Elizabeth Craven as a Patron: The Theatric Tourist

Newbury Theatre from the Theatric Tourist 1804

Under the Patronage of Her Serene Highness the Margravine of Anspach, by Whose Permission an Engraving of Her Elegant Theatre Will be Given as a Frontispiece to the Publication, this Day (December 1, 1804) is Published, No. 4, of a Work Never Before Presented to the Public, Entitled

The Theatric Tourist

being a genuine collection of correct views, with brief and authentic historical accounts of all the principal provincial theatres in the United Kingdom / by a theatric amateur.

London : T. Woodfall, 1805....printed for Sylvester, Clement Chapple, Edward Kerby, William Lindsell, Henry Delahoy Symonds, Thomas Woodfall, Vernon and Hood.

The Theatre at Richmond in Yorkshire.

James Winston (1773 or 79-1843) was an English actor, artist and sometimes architect who started as a strolling player and became manager of the Drury Lane Theatre in London by 1819. He is thought to have written one play "Perseverance" (1802) and he collected a huge amount of material for a history of the British stage that he never got round to writing.

Andover Theatre.

At some point before 1804 he met Elizabeth Craven, Margravine of Anspach, and obtained her patronage to undertake a major project, The Theatric Tourist. He had to travel the length and breadth of England and produce drawings of dozens of provincial theatres, accurate architectural portrayals which could then be later engraved, coloured with aquatint and issued as a publication for collectors. Doubtless she covered his costs of travelling, and perhaps also invested in printing the book. She was always extremely generous to her protegés and full of enthusiasm for anything to do with the theatre. The result is a volume of delightful illustrations that are of great historical interest.

Margate Theatre.

 
A prospectus was published in 1804 and the entire volume in 1805. Along with the pictures, Winston provided useful notes about each theatre's capacity, how long it had been in business, which celebrated actors had performed there and how much the tickets cost. So thanks to Winston and to Elizabeth Craven we have a snapshot of English theatrical activity at a single point in time: what the theatres looked like, and what their capacity was. Many of them look very small by modern standards.

Tonbridge Wells Theatre.

Some of the theatres were famous even in their own time - such as the Theatre Royal in Orchard Street at Bath, where Sarah Siddons started her career. Jane Austen certainly attended it and mentions it in her novels and letters. Other theatres, such as the one at Newbury, are much less well known and might have been forgotten were it not for this book.

Theatre Royal, Orchard Street, Bath.

Elizabeth's own private theatre at Brandenburgh House, Richmond, featured as the frontispiece of the book, which was a pleasant compliment and a way of attracting the attention of prospective purchasers.
To find out more about Elizabeth Craven and her writing see,

Elizabeth Craven: Writer, Feminist and European

https://vernonpress.com/book/334





The theatric tourist : a facsimile of the first and only edition of 1805 preceded by a facsimile of the original prospectus
Winston, James, 1773-1843 | Mackintosh, Iain
2008 | London : Society for Theatre Research and the British Library | 72 p., [24] leaves of plates : col. ill., port. ; 30 cm

BODLEIAN LIBRARY
The theatric tourist : a facsimile of the first and only edition of 1805 preceded by a facsimile of the original prospectus
Winston, James, 1773-1843 | Mackintosh, Iain
2008 | London : Society for Theatre Research and the British Library | 72 p., [24] leaves of plates : col. ill., port. ; 30 cm Radcliffe Camera

https://snaccooperative.org/ark:/99166/w6057wbf
James Winston's - jsto
by AL Nelson - ‎1978 James Winston's Perseverance (1802).