Dr. Nathan Drake

Born in Yorkshire, Nathan Drake took his M.D. from Edinburgh in 1789 and practiced medicine at Sudbury (1790-92) and Hadleigh, Suffolk (1792-1836). He was a popular essayist and an early advocate of German literature. He is remembered for his vast compendium of information on Elizabethan writers, Shakespeare and His Times (1817).

TEXT RECORDS:

1790Ode to Superstition.
1790[On Gothic Superstition.]
1790[Sir Gawen. An Historic Romance.]
1798On Pastoral Poetry.
1798On Sonnet-Writing.
1800On the Poetry of the Ages of Elizabeth and the Charleses, and of the present Reign.
1800On the Poetry of the Ages of Elizabeth and the Charleses, and of the present Reign. Concluded.
1817Shakspeare and his Times: Edmund Spenser.
1828The Bell of Arragon.

PUBLICATIONS:

The speculator [ed. Drake and W. Frend]. 1791.
Literary hours: or sketches critical and narrative. 1798; 2 vols, 1800, 3 vols, 1804, 1820.
The old abbey tale, in Canterbury tales. 1802.
Essays biographical, critical, and historical, illustrative of the Tatler, Spectator, and Guardian. 3 vols, 1805.
Rochester Castle; or Gudulph's Tower. A gothic tale. 1810.
The gleaner: a series of periodical essays, selected and arranged from scarce and neglected volumes. 4 vols, 1811.
Shakespeare and his times. 2 vols, 1817.
Winter nights: or fire-side lucubrations. 2 vols, 1820.
Evenings in autumn: a series of essays. 2 vols, 1822.
Noontide leisure: or sketches in summer, including a tale of the days of Shakespeare. 2 vols, 1824.
Mornings in spring: or retrospections biographical, critical, and historical. 2 vols, 1828.
Memorials of Shakespeare: or sketches of his character and genius by various writers. 1828.
The harp of Judah: or songs of Sion, being a metrical translation of the Psalms. 1837.

PROFILE AND
ASSOCIATES:

English
Anglican

Trinity College Dublin
Edinburgh University

physician
antiquary
essayist
poet

The Speculator
True Briton
Gentleman's Magazine
Literary Souvenir

Bernard Barton

REFERENCE:

DNB; NCBEL; CBEL (3rd ed).

David Rivers, Literary Memoirs of Living Authors (1798); John Nichols, Literary Anecdotes (1812-15); Biographical Dictionary of Living Authors (1816); Robert Watt, Bibliotheca Britannica (1824); Olinthus Gregory, in Memoirs of the life, writings, and character of the late John Mason Good, M.D. (1828); obituary in Gentleman's Magazine NS 6 (August 1836) 215-16; Allibone, Critical Dictionary of English Literature (1858-71; 1882).

COMMENTARY RECORDS
for Dr. Nathan Drake:

1.	1793  Thomas Holcroft, in Review of Drake, Poems; The Monthly Review NS 12 (October 1793) 164.
2.	1820  Bernard Barton, "To Nathan Drake, M.D. on reading the opening Paper in his Winter Nights" Literary Gazette (24 June 1820) 412.
3.	1828  Anonymous, in Review of Drake, Mornings in Spring; The Monthly Review S3 8 (May 1828) 14-15.
4.	1828  Anonymous, in Review of Drake, Mornings in Spring; The Literary Chronicle 10 (1 March 1828) 129.
5.	1851  Robert Pearse Gillies, in Memoirs of a Literary Veteran (1851) 1:167-68.

BIOGRAPHY RECORDS
for Dr. Nathan Drake:

1.	1798  David Rivers, in Literary Memoirs of Living Authors (1798) 1:165.
2.	1816  Anonymous, Biographical Dictionary of Living Authors (1816) 98-99.
3.	1825  Anonymous, "Dr. Nathan Drake" A New Biographical Dictionary of 3000 Cotemporary Public Characters (1825) 2:525.
4.	1836  John Gough Nichols, Obituary in Gentleman's Magazine NS 6 (August 1836) 215-16.
5.	1858  Samuel Austin Allibone, in Critical Dictionary of English Literature (1858-71; 1882) 1:519.

AUTHOR AS CRITIC:
(commentary records)

1.	1798  William Collins:   Nathan Drake, in Literary Hours (1798; 1800) 1:66-67.
2.	1799  Rev. Moses Browne:   Nathan Drake, in "On Pastorals" Literary Hours (1799; 1800) 1:336-37.
3.	1799  John Fletcher:   Nathan Drake, in "On Pastorals" Literary Hours (1799; 1800) 1:333-34.
4.	1799  William Warner:   Nathan Drake, "On Pastorals" Literary Hours (1799; 1800) 1:334.
5.	1800  Dr. Mark Akenside:   Nathan Drake, in Literary Hours (1800) 2:79.
6.	1800  Christopher Anstey:   Nathan Drake, in Literary Hours (1800) 2:195-96.
7.	1800  Rev. John Bidlake:   Nathan Drake, in Literary Hours (1800) 2:190.
8.	1800  Rev. Henry Boyd:   Nathan Drake, in Literary Hours (1800) 2:202.
9.	1800  Rev. William Cartwright:   Nathan Drake, in Literary Hours (1800) 2:171.
10.	1800  William Collins:   Nathan Drake, "On the Government Imagination; on the Frenzy of Tasso and Colins" Literary Hours (1800) 1:51-72.
11.	1800  Dr. Erasmus Darwin:   Nathan Drake, in Literary Hours (1800) 2:194-95
12.	1800  Sir William Davenant:   Nathan Drake, in Literary Hours (1800) 2:165.
13.	1800  Sir John Davies:   Nathan Drake, in Literary Hours (1800) 2:165-66.
14.	1800  Rev. John Donne:   Nathan Drake, in Literary Hours (1800) 2:170.
15.	1800  William Drummond:   Nathan Drake, in Literary Hours (1800) 1:112.
16.	1800  Rev. John Dyer:   Nathan Drake, in Literary Hours (1800) 1:223.
17.	1800  Edward Fairfax:   Nathan Drake, in Literary Hours (1800) 2:172-73.
18.	1800  Rev. Giles Fletcher:   Nathan Drake, in Literary Hours (1800) 2:165-66.
19.	1800  Bp. Joseph Hall:   Nathan Drake, in Literary Hours (1800) 2:169-70.
20.	1800  William Hayley:   Nathan Drake, in Literary Hours (1800) 2:198-99.
21.	1800  Rev. Robert Herrick:   Nathan Drake, in Literary Hours (1800) 1:14.
22.	1800  Rev. Richard Hole:   Nathan Drake, in Literary Hours (1800) 1:146.
23.	1800  Rev. James Hurdis:   Nathan Drake, in Literary Hours (1800) 2:191.
24.	1800  Samuel Johnson:   Nathan Drake, in Literary Hours (1800) 1:210.
25.	1800  Ben Jonson:   Nathan Drake, in Literary Hours (1800) 2:166-67.
26.	1800  Thomas James Mathias:   Nathan Drake, in Literary Hours (1800) 2:196.
27.	1800  Thomas May:   Nathan Drake, in Literary Hours (1800) 2:169.
28.	1800  Richard Niccols:   Nathan Drake, in Literary Hours (1800) 2:168-69.
29.	1800  Robert Southey:   Nathan Drake, in Literary Hours (1800) 2:184-85.
30.	1800  Edmund Waller:   Nathan Drake, in Literary Hours (1800) 2:172.
31.	1804  Michael Bruce:   Nathan Drake, "On the Life, Writings, and Genius of Michael Bruce" Literary Hours (1804) 3:515-52.
32.	1804  Thomas Chatterton:   Nathan Drake, "To the Memory of Chatterton" Literary Hours (1804) 2:14-15.
33.	1804  Rev. Robert Herrick:   Nathan Drake, "On the Life, Writings, and Genius of Robert Herrick" Literary Hours (1804) 3:25-88.
34.	1804  Joshua Sylvester:   Nathan Drake, "Observations on the Merits and Defects of Sylvester's Du Bartas, with Selections from his Version" Literary Hours (1804) 3:185-255.
35.	1809  Bp. Francis Atterbury:   Nathan Drake, in "Literary Life of Dr. Johnson" Essays Illustrative of the Rambler (1809-10) 1:216-17.
36.	1809  Sir Samuel Egerton Brydges:   Nathan Drake, in Essays Illustrative of the Rambler (1809-10) 2:482-83.
37.	1809  Matthew Concanen:   Nathan Drake, in Essays Illustrative of the Rambler (1809-10) 1:68-70.
38.	1809  Thomas Cooke:   Nathan Drake, in Essays Illustrative of the Rambler (1809-10) 1:75-77.
39.	1809  Rev. William Dodd:   Nathan Drake, in Essays Illustrative of the Rambler (1809-10) 2:348-49.
40.	1809  Henry Fielding:   Nathan Drake, in Essays Illustrative of the Rambler (1809-10) 1:79-86.
41.	1809  Oliver Goldsmith:   Nathan Drake, in Essays Illustrative of the Rambler (1809-10) 2:347-48.
42.	1809  John Hawkesworth:   Nathan Drake, in Essays Illustrative of the Rambler (1809-10) 2:1-33.
43.	1809  Aaron Hill:   Nathan Drake, in Essays Illustrative of the Rambler (1809-10) 1:50-54.
44.	1809  James Hogg:   Nathan Drake, in Essays Illustrative of the Rambler (1809-10) 2:484.
45.	1809  William Jackson of Exeter:   Nathan Drake, in Essays Illustrative of the Rambler (1809-10) 2:460-61.
46.	1809  Rev. Richard Jago:   Nathan Drake, in Essays Illustrative of the Rambler (1809-10) 2:164-65.
47.	1809  Rev. Vicesimus Knox:   Nathan Drake, in Essays Illustrative of the Rambler (1809-10) 2:364-66.
48.	1809  Henry Mackenzie:   Nathan Drake, in Essays Illustrative of the Rambler (1809-10) 2:366-75.
49.	1809  William Melmoth:   Nathan Drake, in "Literary Life of Dr. Johnson" Essays Illustrative of the Rambler (1809-10) 1:249.
50.	1809  Edward Moore:   Nathan Drake, in Essays Illustrative of the Rambler (1809-10) 2:261-64.
51.	1809  William Oldys:   Nathan Drake, in Essays Illustrative of the Rambler (1809-10) 1:71-72.
52.	1809  Rev. Charles Parrott:   Nathan Drake, in Essays Illustrative of the Rambler (1809-10) 2:302.
53.	1809  Samuel Richardson:   Nathan Drake, in Essays Illustrative of the Rambler (1809-10) 2:47-73.
54.	1809  Richard Savage:   Nathan Drake, in "Literary Life of Dr. Johnson" Essays Illustrative of the Rambler (1809-10) 1:151-52.
55.	1809  Rev. Joseph Warton:   Nathan Drake, in Essays illustrative of the Rambler (1810) 2:112-51.
56.	1809  Rev. Thomas Warton:   Nathan Drake, in Essays Illustrative of the Rambler (1809-10) 2:166-219.
57.	1809  Henry Kirke White:   Nathan Drake, in Essays Illustrative of the Rambler (1809-10) 2:477-79.
58.	1809  William Whitehead:   Nathan Drake, in Essays Illustrative of the Rambler (1809-10) 2:294-95.
59.	1817  Robert Allott:   Nathan Drake, in Shakespeare and his Times (1817; 1838) 347.
60.	1817  Robert Greene:   Nathan Drake, in Shakespeare and His Times (1817; 1838) 304.
61.	1817  Sir John Harington:   Nathan Drake, in Shakespeare and his Times (1817; 1838) 251.
62.	1817  Gabriel Harvey:   Nathan Drake, in Shakespeare and his Times (1817; 1838) 223-24.
63.	1817  George Peele:   Nathan Drake, in Shakespeare and his Times (1817; 1838) 459-60.
64.	1817  Samuel Rowlands:   Nathan Drake, in Shakespeare and His Times (1817); Allibone, Critical Dictionary of English Literature (1858-71; 1882) 2:1883.
65.	1817  Sir William Vaughan:   Nathan Drake, in Shakespeare and his Times (1817) in Allibone, Critical Dictionary of English Literature (1858-71; 1882) 3:2513.
66.	1820  Philip Doyne:   Nathan Drake, in "On the English Translations of Tasso" Winter Evenings (1820) 2:108-09.
67.	1820  John Hoole:   Nathan Drake, in "On the English Translations of Tasso" Winter Evenings (1820) 2:109.

AUTHOR AS CRITIC:
(biography records)

1.	1809  Sir Richard Blackmore:   Nathan Drake, in Essays Illustrative of the Rambler (1809-10) 1:16-19.
2.	1809  Richard Owen Cambridge:   Nathan Drake, in Essays Illustrative of the Rambler (1809-10) 2:269-276.
3.	1809  Lord Chesterfield:   Nathan Drake, in Essays Illustrative of the Rambler (1809-10) 2:265-69.
4.	1809  George Colman:   Nathan Drake, in Essays Illustrative of the Rambler (1809-10) 2:320-23.
5.	1809  John Gilbert Cooper:   Nathan Drake, in Essays Illustrative of the Rambler (1809-10) 2:302-05.
6.	1809  William Cowper:   Nathan Drake, in Essays Illustrative of the Rambler (1809-10) 2:330-36.
7.	1809  Robert Dodsley:   Nathan Drake, in Essays Illustrative of the Rambler (1809-10) 2:309-10.
8.	1809  William Duncombe:   Nathan Drake, in Essays Illustrative of the Rambler (1809-10) 2:306-07.
9.	1809  Rev. John Duncombe:   Nathan Drake, in Essays Illustrative of the Rambler (1809-10) 2:307-08.
10.	1809  William King of Oxford:   Nathan Drake, in Essays Illustrative of the Rambler (1809-10) 2:337-39.
11.	1809  Sir James Marriott:   Nathan Drake, in Essays Illustrative of the Rambler (1809-10) 2:297-98.
12.	1809  James Ralph:   Nathan Drake, in Essays Illustrative of the Rambler (1809-10) 1:94-96.
13.	1809  Rev. William Hayward Roberts:   Nathan Drake, in Essays Illustrative of the Rambler (1809-10) 2:311-12.
14.	1809  Rev. James Scott:   Nathan Drake, in Essays Illustrative of the Rambler (1809-10) 2:315.
15.	1809  Lewis Theobald:   Nathan Drake, in Essays Illustrative of the Rambler (1809-10) 1:30-32.
16.	1809  Bonnell Thornton:   Nathan Drake, in Essays Illustrative of the Rambler (1809-10) 2:323-28.
17.	1809  Horace Walpole:   Nathan Drake, in Essays Illustrative of the Rambler (1809-10) 2:276-84.
18.	1809  Sir Charles Hanbury Williams:   Nathan Drake, in Essays Illustrative of the Rambler (1809-10) 2:310-11.
19.	1817  Sir John Beaumont:   Nathan Drake, in Shakespeare and his Times (1817; 1838) 291-92.
20.	1817  Nicholas Breton:   Nathan Drake, in Shakespeare and his Times (1817; 1838) 292-93.
21.	1817  William Browne of Tavistock:   Nathan Drake, in Shakespeare and his Times (1817; 1838) 292-93.
22.	1817  John Chalkhill:   Nathan Drake, in Shakespeare and his Times (1817; 1838) 294-95.
23.	1817  George Chapman:   Nathan Drake, in Shakespeare and his Times (1817; 1838) 295.
24.	1817  Thomas Churchyard:   Nathan Drake, in Shakespeare and his Times (1817; 1838) 295-96.
25.	1817  Sir John Davies:   Nathan Drake, in Shakespeare and his Times (1817; 1838) 297-98.
26.	1817  Rev. John Donne:   Nathan Drake, in Shakespeare and his Times (1817; 1838) 298.
27.	1817  Michael Drayton:   Nathan Drake, in Shakespeare and his Times (1817; 1838) 298-99.
28.	1817  William Drummond:   Nathan Drake, in Shakespeare and his Times (1817; 1838) 299-300.
29.	1817  Edward Fairfax:   Nathan Drake, in Shakespeare and his Times (1817; 1838) 300-01.
30.	1817  Rev. Charles Fitzgeffrey:   Nathan Drake, in Shakespeare and his Times (1817; 1838) 301.
31.	1817  Rev. Phineas Fletcher:   Nathan Drake, in Shakespeare and his Times (1817; 1838) 302.
32.	1817  Rev. Giles Fletcher:   Nathan Drake, in Shakespeare and his Times (1817; 1838) 301-02.
33.	1817  Robert Greene:   Nathan Drake, in Shakespeare and his Times (1817; 1838) 238-43.
34.	1817  Bp. Joseph Hall:   Nathan Drake, in Shakespeare and his Times (1817; 1838) 304-05.
35.	1817  Sir John Harington:   Nathan Drake, in Shakespeare and his Times (1817; 1838) 305-06.
36.	1817  Ben Jonson:   Nathan Drake, in Shakespeare and His Time (1817, 1832) 306, 611-15.
37.	1817  John Lane:   Nathan Drake, in Shakespeare and his Times (1817; 1838) 326.
38.	1817  Dr. Thomas Lodge:   Nathan Drake, in Shakespeare and his Times (1817; 1838) 306-08.
39.	1817  Gervase Markham:   Nathan Drake, in Shakespeare and his Times (1817; 1838) 246-47.
40.	1817  Christopher Marlowe:   Nathan Drake, in Shakespeare and his Times (1817; 1838) 308.
41.	1817  Rev. John Marston:   Nathan Drake, in Shakespeare and his Times (1817; 1838) 308-09.
42.	1817  Richard Niccols:   Nathan Drake, in Shakespeare and his Times (1817; 1838) 309-10.
43.	1817  Sir Walter Raleigh:   Nathan Drake, in Shakespeare and his Times (1817; 1838) 310.
44.	1817  Sir Philip Sidney:   Nathan Drake, in Shakespeare and his Times (1817; 1838) 316.
45.	1817  Joshua Sylvester:   Nathan Drake, in Shakespeare and his Times (1817; 1838) 316-17.
46.	1817  William Warner:   Nathan Drake, in Shakespeare and his Times (1817; 1838) 319-20.
47.	1817  Thomas Watson:   Nathan Drake, in Shakespeare and his Times (1817; 1838) 320-21.
48.	1817  George Wither:   Nathan Drake, in Shakespeare and his Times (1817; 1838) 323-25.