Theophilus Cibber - Authorship

Authorship

At the age of 17, Cibber adapted Shakespeare's Henry VI, An Historical Tragedy of the Civil Wars in Reign of King Henry VI. Later, he adapted Romeo and Juliet, in which both he and one of his daughters acted. Theophilus' plays, which include the ballad opera Patie and Peggie, the comedy The Lover, the farce The Auction and the pantomime The Harlot's Progress, are of no great merit. They were published in a modern edition by David Mann in 1981.

Theophilus' authorship of Lives of the Poets of Great Britain and Ireland, to the Time of Dean Swift (1753) is disputed; Samuel Johnson claimed that it was written by Robert Shiels. Most of the text is lifted from earlier works by Gerard Langbaine and Giles Jacob. Other works in Theophilus' name are A Letter from Theophilus Cibber to John Highmore (1733), A Lick at a Liar: or Calumny Detected. Being an Occasional Letter to a Friend (1752), An Epistle from Mr Theophilus Cibber to David Garrick, esq. (1755), and Two Dissertations on the Theatres (1756), which despite the title was in three parts.

In April 1740, Theophilus' father published an autobiography, An Apology for the Life of Colley Cibber, Comedian, which was a commercial success. Shortly after its release, Theophilus drew up a proposal for his own autobiography and began to collect advances from prospective subscribers. In July, An Apology for the Life of Mr. T C, Comedian: Being a Proper Sequel to The Apology for the Life of Mr. Colley Cibber, Comedian, with an Historical View of the Stage to the Present Year / Supposed to be Written by Himself in the Style and Manner of the Poet Laureate, was published but Theophilus was not the author. It was an anonymous attack against the Cibbers patterned on Colley Cibber's succès scandale autobiography. Theophilus claimed he returned the subscriptions and threatened the publishers with a lawsuit, but nothing came of his threats. The author was never discovered, but Henry Fielding was suspected. Fielding's 20th-century biographer Wilbur Lucius Cross thought that Fielding "did not actually write the book, was doubtless in the secret, and may have lent his aid here and there".