The William S. Gilbert Page

( 1836-1911 )

Major Works
Plays and Poems, edited by Deems Taylor ( Random House, 1935 ), contains three plays by Gilbert, all fourteen of the operas written in collaboration with composer Sir Arthur S. Sullivan, and The Bab Ballads. The following limits itself to the collaborations of Gilbert and Sullivan during their heyday, with the exception of the Bab Ballads, which show Gilbert's metrical skill and sense of humor and which first brought him to public notice. The Complete Annotated Gilbert and Sullivan, edited and introduced by Ian Bradley, was published by Oxford, 1996.
The Bab Ballads ( 1869; 1873; 1874 ).
Thespis ( 1871 ). This was the first collaboration with Sullivan.
Trial by Jury ( 1875 ). This was the only one-act play written by G & S and was the first play that enjoyed the management of Richard D'Oyly Carte.
The Sorcerer ( 1877 ).
H. M. S. Pinafore ( 1878 ).
The Pirates of Penzance ( 1880 ). This play spoofs the excesses of the contemporary aesthetic movement, and its main character, Reginald Bunthorne, is a caricature of Oscar Wilde.
Patience ( 1881 ).
Iolanthe ( 1882 ).
Princess Ida ( 1884 ).
The Mikado ( 1885 ).
Ruddigore ( 1887 ).
The Yeomen of the Guard ( 1888 ).
The Gondoliers ( 1889 ).
Songs of a Savoyard ( 1890 ).
Utopia Limited ( 1893 ).
The Grand Duke ( 1896 ).
A Gilbert and Sullivan Treasury: The Words and Music of One Hundred and Two Songs. Edited by Deems Taylor. Simon and Schuster, 1941.

About Gilbert
W. A. Darlington, The World of Gilbert and Sullivan. Crowell, 1950.
Alan James, Gilbert & Sullivan. Omnibus, 1989.
Sidney Dark and Rowland Grey, W. S. Gilbert: His Life and Letters. Methuen, 1923.
Hesketh Pearson, Gilbert and Sullivan: A Biography. Harper, 1935.
______________, Gilbert: His Life and Strife. Harper, 1957.
Sir William S. Gilbert from The Victorian Web.
Historical Tour: G&S on Records

Back to Victorian Literature