Thomas Chatterton Manuscript Project
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The Revenge, A Burletta
Acted at Marybone Gardens 1770
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Written 1770 - Published 1795. Age: 17, Brooke Street, Holborn
The Revenge. A Burletta
The only two pages at Bristol Central Library
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The Revenge. A Burletta
The Revenge, A Burletta, comes with six additional songs - all the work of Thomas Chatterton. He wrote it sometime around the middle of 1770, while living in Brooke Street, Holborn, London.
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The original manuscript in Chatterton's handwriting has been broken asunder, into three parts. The British Library has 495 lines; Bristol Library has just 28 lines (the two images shown above). And, finally, two manuscript pages consisting of 53 lines are still missing. Would they do this with Shakespeare ? It really is time to bring what remains together again - in Bristol !
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Note: Lines 444-496 are missing from the original manuscript held by the British Library, but are included in the published edition of 1795.
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Original Manuscripts - The Bristol Reference Library Manuscript :- B20932 : View
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The Revenge, A Burletta : Lines 25 - 52 only.
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No Songs.
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Original Manuscripts - The British Library Manuscript :- Add. 12050 : No View yet
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The Revenge, A Burletta : Lines 1-24; 53-443; 497-576
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A Bacchanalian sung by Mr Reinhold
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The Invitation to be sung by Mrs Barthelemon and Master Cheney
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The above two songs only in this MS.
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The Revenge, A Burletta. Acted at Marybone Gardens, MDCCLXX with Additional Songs.
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Published in 1795. The additional songs are :
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A Bacchanalian sung by Mr Reinhold
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The Invitation to be sung by Mrs Barthelemon and Master Cheney
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A Bacchanalian
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The Virgin’s Choice
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The Happy Pair
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Betsy of the Hill
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Additional Links :
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1784 : A supplement to the Miscellanies of Thomas Chatterton : View
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The 1784 editor presents both Betsy and Fanny in the same line.
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1803, vol 1 : View
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Has the text of The Revenge from 1795, along with five of the songs.
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The 6th song, Betsy of the Hill, is shown separately with Betsy replaced by Fanny : View
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It looks to me that Chatterton was writing The Revenge to order, a proper job of work with a return of £5 5s. (equivalent to £766 in 2023). It is likely that he was giving Mr Luffman Atterbury a good deal with the expectation of ongoing work, but it is also clear that young Chatterton was a novice dealing with a hard-nosed and experienced businessman.
The Strange Story of the Discovery of the Lost Manuscript
The story of the recovery of the 'lost' manuscript of The Revenge, A Burlettta, is strange indeed.
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The timeline might look like this:
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1769 : August 12th : Chatterton writes Amphitryon. A Burletta (precursor to The Revenge)
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1770 : July 6th : Chatterton, sells his copyright of The Revenge, A Burletta to Mr Luffman Atterbury for £5 5s.
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1794 : John Haslewood states that a man known as 'Honest Tom King' bought the MS from Luffman Atterbury for £5 5.
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1794 : Tom King handed the manuscript to John Eggerton to oversee publication.
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1795 : John Eggerton promptly upped and died Jan 1795.
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1795 : According to Tom King, the manuscript is now missing or is lost at the Printing House.
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1795 : The few printed copies (actual numbers unknown), due to the death of Egerton, were not published widely - this, along with doubts about authenticity, accounts for their rarity.
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1824 : William Upcott saves the manuscript from destruction when he discovers it in a pile of scrap paper on the counter of a cheesemonger. I assume that at this point the Ms. is still complete.
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1837 : John Dix's Life of Chatterton is published, raising the interest in Chatterton. Here's another assumption: Rev Samuel Butler, the then owner of the manuscript, gives a few pages of the manuscript to friends - a strange thing for a collector to do.
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1839 : The manuscript is now part of the British Museum collection. It is a part of the Rev Samuel Butler's vast collection. The manuscript is now missing 3 or 4 pages.
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1973 : British Library separates from the British Museum.
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The above, is paraphrased from my own general gleanings, but also & especially from Warren, Meyerstein, & Taylor. In addition the musings are meant to encourage further investigation to tighten the dates. It is a start towards a complete timeline for the manuscript of The Revenge, A Burletta.
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The following two cuttings cover the story quite nicely but will be added to as and when time allows.
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The following article is from the strangely named periodical 'The Crypt, Or Receptacle for Things Past: An Antiquarian, Literary, & Miscellaneous Journal, dated 1827 : View online
You Can Help the Chatterton Manuscript Project
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Pop into The British Library
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Photograph the Manuscript : British Library Ref No. Add. 1205
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​​Lines 1-24; 53-443; 496-576, Plus the first two songs.
3. Forward the photographs to me, Risteard QE!, for inclusion on this page, with our thanks & acknowledgment.
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Links to Chatterton's Works & Correspondence
Call it what you will, authentic, doubtful, lost, or plainly wrong - if it was linked with Chatterton it will be included in Chatterton's Works & Correspondence. This will be the base point from which we can examine every piece of work, and add notes and links accordingly.