Francis Godolphin Waldron

Francis Godolphin Waldron was an actor at Drury Lane from 1769, where he produced comedies and adaptations (1773-1804). He managed the theaters at Windsor and Richmond, worked with provincial companies, and was prompter at the Little Theatre in the Haymarket. In his later years Waldron was a bookseller and publisher. The titles of his publications indicate an enduring fascination with renaissance drama and the age of Elizabeth; after their exposure, Waldron purchased William Henry Ireland's Shakespeare forgeries for 18 shillings.

TEXT RECORDS:

1792Dispersed Poems by Spenser; not in any Edition of his Works: and now first Collected.
1795Michael Drayton
1799On Reading Ballad-Stories, Sonnets, &c. by G. D. Hartley, Comedian.
1801Il Luttoso, ed Il Gaudioso, Il Giocoso, ed Il Diligente.

PUBLICATIONS:

The maid of Kent. 1778.
The sad shepherd [Ben Jonson], with a continuation. 1783.
The King in the country: a dramatic piece. 1789.
The literary museum: or ancient and modern repository, comprising scarce and curious tracts. 1792.
The prodigal: a dramatic piece. 1794.
Heigho for a husband. 1794.
Love and madness. 1795.
The biographical mirror. 3 vols, 1795-1810.
Free reflections on miscellaneous papers and legal instruments under the hand and seal of William Shakespeare. 1796.
The loves of Troilus and Cressida, written by Chaucer, with a commentary by Sir Francis Kynaston, never before published. 1796.
The Virgin Queen, attempted as a sequel to Shakespeare's Tempest. 1797.
The man with two wives, or wigs for ever! a dramatic fable. 1798.
A compendious history of the English stage, ed. Waldron. 1800.
A collection of miscellaneous poetry. 1802.
Rosalynde; Euphues golden legacy, ed. Waldron. 1802.
The Shakespearean miscellany 1802.
The miller's maid. 1804.

PROFILE AND
ASSOCIATES:

English

education not known

actor
editor
book trade
dramatist
poet

The How do you do
Gentleman's Magazine
British Bibliographer

Charles Dibdin
William Gifford
John Taylor Esq.

REFERENCE:

DNB; NCBEL.

Catalogue of five hundred Celebrated Authors (1788); Biographia Dramatica (1812); John Nichols, Literary Anecdotes (1812-15); Biographical Dictionary of Living Authors (1816); obituary in Gentleman's Magazine 88 (March 1818) 283-84; "Mr. Waldron's Library" British Stage and Literary Cabinet" 2 (June 1818) 127; obituary in Monthly Magazine 45 (May 1818) 375; Robert Watt, Bibliotheca Britannica (1824); Allibone, Critical Dictionary of English Literature (1858-71; 1882).

COMMENTARY RECORDS
for Francis Godolphin Waldron:

1.	1799  Anonymous, in "The Shakesperian Hunt No. XII" The Oracle and the Daily Advertiser (6 December 1799).
2.	1802  Thomas Dermody, in The Histrioniade (1802) 22.
3.	1832  John Taylor Esq., in Records of my Life (1832) 2:86-87.

BIOGRAPHY RECORDS
for Francis Godolphin Waldron:

1.	1788  Anonymous, in Catalogue of five hundred Celebrated Authors (1788).
2.	1812  Stephen Jones, in Biographia Dramatica; or, A Companion to the Playhouse (1812) 1:731.
3.	1814  John Nichols, in Literary Anecdotes of the XVIII Century (1812-15) 8:136n.
4.	1816  Anonymous, in Biographical Dictionary of Living Authors (1816) 367.
5.	1818  Anonymous, Obituary in Gentleman's Magazine 88 (March 1818) 283-84.

AUTHOR AS CRITIC:
(commentary records)

1.	1788  William Smith of Covent Garden:   Francis Godolphin Waldron?; "Mr. Smith" Gentleman's Magazine 58 (September 1788) 769-70.
2.	1801  Edward Fairfax:   Francis Godolphin Waldron, "Some Account of Fairfax [by Richard Farmer]" The Monthly Magazine 11 (April 1801) 211-12.

AUTHOR AS CRITIC:
(biography records)

1.	1795  Edward Alleyn:   Francis Godolphin Waldron, "Memoirs of Edward Alleyn" Biographical Mirror (1795, 1798) 1:17-18.
2.	1795  Michael Drayton:   Francis Godolphin Waldron, "Michael Drayton" Biographical Mirror (1795, 1798) 1:102-11.
3.	1795  William Shenstone:   Francis Godolphin Waldron, "William Shenstone" Biographical Mirror (1795, 1798) 1:118-21.