minstrel: Pills to Purge Melancholy - full text?

[Jennifer Doherty]

Yup, that's exactly what I wanted.  Thanks!!!  I'll have to look for the $35 
60-song collection.  Thanks again.

Anna

Anna MacKenzie
BardofBH at hotmail.com
Bright Hills/Atlantia



----Original Message Follows----
From: yarrowp <yarrowp at mscd.edu>
To: sca_bard <sca_bard at yahoo.com>, Jennifer Doherty <bardofbh at hotmail.com>, 
minstrel <minstrel at pbm.com>
Subject: RE: minstrel: Pills to Purge Melancholy - full text?
Date: Fri, 05 Jul 2002 10:30:17 -0600

If I'm reading this aright, here's a brief history:

The origins of Wit and Mirth: or Pills to Purge Melancholy, the most famous
song book of its day, may be traced back to a single volume of 'witty 
ballads,
jovial songs, and merry catches' by an earlier generation of lyricists,
published without music in 1661 under the title An Antidote against
Melancholy: made up in Pills. For the third edition, still without music but
livened up by more recent songs, the title was changed to Wit and Mirth: An
Antidote against Melancholy (1682), and in 1699, still in one volume, it was
published by Henry Playford with music. Over the course of the next two
decades it was expanded and republished again and again, eventually to 
become
this six-volume 'standard edition' of contemporary popular comic and bawdy
ballads, with an increasing emphasis on the work of the stammering dramatist
and lyricist Thomas D'Urfey, whose songs were sung by all the town. Among 
the
composers were Dr. John Blow and Henry Purcell. Day and Murrie 236-240, & 
242.

The D'Urfey editon was published in six volumes over 12 months in 1719.  
Then
the first complete version with music was issued in one volume, titled Wit 
and
Mirth: or Pills to purge Melancholy; being a Collection of the best merry
Ballads and Songs, old and new. Fitted to all Humours, having each their
proper Tune for either Voice, or Instrument: most of the Songs being new 
set.
Vol. I. [ - the Sixth and Last], in 1720.  This is currently running over
$2700 on bookfinder.  A facsimile of that edition was issued in 1850 -
currently available on bookfinder for under $1000 ;-)

For those of us with less money to spend in one place, you'll find a
collection of Sixty Ribald Songs From Pills to Purge Melancholy Selected &
Edited, With Introduction, Notes, and Glossary, authors Bradley, S. A. J. &
Duarte, John W. (Guitar Arranged By) starting at about $35 from the usual
suspects.




Vivien

 >===== Original Message From Jennifer Doherty <bardofbh at hotmail.com> =====
 >Hello All,
 >
 >Speaking of the Pills... The last time I went looking for them I kept 
coming
 >up with several editions of the same book, each containing different 
songs.
 >Anyone know what the earliest edition was and/or how many editions there
 >were??  Just curious.  Thanks.
 >
 >Anna
 >
 >
 >Anna MacKenzie
 >BardofBH at hotmail.com
 >Bright Hills/Atlantia
 >
 >
 >----Original Message Follows----
 >From: Teleri Barod <sca_bard at yahoo.com>
 >To: minstrel at pbm.com
 >Subject: minstrel: Pills to Purge Melancholy - full text?
 >Date: Wed, 3 Jul 2002 08:26:00 -0700 (PDT)
 >
 >Greetings to the list!
 >
 >So many wonderfully bawdy (if admittedly post-period)
 >songs come from "Pills to Purge Melancholy,"  I
 >thought it would behoove me to find a copy of the full
 >text of the manuscript.  A cursory search of the
 >online book dealers did not reveal anything useful
 >(and in fact turned up references to Prozac - a pill
 >to purge melancholy if there ever was one,
 >apparently).
 >
 >I thought it might perhaps be contained in a reference
 >tome with a bland or unrevealing title like "Songs of
 >the 18th Century" or somesuch.  Does anyone have a
 >good reference for the Pills?
 >
 >Thanks,
 >Teleri
 >
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