Lacy’s Lost Authors

If we consider Lacy’s Acting Edition as a microcosm of Victorian theatre (albeit with some biases), the authors of its nearly 1500 titles seem to be worth investigating a little. Who wrote the plays that Lacy felt confident he could sell? What sort of people were they? Where did they spring from? John Russell Stephens’ definitive historical survey The profession of the playwright (CUP 1992) tells the story at a macro level, backed up by all manner of bibliographical and biographical pointers...