The Triumph of Vice and Other Stories

(Paperback)

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Description

Gilberts libretti of the comic operas composed by Arthur Sullivan are hugely well known, and lines such as let the punishment fit the crime have entered the English lexicon but his short stories also deserve to be rediscovered by the modern reader. This collection, carefully curated by the secretary of the W.S. Gilbert Society, brings together the best of these sharp, clever, comical tales many of which are published here for the first time since their first appearance in ephemeral magazines enriched with the authors own illustrations. The stories feature many of the powerful motifs so associated with his work fairies, elixirs, magic and a wide variety of characters from burglars to barristers and shopkeepers to gentlemen. This volume is shot through with the observational wit which drove Gilbert and Sullivans works to fame, and constitutes a hugely enjoyable companion for fans of the pairs theatrical oeuvre.

Reviews

[Gilberts] lyrical facility and his mastery of metre raised the poetical quality of comic opera to a position that it had never reached before and has not reached since. * The Cambridge History of English and American Literature *

Author Bio

W.S. Gilbert (18361911) was an English poet, playwright, librettist and illustrator best known for the comic operas he produced in collaboration with the composer Arthur Sullivan including theatre perennials such as The Mikado, The Pirates of Penzance and HMS Pinafore.