The Miseries of Human Life

The Miseries of Human Life is the title of that occurs both for a famous book of satirical dialogues written by James Beresford (1806) and a farce performed (and possibly written/translated) by the actor/manager Benjamin Webster (1845).

The book appears to have been the inspiration for the play.

Also found as The Miseries of Human Life!

The original book of dialogues (1806)

The Miseries of Human Life is a series of twelve humorous dialogues between two old curmudgeons, the book details the “petty outrages, minor humiliations, and tiny discomforts that make up everyday human existence.” Written in 1806 by James Beresford (1764–1840), it was first published in one volume as The Miseries of Human Life, or, The Groans of Samuel Sensitive and Timothy Testy. With a few supplementary sighs from Mrs Testy. by W. Miller in 1806- with a frontispiece by William Henry Pyne (1769–1843). It was then expanded with nine more dialogues and published in a two-volume edition in 1907. It became a minor classic in the satirical literature of the day. Apparently the public loved it, so dozens of editions were published, while printmakers rushed to illustrate their own versions of life’s miseries.

Translations and adaptations

In 1845 a "new farce" called The Miseries of Human Life apparently opened at the Haymarket Theatre, London, written (translated?) and performed by Benjamin Nottingham Webster (1797–1882)[1] in the role of "Ally Croaker". The play is said by The Athenaeum (December, 1845)[2] to have been advertised as "a translation from the French", but they point out that "...both the subject and title are of English origin". The leading characters of the work are a the pessimistic "Mr Ally Croaker" and the cheerful "Mr Mildmay". The French version in question is apparently vaudeville called Les Petites Misères, according to The Spectator (Volume 18, 1845)[3].

It is probably this version that was later performed under the title The Croaker, or The Miseries of Human Life.

South African performances

1859: A play called The Croaker, or The Miseries of Human Life (no author given) was performed by Charles Fraser and company in the Cape Town Theatre on 26 September. Also performed were The Momentous Question (Fitzball), one of the acts from Richelieu (Lytton) and songs sung by F. Vernon and Miss Yates.

Sources

The Miseries of Human Life, article on the Princeton University Art Museum website[4]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Miseries_of_Human_Life

John Joseph Knight, "Webster, Benjamin Nottingham", Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 60[5]

Facsimile version of the first edition of the book of dialogues, 1806, The Internet Archive[6]

The Athenaeum (December, 1845): p. 1180, Google E-book[7]

The Spectator, Volume 18, F.C. Westley, 1845: p. 1138, Google E-book[8]