Punchinello is an older form of the name 'Punch' in the Punch and Judy show. Punchinello as a character appears in the Italian 'Comedia dell'Arte' about the beginning of the 17th century, and originated in the neighbourhood of Naples. Traditionally represented with a black mask and a hooked nose, Punchinello is a boastful clown, the hero of ridiculous and rascally exploits, and a character not devoid of wits. The character of Punchinello was transferred to the puppet show, and the French adapted the character as a dwarfish, hunch-back who was the mouth-piece of much raillery and satire. The English Punch character resembles the French puppet version of Punchinello. Research Punchinello
Will's Coffee House was a famous convivial resort in Russell Street at the end of Bow Street in London. It was first called the Red Cow, then the Rose. John Dryden was the first to make Will's the resort of the wits of his time and it was for a long time the open market for libels and lampoons. After John Dyden's death in 1700 the house was patronised by among others Alexander Pope. About 1712 the custom was transferred by Joseph Addison to Batton's coffee house on the opposite side of the street. Research Will's Coffee House
Allen Bathurst (Earl Bathurst) WAS AN ENGLISH statesman. He was born in 1684 and died in 1775. He took part with Harley and St. John in opposing the influence of Marlborough, was raised to the peerage in 1711, impeached the promoters of the South Sea scheme, opposed the bill against Atterbury, and was a leading antagonist of Walpole. He was created earl in 1772. His name is also associated with those of the leading writers and wits of the day. Research Allen Bathurst
George Ellis was an English man of letters. He was born in 1753 and died in 1815. Educated at Westminster School and Trinity College, Cambridge, he was one of the junta of wits concerned in the well-known political satire, The Rolliad, contributed to the Anti-Jacobin, wrote a preface, notes, and appendix to Way's translation of Le Grand's Fabliaux, and published Specimens of the Early English Poets, with an Historical Sketch (1790), and Specimens of Early English Metrical Romances (1805). He was an intimate friend of Sir Walter Scott. Research George Ellis
John Arbuthnot was a Scottish physician and distinguished wit. He was born in 1667 at Arbuthnot, Aberdeenshire, Scotland and died in 1735. He received the degree of Doctor of Medicine at the University of St Andrews; and went to London, where he soon distinguished himself by his writings and by his skill in his profession. In 1704 he was chosen fellow of the Royal Society, and soon after he was appointed physician extraordinary, and then physician in ordinary to Queen Anne About this time he became intimate with Swift, Pope, Gay, and other wits of the day. His writings, other than professional or scientific, include his contributions (in conjunction with Swift and Pope) to the Memoirs of Martinus Scriblerus, History of John Bull, Art of Political Lying, etc. He was conspicuous not only for learning and wit, but also for worth and humanity. Research John Arbuthnot
John Thurtell was an English gambler and murderer. He was born in 1794 at Norwich and died in 1824. Living in London, he was renowned as a sporting and gambling bully who lived chiefly by his wits. He lost a large sum of money to William Weare, a solicitor of Lyon's Inn, whom he subsequently accused of cheating him, enticed the victim to make a journey into the country and murdered him en route, hiding the body with the aid of his two associates, Probert and Hunt. Hunt and Probert turned King's evidence against John Thurtell and he was tried. He made a strong defence at his trial, and it was in the evidence led that the famous phrase 'he drove a gig' (hence Carlyle's gigmanity) was used. However he was convicted and hanged at Hertford on January the 9th 1824. Research John Thurtell
Richard Bentley was an English classical scholar and critic. He was born in 1662 near Wakefield, Yorkshire and died in 1742. At the age of fourteen he entered St John's College, Cambridge, where he took the degree of BA in 1680. In 1682 he became a master of Spalding School, and in the following year was appointed tutor to Dr. Stillingfleet's son.
He lived in Dr. Stillingfleet's house during 1683 to 1689, studying deeply, and accompanied his pupil to Oxford. In 1684 he took his MA degree at Cambridge, and in 1689 at Oxford, where two years later he won immediate reputation by the publication of his epistle to Mill on the Greek Chronicle of Malelas.
Dr. Stillingfleet having been raised to the bishopric of Worcester made Richard Bentley his chaplain, and in 1692 a prebendary in his cathedral. The same year he delivered the first series of the Boyle Lectures, his subject being a confutation of atheism. In 1694 he was appointed keeper of the royal library at St James's Palace, and in 1696 came into residence there. Two or three years after began his famous controversy with the Honourable Charles Boyle, afterwards Earl of Orrery, relative to the genuineness of the Greek Epistles of Phalaris, an edition of which was published by Boyle, then a student at Christ Church, Oxford.
In this dispute Richard Bentley was completely victorious, though the greatest wits and critics of the age, including Pope, Jonathan Swift, Garth, Atterbury, Aldrich, Dodwell, and ConyersMiddleton came to Boyle's assistance. Richard Bentley's Dissertation on the Epistles of Phalaris appeared in 1699 and was described as 'a monument of controversial genius' and 'a storehouse of exact and penetrating erudition.'
In 1700 he was presented to the mastership of Trinity College, Cambridge, and from this period until 1738 he was at feud with the fellows of that college. A lawsuit, which lasted more than twenty years, was decided against him, but his opponents were unable to carry out the sentence depriving him of his mastership. In 1711 he published an edition of Horace, and in 1713 his remarks on Collins's Discourse on Free-thinking, by Phileleutherus Lipsiensis. He was appointed regius professor of divinity in 1716. In 1726 he published an edition of Terence and Phsedrus.' He meditated an edition of Homer, but left only notes.
In Homeric criticism he has the merit of having detected the loss of the letter 'digamma' from the written texts. His last work was an edition of Milton's Paradise Lost, with conjectural emendations published in 1732. Research Richard Bentley
Susanna Centlivre was an Irish playwrite and actress. She was born in 1667 and died in 1723. She was the daughter of a Lincolnshiregentleman named Freeman. After being twice left a widow within a short time of her marriage she took for a third husband Joseph Centlivre, chief cook to Queen Anne. She had some success as an actress, but her fame rests on The Busybody, The Wonder, A Bold Stroke for a Wife, and 14 other plays, all of which were published in a collected edition, 1761. Mrs. Centlivre enjoyed the friendship of Steele, Farquhar, Bowe, and other wits of the day. Research Susanna Centlivre
Thomas Coryat was an eccentric English traveller. He was born in 1577 and died in 1617. His wanderings, a great part on foot, were through Europe, Asia Minor, Iran, India, etc. His travels were published under such curious titles as Coryat's Crudities, Coryat's Crambe or Colwort twice sodden, etc. He acted as a sort of butt or foil to the wits with whom he associated in London. Research Thomas Coryat
Colley Cibber was an English playwright and actor. He was born in 1671 at London and died in 1757. He took to the stage in 1689. His first dramatic effort, Love's Last Shift, appeared in 1695; and it was followed by Woman's Wit, the Careless Husband, and the Non-juror, of which the Hypocrite was a later version. A court pension and the appointment of poet-laureate drew upon him the rancour of the wits and poets of the day, including Pope. He is author of about twenty-five dramas, the amusing Apology for the Life of Colley Cibber, etc. Research Colley Cibber
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Punchinello
