[Illustration] PLAYS, WRITTEN BY Sir =John Vanbrugh=. IN TWO VOLUMES. =Volume= the =First=. CONTAINING, The =Relapse=; Or, =Virtue= in =Danger=. The =Provok'd Wife=, with a new Scene. =Æsop=, in two =Parts=. The =False Friend=. * * * * * LONDON: Printed for =J. Rivington=, =T. Longman=, =T. Lowndes=, =S. Caslon=, =C. Corbett=, =S. Bladon=, =W. Nicoll=, =T. Evans=, and =M. Waller=. MDCCLXXVI. AN ACCOUNT OF THE LIFE and WRITINGS OF THE AUTHOR. Sir _John Vanbrugh_, an eminent dramatic Writer, Son of Mr. _Giles Vanbrugh_, of _London_, Merchant, was born in the Parish of _St. Stephen_'s, _Wallbrook_, in 1666. The Family of _Vanbrugh_ were for many Years Merchants of great Credit and Reputation, at _Antwerp_, and came into _England_ in the reign of Queen _Elizabeth_, on account of the Persecution for Religion. Sir _John_ received a very liberal Education, and at the Age of nineteen, was sent by his Father to _France_, where he continued some Years: He became very eminent for his Poetry, to which he discovered an early propension. And, pity it is, that this agreeable Writer had not discovered his Wit, without any Mixture of that Licentiousness, which, tho' it pleased, tended to corrupt the Audience. _The Relapse_ was the first Play our Author produced, but not the first he had written; for he had at that Time by him, all the Scenes of _The Provok'd Wife_; but being then doubtful whether he should ever trust it to the Stage, he flung it by, and thought no more of it: Why the last written Play was first acted, and for what Reason they were given to different Stages, what follows will explain. Upon our Author's first Step into public Life, when he was but an Ensign in the Army, and had a Heart greatly above his Income, he happened somewhere at his Winter Quarters, upon a slender Acquaintance with Sir _Thomas Skipwith_, to receive a particular Obligation from him; and many Years afterwards, when Sir _Thomas_'s Interest in a Theatrical Patent (which he had a large Share in, though he little concerned himself in the Conduct of it) was rising but very slowly, Sir _John_ thought that to give it a lift by a new Comedy, might be the handsomest Return he could make to those his former Favours; accordingly he soon after finished _The Relapse, or, Virtue in Danger_, which was acted at the Theatre in _Drury-Lane_, in 1696, with universal Applause.