James Planché

James Robinson Planché FSA (27 February 1796 – 30 May 1880) was a British dramatist, antiquary and officer of arms. Over a period of approximately 60 years he wrote, adapted, or collaborated on 176 plays in a wide range of genres including extravaganza, farce, comedy, burletta, melodrama and opera. Planché was responsible for introducing historically accurate costume into nineteenth century British theatre, and subsequently became an acknowledged expert on historical costume, publishing a number of works on the topic.

Misattributed

The science of fools with long memories.

• The science of fools with long memories.
  • Description of heraldry. Quoted by Planché in The Pursuivant of Arms; or, Heraldry Founded upon Facts (London: W. M. Wright, 1852) p. 3. Misattributed to Planché in Hoyt's New Cyclopedia of Practical Quotations (1922) p. 692. Sometimes attributed to Voltaire

Quotes about Planché

• Asking Theodore Hook what sort of a looking man the dramatist and author Planché was, "Short and bald," Thoms replied: "he used to cut his hair, but now his hair has cut him."
  • W. J. Thoms, in The Nineteenth Century (December 1881); quoted in S. A. Bent (ed.) Familiar Short Sayings of Great Men, 6th ed. (Boston: Ticknor and Co, 1887) p. 281

External links

• Encyclopedic article on James Planché on Wikipedia