'Our Theatrical Attempts in This Distant Quarter': The British Stage in Eighteenth-Century Calcutta
Notice bibliographique
Résumé
The exploration of this lively birthplace of an expatriate subculture can suitably start with David Garrick. Traces of his involvement with the theatre in Calcutta are embodied, not always clearly, in disconnected bits of documentation. Some of these have been revealed before, not always accurately. The story is intriguing and can be charted through a systematic review of the sources. On 26 March 1768 four gentlemen of the Hon. East India Company's service in Calcutta gave a commission for the purchase of theatrical scenery and scripts to the captain of one of the Company's vessels about to depart for home. Addressed to 'Captain Thomas Riddle of Pocock', the letter of commission reads: Sir, The Theatre of Calcutta being in want of Scenery, we shall esteem ourselves oblig'd to you if upon your Arrival in England you will request on our behalf one of the Captains bound to this Port to get a set of new Scenes of following Dimensions painted upon Canvas & bring them out in his Privilege, we agreeing to allow him 50 pr. Cent on the prime Cost, viz: 2 Scenes 29 feet broad 16 feet high 3 do. 26 do. do. 16 do. do. 2 do. 24 do. do. 16 do. do. As Also 5 Copies of all the Acting Plays & Farces half bound with the Words Calcutta Theatre stamp'd on the Backs of each, together with a Book of Copper Plates representing the different Habits of the Theatre if such a Work is to be had. We desire that one of the Scenes 29 feet broad may represent a Street and the other a Bedchamber one of the Scenes of 26 a Street another a Parlour and the third a Hall one of the Scenes of 24 feet, a Park with Trees and the other a Garden. If the Time will permit for painting the full Length Figures of Tragedy and Comedy we request they may be added to the above Commissions. We heartily wish you a good Voyage and are with great regard Sir Your most obedient humble Servants Sign'd L [?] Holte [?] // Thos. Pearson // Edw. Baber // Jas. Ellis A True Copy This is the first of three items, designated 'Calcutta account', in the Victoria and Albert Museum's Forster Collection of Garrick papers; separate sources reveal that Capt. Thomas Riddell commanded the merchantman Admiral Pocock (632 tons, launched 1758) on hire to the East India Company for three voyages in 1761-2, 1766-7 [1767-8?] and 1769-70. (1) The order for books seems rather a tall one, '5 Copies of all the Acting Plays & Farces' and handsomely bound and embossed at that. Presumably the intention was for pieces only in the current repertory. The order for scenery is sensible and suggests that this part of the order, at least, was produced by someone who knew what he was talking about. The next paper of the three in the 'Calcutta account' is a sheet of figures detailing the cost of purchases. It is headed 'London 3d. of December 1768'. The categories itemised in it were written up by different hands. The first one shows practised penmanship and is possibly the writing of William Hopkins, the Drury Lane prompter (stage manager) who is mentioned in the accounts. The others are less neat, and the final three lines are careless and partly illegible. The firms' names are preceded by abbreviations for Messrs, standardised here as Mss. The accounts read: Bought for the Calcutta Company-- N 1-- Mss. Griffin Bookseller and Stationers Bill 60.17. 0 [pounds sterling] 2 Mss. Johnstons Bill for Music 4.4. 0 3 Boxes and Cords 16. 0 Portridge &c 3. 0 66.0. 0 [pounds sterling] 3 Mss. French's Bill for painting Scenes 138. 12. 0 4 Mss. Sandersons Bill for 44. 0. 0 Carpenters work 248. …
Récupéré en direct depuis OpenAlex et désinversé. Les résumés ne sont pas conservés dans cette base de données : les index inversés représentent 8,6 Go des 9,3 Go de texte de la base, et le serveur dispose de 13 Go libres.
Comment cette classification a été obtenuedéplier
Prédiction machine sur la base complète
Imitation des enseignantsNi prévalence calibrée, ni vérité terrain. Validation humaine à venir. Le volet Gemma est une étiquette directe du modèle pour chaque travail de la base, lue sur la notice réduite au titre. Le volet Codex est un classifieur appris des 10 348 étiquettes directes de Codex et calibré sur les taux pondérés de l'échantillon; les champs sans appui suffisant ne portent aucun appel Codex. Le mode candidate est l'union des deux volets; le consensus est leur intersection. Ces sorties portent le statut machine_predicted_unvalidated et ne sont pas des étiquettes humaines.
Scores du classifieur distillé par catégorie (deux têtes)
| Catégorie | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Métarecherche | 0,001 | 0,002 |
| Méta-épidémiologie (sens strict) | 0,000 | 0,000 |
| Méta-épidémiologie (sens large) | 0,000 | 0,000 |
| Bibliométrie | 0,001 | 0,002 |
| Études des sciences et des technologies | 0,036 | 0,018 |
| Communication savante | 0,008 | 0,002 |
| Science ouverte | 0,001 | 0,005 |
| Intégrité de la recherche | 0,001 | 0,003 |
| Charge utile insuffisante (le modèle a refusé de juger) | 0,015 | 0,001 |
Scores machine (provisoires)
Les deux têtes enseignantes du modèle étudiant, lues sur ce travail. Un score ordonne la base pour la relecture; il n'affirme jamais une catégorie, et le statut de validation accompagne chaque rangée tel quel.
Scores de référence d'un modèle non mature (critères de maturité non atteints, 7 itérations). Un score ordonne; il n'affirme jamais une catégorie.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · tel quel depuis la passe de notation : score_only signifie que le nombre peut ordonner les travaux, et qu'aucune étiquette de catégorie n'en découleClassification
machine, non validéePrédiction automatique; un appel candidat d’une seule source (Gemma direct ou Codex distillé), pas un consensus.
Le détail, modèle par modèle et score par score, se trouve en fin de page sous « Comment cette classification a été obtenue ».