 164. The Story of Prince Agib 166. Gentle Alice Brown 169. Pasha Bailey Ben 172. Blabworth-cum-Talkington 174. The Sailor Boy to His Lass 176. Sir Conrad and the Rusty One 178. The Cunning Woman 180. The Modest Couple 183. The "Bandoline" Player 185. Sir Barnaby Bampton Boo 187. Boulogne 190. Brave Alum Bey 193. Gregory Parable, LL.D. 196. Lieutenant-Colonel Flare 198. The Hermit 200. Annie Protheroe 204. The Captain and the Mermaids 206. An Unfortunate Likeness 208. A Boulogne Table d'Hote 210. The Railway Guard's Song 211. "The Undecided Man" 212. Premonitory Symptoms 212. Lost Mr. Blake 216. Little Oliver 218. What is a Burlesque? 220. The Phantom Head 222. The Politest of Nations! 223. Woman's Gratitude 225. The Baby's Vengeance 229. The Two Ogres 231. Mister William 234. The Martinet 236. The King of Canoodle-Dum 238. First Love 240. The Haughty Actor 243. The Two Majors 246. The Three Bohemian Ones 248. The Policeman's Beard 250. The Bishop of Rum-ti-Foo Again 252. A Worm Will Turn 254. The Mystic Selvagee 256. Emily, John, James, and I 259. The Ghost to His Ladye Love 260. Prince it Baleine 262. The Way of Wooing 264. The Scornful Colonel 266. The Variable Baby 268. The Ladies of the Lea 271. Hongree and Mahry 274. Etiquette 278. The Reverend Simon Magus 280. My Dream 282. Damon v. Pythias 284. The Bumboat Woman's Story 287. The Fairy Curate 290. Phrenology 292. The Perils of Invisibility 294. The Wise Policeman 296. A Drop of Pantomime Water 299. Old Paul and Old Tim 302. "Eheu! Fugaces" 303. Jester James 307. The Policeman's Story 309. The Thief's Apology 310. The King and the Stroller 311. The Return 313. Notes to the Ballads 365. Index of Titles 367. Index of First Lines