The Siege of St Quintin
1808 play
The Siege of St Quintin is an 1808 historical play by the British writer Theodore Hook. It is inspired by the 1557 Battle of St. Quentin. Its theme of a past Anglo-Spanish victory over the French was in line with British support for modern Spain in the Peninsular War following its invasion by Napoleonic forces the same year. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on 10 November 1808. Revisions were made by Richard Brinsley Sheridan and his son Thomas Sheridan, part of the management of Drury Lane. The original Drury Lane cast included Robert William Elliston as Count Egmont, James William Wallack as Theodore, John Braham as Everard, Vincent De Camp as Bertrand, Harriet Siddons as Adriana, John Henry Johnstone as Sir Leinster Kildare, Walter Maddocks as Captain McIntyre, William Penley as Jack, Thomas Cooke as Sergeant Sturdy, John Duruset as singer, Matilda Ray as Rosa De Valmont and Charlotte Tidswell as Margaret. Accompanying music was composed by James Hook.
References
Bibliography
Nicoll, Allardyce. A History of Early Nineteenth Century Drama 1800-1850.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “The Siege of St Quintin” is 1808 play. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Siege, Quintin and play, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “1808 play” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 27, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q117148087. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1808, 1557, 1800 and 1850.
Rights, attribution and provenance may remain disputed even when a general reference summary presents a stable account. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “The Siege of St Quintin”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow The Siege of St Quintin primary sources, The Siege of St Quintin archive and Siege research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “The Siege of St Quintin”?
- How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
- Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “The Siege of St Quintin” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.