Scanderbeg Redivivus

Or the Prince of Albania and Epirus

Scanderbeg Redivivus.

While there are copious works in different literary genres and languages on Scanderbeg, this first--ever published extensive volume, Scanderbeg Redivivus, brings together plays and poems written by English and American playwrights and poets at various times. The collection offers Scanderbeg's readers, critics, and enthusiasts both fairly known and unknown plays and poems, along with short commentaries.

Admittedly, whereas there are critical reviews on the early English plays on Scanderbeg, this does not appear to be the case with Charles Stearns's Scanderbeg, or the Prince of Epirus, written masterfully in heroic couplets, or William D. Eaton's Iskander, produced by Frederick B. Warde and successfully performed in many theaters in the United States during the season of 1896-1897.

As regards, the poems--Maurice F. Egan's "A Ballad of Iscander--beg," George H. Murphy's "Iskander at the Bridge," Charles T. Erickson's "Scanderbeg," or Padraic Colum's "Scanderbeg"--do not seem to be mentioned in early or contemporary studies on Scanderbeg.

Undoubtedly, these playwrights and poets have made significant contributions in keeping Scanderbeg's legendary life story alive. The plays and poems, reprinted in this collection as they were originally published in order to preserve their historical and literary value, deserve a new reading in our time.

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