Robert Dodsley, Cleone

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Robert Dodsley’s play,

Cleone, A Tragedy

, was first produced by John Rich and performed, to great acclaim, at Covent-Garden Theatre on 2 December 1758, with another fourteen performances before the end of the year. Dodsley published the text on Thursday 7 December, and the print-run of two thousand copies sold out on the first day. Dodsley immediately printed another two thousand copies, which also rapidly sold, and in 1759 published a corrected, third edition, in the Preface to which he wrote, “I have endeavoured in this third edition to avail myself of every material objection that hath come to my knowledge […] not indeed with the vain hope of producing at last a faultless piece, but in order to render it in some degree less unworthy of that indulgence with which it has been…

2272 words

Citation: Gordon, Ian. "Cleone". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 18 January 2006 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=16874, accessed 19 March 2024.]

16874 Cleone 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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