Southerne, Thomas, 1660-1746

Playwright Thomas Southerne was born in Ireland and educated at Dublin's Trinity College. He travelled to London to study law, but found success as a playwright; his first play, The Persian Prince, included a noble character based on King James II, and Southerne was rewarded with a military commission. He is principally remembered for dramatizing two of Aphra Behn's novels for the stage, including The Fatal Marriage, which remained popular into the 19th century, and Oroonoko, an early condemnation of the slave trade. He wrote several other plays, and revised and completed Dryden's tragedy, Cleomenes.

From the description of Thomas Southerne letter to Dear sir, 1734 Dec. 25. (Pennsylvania State University Libraries). WorldCat record id: 60573840