Delicate Ground, or Paris in 1793

Delicate Ground, or Paris in 1793 is a comic drama in one act by Charles Dance (1794–1863)[1] and James Robinson Planché (1796–1880)[2].

The original text

There is some confusion about the work in the sources however, for only does the work appear under varying titles (Delicate ground or, Paris in 1793, simply Delicate Ground!), or - obviously wrongly - as Delicate Ground, in Paris in 1770), it is also ascribed at times to Charles Dance only, sometimes to James Robinson Planché, and on others to both authors. (See for example the sources apparently used by Bosman, 1928, pp. 399, 430) However, the original 1849 text gives the author as Dance only. In addition the publication dates differ vastly, with some versions indicating that it was first performed in the Royal Lyceum Theatre, London, Wednesday November 27 1849 and published in London by Thomas Hailes Lacy in 1849. Yet William Taylor & Company are also mentioned, as is an edition dated 1800 by Samuel French, New York (though this is clearly, given the ages of the gentlemen in question, simply a general indication of the century of publication).