Richelieu; or, The Conspiracy, was written in the fall of 1838, and it was first acted on March 7th, 1839. Macready for whom, and under whose counsel it had been made brought it out, at Covent Garden, London, of which theatre he was then the manager, and himself personated Richelieu. In Macready s Reminiscences there are several interesting allusions to this subject, notable as showing in what manner the drift of the play was changed by the author, under the actors advice, and also as showing that the text was freely cut, in the process of adapting it to the practical uses of the stage. When I developed the whole plan of alterations, says Macready, the author was in ecstacy. This, evidently, was an instance in which the literary faculty was happily guided by an experienced and just dramatic instinct. In this drama, consequently, the story is told by direct action, out of which the language naturally flows, tinged, it is true, with the romantic sentimentalism that thoroughly saturated Bulwer sthought and The publisher acknowledges the kindness of Mr. William Winter and also the Penn Publishing Company in permitting the use of this part of the Introduction from the acting version of the play Edwin Booth s Prompt Book of Richelieu, edited by William Winter and published by the Penn Publishing Company, of Philadelphia.
(Typographical errors above are due to OCR software and don't occur in the book.)
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