Victorian English Opera Librettos Page

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Librettos

1834 - 1870

The table below shows sources, many online, for librettos of English operas between 1834 and 1870. In addition, most, but not all, are also available in some form in the British Library (see here for key) and some in other locations. Those labelled "Available here" have been transcribed and included on this web site. Please note that available material may not be exactly what was performed on particular occasions, for example, at the premiere. In a few cases, the librettist entry has "See opera page". This is because there are uncertainties as to who wrote the libretto, which are explored on the web page for that opera.

Please email victorianenglishopera@gmail.com with any other accessible online sources.

Opera	Librettist	Libretto available at

1834
Nourjahad	Arnold, Samuel J.	BL sys. no: 000120067 (words for vocal items only) Original play at Google Books .
The Mountain Sylph	Thackeray, Thomas J.	Available here
Hermann or The Broken Spear	See opera page	Available here
Lord of the Isles	Fitzball, Edward	Google Books

1835
Sadak and Kalasrade	Mitford, Mary Russell	British Library scan
The Spirit of the Bell	Kenney, James	Available here
The Covenanters	Dibdin, Thomas John	Available here
The Siege of Rochelle	Fitzball, Edward	Hathi Trust (see note below).
Agnes Sorel	à Beckett, Gilbert	Available here

1836
The Rose of the Alhambra	See opera page	Available here
The Maid of Artois	Bunn, Alfred	Hathi Trust (see note below), Google Books
The Sexton of Cologne	Fitzball, Edward	BL manuscript Add MS 42938, ff. 136-158 BL sys. no.: 000182396 (words for vocal items only)
The Pacha's Bridal	Lemon, Mark	BL sys. no.: 002128217
The Village Coquettes	Dickens, Charles	dickens.jp , Archive.org

1837
Fair Rosamond	Barnett, Charles Z.	Bayerischen Staatsbibliothek Goethe Universität, Frankfurt
Catherine Grey	Linley, G.	Goethe Universität, Frankfurt
The Barbers of Bassora	Morton, John Maddison	Hathi Trust (see note below)
Joan of Arc	Fitzball, Edward	Hathi Trust (see note below) - words for vocal items only.The text does not seem to have been included in the Lord Chamberlain's Plays, although it seems unlikely that it was not passed to the Examiner.
Amilie or The Love Test	Haines, John Thomas	Google books .

1838
The Gipsy's Warning	Linley, George and R.B.Peake	Google books.
The Outpost	Serle, Thomas James	BL manuscript Add MS 42946, ff. 685-696 b
Diadeste or The Veiled Lady	Fitzball, Edward	BL manuscript MS 42947, ff. 95-174 BL sys. no.: 000182314 (words for vocal items only)
The Devil's Opera	Macfarren, George	Google Books
Francis the First	See opera page	Act 1 - BL Manuscripts Add MS 42949, ff. 386-410

1839
Farinelli	Barnett, Charles Z.	Google Books
Henrique	Haines, John Thomas	Google Books

1840
Fridolin	Lemon, Mark	BL manuscript Add MS 42957, ff. 568-583 b & 749-769

1841
Keolanthe or the Unearthly Bride	Fitzball, Edward	German version - Bayerischen Staatsbibliothek . English version at Harvard and McMaster Univs. The text does not seem to have been included in the Lord Chamberlain's Plays, although it seems unlikely that it was not passed to the Examiner.

1843
The Bohemian Girl	Bunn, Alfred	Many available, e.g. Archive.org , Univ. of Wellington

1844
The Brides of Venice	Benedict, Julius and Bunn, Alfred	Google books , Goethe Universität, Frankfurt
The Daughter of St Mark	Bunn, Alfred	Google books

1845
The Enchantress	Bunn, Alfred	Google books . Also here
The Fairy Oak	Coape, Henry Coe	National Art Library (V&A Museum)
Maritana	Fitzball, Edward	Many examples, e.g. Hathi Trust , Naxos , Univ. of Wellington

1846
An Adventure of Don Quixote	Macfarren, George	Archive.org
The Crusaders	Bunn, Alfred and St Georges, Jules-Henri	Goethe Universität, Frankfurt
The Night Dancers	Soane, George	BL sys. no.: 003430701
Loretta, a Tale of Seville	Bunn, Alfred	Hathi Trust (see note below).
The Bondman	Bunn, Alfred	Goethe Universität, Frankfurt , Hathi Trust

1847
Matilda of Hungary	Bunn, Alfred	BL sys. no. 000530042
The Forest Maiden and The Moorish Page	Fitzball, Edward	BL manuscript Add MS 43004, ff. 192- 213 b
The Maid of Honor	Fitzball, Edward	BL sys. no.: 015411571, Hathi Trust (limited search only)

1848
Robin Goodfellow	Smith, John Frederick	BL manuscript system no.: Add MS 43015, ff. 286-307b.
Quentin Durward	Fitzball, Edward	BL manuscript system no.: Add MS 43015, ff. 308-345. Printed copy at Yale University

1849
Francesca Doria	Morris, Valentine and Linley, George	British Library scan
King Charles II	Ryan, Desmond	BL manuscript. Add MS 43021, ff. 642-662b

1851
The Queen of a Day	Scribe,E. ,St Georges, J-H, Buckstone, John	Google books

1852
The Sicilian Bride	Bunn, Alfred	BL manuscript Add MS 52930 J. Printed copies available, e.g. at Yale, McMaster, Birmingham.
The Devil's In It	Bunn, Alfred	Archive.org

1853
Love's Alarms	Buckstone, John	BL manuscript Add MS 52943 U

1855
Faust and Marguarite	Drayton, Henri	BL manuscript Add MS 52954 K.
Berta, or, The Gnome of the Hartsberg	Fitzball, Edward	BL manuscript Add MS 52954 H.
Raymond and Agnes	Fitzball, Edward	Available here

1857
The Rose of Castille	Harris, Augustus and Falconer, Edmund	National Library of Australia , British Library scan

1858
Satanella, or, The Power of Love	Harris, Augustus and Falconer, Edmund	Google books , Goethe Universität, Frankfurt , Naxos

1859
Zaida, or, The Pearl of Granada	Summers, Oliver	BL manuscript Add MS 52979 Q
Victorine	Falconer, Edmund	British Library scan

1860
Lurline	Fitzball, Edward	British Library scan, Naxos
Robin Hood	Oxenford, John	Naxos
Bianca, the Bravo's Bride	Simpson, Palgrave	Goethe Universität, Frankfurt

1861
The Amber Witch	Chorley, Henry	BL sys. no.: 015555189 (words for vocal items only)
Ruy Blas	Glover, Howard	BL manuscript Add MS 53008 A. Printed version in the Library of Congress
The Puritan's Daughter	Bridgman, John Vipon	Goethe Universität, Frankfurt

1862
The Lily of Killarney	Oxenford, John and Boucicault, Dion	Goethe Universität, Frankfurt
Love's Triumph	Planché, James R.	Hathi Trust (see note below)

1863
The Armourer of Nantes	Bridgman, John Vipon	Goethe Universität, Frankfurt
The Desert Flower	Harris, Augustus and Williams, Thomas	Hathi Trust (see note below)
Blanche de Nevers	Brougham, John	BL sys. no.: 000490063

1864
She Stoops to Conquer	Fitzball, Edward	BL sys. no.:015465908
Helvellyn	Oxenford, John	BL sys. no.: 015465353
Rose, or, Love's Ransom	Edwards, Henry S.	Hathi Trust (see note below)

1865
Ida or The Guardian Storks	Simpson, J. Palgrave	Google Books

Any British Library item's labelled "BL sys. no." can be found through the main index search here. They are all printed items and in some cases printed text is only available for vocal items and not for the dialogue.

Any labelled "BL Manuscript" can be found through the Archives and Manuscript search here. They are usually handwritten.

"British Library scan" indicates that the library have scanned the document and made it available online - click on the link.

"Hathi Trust" documents can be read online and individual pages downloaded but you have to be a member of Hathi Trust to download the complete document.