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Title: Nell Gwyn by Derek Parker ISBN: 0-7509-2704-6 Publisher: Sutton Publishing Pub. Date: 01 July, 2001 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $11.95

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Average Customer Rating: 1 (1 review)

Rating: 1
Summary: A travesty of scholarship
Comment: I am disappointed to report that Derek Parker's "Nell Gwyn" is a travesty of scholarship. I give you three (of many) cases in point:

Chapter 2, page 14, he writes: "In exile, during the Interregnum, he [Charles II] and his friend Rochester (fn5) cut a swathe through the Continent's available women." The footnote then identifies Rochester as "John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester (1647-80), a close friend of Charles throughout their lives."

The Rochester who cavorted with Charles on the Continent was Henry Wilmot, the 1st Earl of Rochester, John's father, who saved Charles's life when he was forced to flee England. John wasn't even a teenager until Charles returned from France.

Chapter 4, page 74, the author writes: "Rochester himself wrote a not particularly good play, 'The Rehearsal.'"

In all other scholarly works I've read on the subject, "The Rehearsal" is attributed to George Villiers, the Duke of Buckingham, a member of "The Merry Gang." It is quite likely that Rochester contributed ideas, as he was wont to do for many of his playwright friends, including Dryden, but he was not the author of "The Rehearsal." Furthermore, the play was quite good, and groundbreaking, just not a classic.

Chapter 3, page 52, the author writes: "Dryden saw them [Charles Hart and Nell Gwyn] as Philidor and Mirida in 'All Mistaken,' by his brother-in-law James Howard -- a low comedy in which most of the entertainment derived from the attempts of a fat courtier, Pinguister, to court a pretty maid (Mirida, played by Nell). Hart rolled about the stage with Nell in his arms, rising occasionally to rush from the stage unbuttoning his breeches in order to deal with the consequences of a purge which someone had given him."

This is not at all what happens in "All Mistaken." Pinguister takes the purges voluntarily from his Doctor in order to lose weight so that Mirida will marry him. And, when they are rolling about on the stage, she is not in his arms, she is distant from him rolling away from him as he rolls toward her, because she has promised to marry him if he can catch her. She is making Pinguister her 6th "fool" to round out her half dozen. And he doesn't "rise occasionally" to go purge; he can't even get up without her help. When she does help him up, she takes him on in a swordfight and disarms him. It is also possible (I emphasize possible) that this performance by Nell was what captured Charles' attention and led to their affair.

It appears that, rather than read the plays Nell appeared in, the author found it more convenient to read someone else's inaccurate descriptions.

To attribute "The Rehearsal" to Rochester is inexplicable.

Not knowing the difference between Henry Wilmot and John Wilmot suggests that the author is not really familiar with the life of Charles II, and, if he's not familiar with the life of Charles II, he cannot possibly have anything worthwhile to contribute to our knowledge about the life of Nell Gwyn.