George Wilkins (died 1618)[1] was an English dramatist and pamphleteer best known for his probable collaboration with William Shakespeare on the play Pericles, Prince of Tyre. By profession he was an inn-keeper, but he was also apparently involved in criminal activities.
Wilkins was an inn-keeper in Cow-Cross, London, an area that was "notorious as a haunt of whores and thieves".[2] Most biographical information about him derives from his regular appearance in criminal court records for thievery and acts of violence. Many of the charges against him involved violence against women, including kicking a pregnant woman in the belly, and knocking down and stomping another woman. The latter appears in other records as a known "bawd", or keeper of prostitutes. These facts have led to the suggestion that his inn functioned as a brothel and that Wilkins was a procurer, or pimp.[2][3]
Wilkins was associated with the King's Men, and their chief playwright William Shakespeare, during the latter's last working years as a dramatist. Shakespeare and Wilkins were both witnesses in the case of Bellott v Mountjoy in 1612; in his deposition he described himself as a "victualler."
In the same year Wilkins wrote The Miseries of Enforced Marriage. This play is based on the real life story of Walter Calverley, a Yorkshireman whose identity is thinly disguised under the name of "Scarborough." This man had killed his two children and had attempted to murder his wife. The play avoided a tragic ending, at least in the printed version of 1607, which ends in comedy. The story stopped short before the catastrophe perhaps because of objections raised by Mrs. Calverley's family, the Cobhams.[5] Walter Calverley's crimes are dealt with in a short play, A Yorkshire Tragedy, of uncertain authorship.
Pericles
A number of studies have attributed to Wilkins a share in Shakespeare's Pericles, Prince of Tyre (which does not appear in Shakespeare's First Folio, but was published only in a textually corrupt quarto). This may have been collaboration, or perhaps Wilkins was the original author of Pericles and Shakespeare remodelled it, or vice versa. However it may be, Wilkins published in 1608 a novel entitled The Painful Adventures of Pericles, Prynce of Tyre, described as "the true history of Pericles as it was lately presented by ... John Gower" (who serves as narrator in the play). This follows the play very closely.[5] The editors of the 1986 Oxford Edition of Shakespeare make the assumption that Wilkins was the co-author of Pericles and draw heavily upon The Painful Adventures in their controversial reconstructed text of the play. Wilkins is thought to have contributed most of the first two acts of the play, while Shakespeare wrote the last three.
^Parr, Anthony. "Wilkins, George". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/29418. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
^ abRoger Warren, Gary Taylor, MacDonald Pairman Jackson, A reconstructed text of Pericles, Prince of Tyre, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2004, pp.6-7.
^See Charles Nicholl, 'The gent upstairs', Guardian 20-10-2007, and his book The Lodger (2007)
^Krueger, Robert (1961). "Manuscript Evidence for dates of two Short Title Catalogue books: George Wilkins’s ‘Three Miseries of Barbary’ and the third edition of Elizabeth Grymeston’s ‘Miscelanea’." The Library s5-XVI(2):141-142
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Wilkins, George". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 28 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 646.
Stanley Wells and Gary Taylor, eds. Shakespeare: The Complete Works (Oxford, 1986)
External links
Works by or about George Wilkins in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
online text of The Painful Adventures of Pericles Prince of Tyre
February 05, 2023
george, wilkins, other, people, named, disambiguation, died, 1618, english, dramatist, pamphleteer, best, known, probable, collaboration, with, william, shakespeare, play, pericles, prince, tyre, profession, keeper, also, apparently, involved, criminal, activi. For other people named George Wilkins see George Wilkins disambiguation George Wilkins died 1618 1 was an English dramatist and pamphleteer best known for his probable collaboration with William Shakespeare on the play Pericles Prince of Tyre By profession he was an inn keeper but he was also apparently involved in criminal activities Contents 1 Life 2 Works 3 Pericles 4 Notes 5 References 6 External linksLife EditWilkins was an inn keeper in Cow Cross London an area that was notorious as a haunt of whores and thieves 2 Most biographical information about him derives from his regular appearance in criminal court records for thievery and acts of violence Many of the charges against him involved violence against women including kicking a pregnant woman in the belly and knocking down and stomping another woman The latter appears in other records as a known bawd or keeper of prostitutes These facts have led to the suggestion that his inn functioned as a brothel and that Wilkins was a procurer or pimp 2 3 Wilkins was associated with the King s Men and their chief playwright William Shakespeare during the latter s last working years as a dramatist Shakespeare and Wilkins were both witnesses in the case of Bellott v Mountjoy in 1612 in his deposition he described himself as a victualler Works EditHe is first heard of as the author of a pamphlet on the Three Miseries of Barbary which dates from 1606 4 He then collaborated in 1607 with William Rowley and John Day in The Travels of the Three English Brothers a dramatisation of the real life adventures of the Sherley brothers 5 In the same year Wilkins wrote The Miseries of Enforced Marriage This play is based on the real life story of Walter Calverley a Yorkshireman whose identity is thinly disguised under the name of Scarborough This man had killed his two children and had attempted to murder his wife The play avoided a tragic ending at least in the printed version of 1607 which ends in comedy The story stopped short before the catastrophe perhaps because of objections raised by Mrs Calverley s family the Cobhams 5 Walter Calverley s crimes are dealt with in a short play A Yorkshire Tragedy of uncertain authorship Pericles EditA number of studies have attributed to Wilkins a share in Shakespeare s Pericles Prince of Tyre which does not appear in Shakespeare s First Folio but was published only in a textually corrupt quarto This may have been collaboration or perhaps Wilkins was the original author of Pericles and Shakespeare remodelled it or vice versa However it may be Wilkins published in 1608 a novel entitled The Painful Adventures of Pericles Prynce of Tyre described as the true history of Pericles as it was lately presented by John Gower who serves as narrator in the play This follows the play very closely 5 The editors of the 1986 Oxford Edition of Shakespeare make the assumption that Wilkins was the co author of Pericles and draw heavily upon The Painful Adventures in their controversial reconstructed text of the play Wilkins is thought to have contributed most of the first two acts of the play while Shakespeare wrote the last three Notes EditThis article includes a list of general references but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations November 2022 Learn how and when to remove this template message Parr Anthony Wilkins George Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online ed Oxford University Press doi 10 1093 ref odnb 29418 Subscription or UK public library membership required a b Roger Warren Gary Taylor MacDonald Pairman Jackson A reconstructed text of Pericles Prince of Tyre Oxford Oxford University Press 2004 pp 6 7 See Charles Nicholl The gent upstairs Guardian 20 10 2007 and his book The Lodger 2007 Krueger Robert 1961 Manuscript Evidence for dates of two Short Title Catalogue books George Wilkins s Three Miseries of Barbary and the third edition of Elizabeth Grymeston s Miscelanea The Library s5 XVI 2 141 142 a b c Chisholm 1911 References Edit This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain Chisholm Hugh ed 1911 Wilkins George Encyclopaedia Britannica Vol 28 11th ed Cambridge University Press p 646 Lee Sidney 1900 Wilkins George fl 1607 In Lee Sidney ed Dictionary of National Biography Vol 61 London Smith Elder amp Co Stanley Wells and Gary Taylor eds Shakespeare The Complete Works Oxford 1986 External links EditWorks by or about George Wilkins in libraries WorldCat catalog online text of The Painful Adventures of Pericles Prince of Tyre Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title George Wilkins amp oldid 1123232038, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
