Junzo Inokuchi

On the Change of the Play in Revised Editions of “Orbis sensualium pictus”

  1. Comenius and the play. 

  John Amos Comenius (1592~1670) was interested in drama. He thought that it was useful for students to memorize lines from plays by the play. He wrote some textbooks in the style of a drama, for example “Diogenes Cynicus redivivus(Revived Diogenes Cynic,1639)”, “Abrahamus patriarcha(The forefather Abraham by the play,1641)”and“Schola ludus(The school of the play,1656)”.

　　“Diogenes Cynicus redivivus”is a comedy. It is a four-act play. And “Abrahamus patriarcha”is a tragedy. It is a five-act play. But the former is longer than the latter because of having many scenes. The former was written in 1639 and played in 1640, the latter was written in 1641.

Comenius described a dialog that Diogenes had with Plato about humanity in Act Ⅲ, Sceneⅲ. Plato says,“I think that a human being is an animal with two legs”. At that time Diogenes takes out a cock from inside his shirt and he says that it is the Platonic human being. Seeing it the audience laughed. If we read or see another scene in which Diogenes talks with his students (Act Ⅱ Scene ⅴ), we feel it is like the works of Plato.

The material of “Abrahamus patriarcha”is Genesis. Abraham, Sara, Isaac, Agar, Ismael and Lot appear on the stage. It is a theological drama. But Comenius modified the relationship between Lot and his daughters in Act Ⅴ Scene ⅴ. Although they had a parent-child relationship, they were given children in Genesis.  But Comenius did not write about the scene because it was unnatural. There we can recognize the educational consideration of Comenius in his school drama. It is important to consider about Comenius’ concept of the school drama. It was customary that in the religious drama of the Middle Ages an angel appeared on the stage and said the instructive words in the last scene. But we can not see the scene in his school drama.

Then he wrote “Schola ludus” in the style of a drama and wrote about the play. A long time is required to perform to his school drama. He wrote also about the play with illustrations in “Orbis sensualium pictus(The Visible World by the Sences,1658)”. Both of them were written during his stay in Hungary. “Schola ludus” and “Orbis pictus” have a common base. It is “Janua linguarum reserata(The Gate of Tongues Unlocked,1631)”.There are two types on “Janua linguarum reserata”. The first type was published in 1631 and the second one was published in 1649. Then the order of chapters was changed. The latter is more common than the former. But now I show by the type of the original.

They correspond with each other as follows.

   But the play is written about very simply in “Janua linguarum reserata”. We can find only one sentence. Namely Comenius wrote that it was enjoyable for us to see the play in Chapter 94,clause 940. However he gave a detailed explanation of it in Part Ⅶ Scene ⅱ Act ⅸ of “Schola ludus”.  Entertainer, consul and Solon appear on the stage in this scene. Entertainer asked consul for three kinds of recreation. Namely they were appreciation, exercise and competition. Entertainer suggested watching magic, tightrope walking, or dance. But Solon was against these ideas. Then Entertainer suggested seeing a play. Comenius wrote that it was useful to see a play in which achievements in history were expressed. And he wrote about the play in Chapter 130 of “Orbis pictus”.

2.The play in “Orbis pictus”

    Comenius wrote about the play in the first version as follows.

‘In a play-house, which is trimmed with hangings, and covered with curtains, comedies and tragedies are acted, wherein memorable things are represented; as here, the history of the prodigal son, and his father, by whom he is entertained, being returned home.

The players act being in disguise; the fool makes jests.

The chief of the spectators sits in the gallery, the common sort stand on the ground, and clap their hands, if anything pleases them.’

What the passage makes clear at once is that the theme of this drama in“Orbis pictus” is theoretical. The story of the prodigal son has its origin in the Bible. I think that Comenius chose this theme for the school drama because theologians were against drama in those days.

“Orbis pictus” was printed in Nuremberg in the year 1658. It is well known as the first textbook in the world with many illustrations. Therefore there are about 260 revised editions. The first English edition was published in 1659. There were many revised editions in his lifetime. Although he was not always informed about the publication, the contents of the revised editions were almost in agreement with the original.

But the variation increased after his death. Comparing the first edition with many revised editions, they can be classified into three types. First, there are those that are almost in agreement with the original. Secondly, there are those in which the contents have been changed partly to the sense of the times. Thirdly, there are those in which the contents and pictures are changed completely. This tendency is not the same about the play. I cannot find the second type. There are either the first type or the third one. The play is not always written about in revised editions of the 18th century, for example the 1798 version, which was printed in Pozsonban, or the 1788 version, which was printed in S.Peterburg.  We can find it in 19th century also, for example the 1876 version, which was printed in Prague, or the 1883 version, which was printed in Hradci králové and had colored pictures. Why were there no comments on the play? I think that the concern with school drama peaked in the 17th century or they lost interest in the theoretical theme in the 19th century.

In addition to this I compare the illustrations of the first edition with those of the revised editions, for example I present the illustrations of the four versions that were published in 1672 (London), in 1728 (London), in 1777 (London) and in 1833 (Hradci králové). As the illustrations indicate, there are two types of illustrations. One is similar to the original, and the other is a little changed. But both sentences are same. I regard them as the first type.

That sentences are not changed later means an indifference to the school drama. Or it may reflect no change of style in the play since then. These are two possible interpretations. On the other hand, when there is no description of the school drama, the concern with it may have been lost. Anyway, we can confirm again that the concern with the school drama peaked in the 17th century. 

My concern is to consider the change of the play in his textbooks. But here I limited the discussion to “Orbis pictus”.  I hope to collect many revised editions of “Orbis pictus”in order to do a more comprehensive examination.

© Junzo Inokuchi, 2002