Sir Aston Cokayne, a cousin of the poet Charles Cotton, was born into a Derbyshire family; he was educated at Chenies School, Buckinghamshire, Trinity College Cambridge and the Inns of Court. Afterwards he travelled on the continent with Sir Kenelm Digby, inherited his estates, and received a baronet's patent in 1642. A Catholic and a Royalist, Cokayne was granted an M.A. by Oxford in 1643; after the Restoration he published plays and lived beyond his means.
TEXT RECORDS:
1630 ca.The First Eclogue.
1630 ca.The Second Eclogue.
1632To my worthy Friend Mr. Philip Massinger, upon his Tragae-comedy, call'd the Emperour of the East.
1633 ca.On the Death of my very good Friend Mr. Michael Drayton.
1658A Remedy for Love.
1658Epigrams: No. 37. Of Edmond Spencer.
1658Love Elegies 12. Deare Lady from your Eies there Came.
1658To Mr. Humphrey C. on his Poem entitled Loves Hawking Bag.
PUBLICATIONS:
Dianea: an excellent new romance [Loredano, trans.] 1654.
The obstinate lady; a new comedy. 1657.
Small poems of divers sorts. 1658.
A chain of golden poems. 1658.
Poems ... with the Tragedy of Ovid. 1662.
Choice poems of several sorts. 1669.
The tragedy of Ovid. 1669.
A duke and no duke. A farce. 1685.
Dramatic works, ed. James Maidment. 1874.
PROFILE AND
ASSOCIATES:
English
Catholic
Dissenter
Chenies School
Trinity College Cambridge
Oxford University
Master of Arts
Inns of Court
antiquary
poet
dramatist
translator
Richard Brome
Charles Cotton
Sir Kenelm Digby
Michael Drayton
William Dugdale
William Habington
Francis Lenton
Richard Lovelace
Philip Massinger
Thomas May
Thomas Randolph
George Sandys
John Suckling
REFERENCE:
DNB; NCBEL; DLB.
[Portrait in Works (1669)]; Edward Phillips, Theatrum Poetarum (1675); William Winstanley, Lives of the Most Famous English Poets (1687); Gerard Langbaine, Account of the English Dramatick Poets (1691); Charles Gildon, Lives and Characters of the English Dramatick Poets (1699); Giles Jacob, Poetical Register (1719); Wood, Athenae Oxonienses (1690-91; 1721) 2:756-57; Cibber-Shiels, Lives of the Poets (1753); David Erskine Baker, Companion to the Play-House (1764); James Granger, Biographical History (1769; 1824) [portrait]; Biographia Dramatica (1782; 1812); George Ellis, Specimens of Early English Poetry (1790; 1801); Francis Godolphin Waldron, in Biographical Mirror (1795, 1798) [portrait]; Gentleman's Magazine 57 (1797) 554, 556, 737; Poetical Register for 1801 (1802); Samuel Egerton Brydges, "Small Poems of Divers Sorts" Censura Literaria 6 (1808) 154-56; Alexander Chalmers, General Biographical Dictionary (1812-17); Samuel Egerton Brydges, "Memoir of Sir Aston Cokayne" British Bibliographer 2 (1812) 449-63 [portrait]; John Nichols, Literary Anecdotes (1812-15); Bliss, Athenae Oxonienses (1815); Restituta or ... English Literature Revived 2 (1815) 31-50, 138-40; Robert Watt, Bibliotheca Britannica (1824); Allibone, Critical Dictionary of English Literature (1858-71; 1882); Foster, Alumni Oxon (1887-91); M. Burns, "The Devil of a Duke" TLS (18 July 1929); Arthur H. Scouten, "Aston Cokayne and his Adapter, Nahum Tate" Louisiana State University Disseration (1942); Cummings, Spenser: The Critical Heritage (1971); Chadwyck-Healey English Poetry Database (1995).
COMMENTARY RECORDS
for Sir Aston Cokayne:
BIOGRAPHY RECORDS
for Sir Aston Cokayne:
AUTHOR AS CRITIC:
(commentary records)