The explanation for the dual birth year appears in Louis A. Strauss, ed., A Discourse Upon Comedy, The Recruiting Officer, and The Beaux' Stratagem by George Farquhar (Boston: D.C. Heath & Co., 1914), p. v. Strauss notes that "Our sole source of information as to the time of his birth is the entry of his matriculation in the register of Trinity College" on 17 July 1694, where "His age is given as 17." Earlier biographers took this to mean Farquhar was in his 17th year—hence born in 1678—and Strauss favors this date. But later writers, such as William Myers, ed., George Farquhar: The Recruiting Officer and Other Plays,ISBN0-19-282249-7 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995), p. vii, give the dual year, and John Ross, ed., George Farquhar: The Recruiting Officer (New Mermaids), 2nd ed., ISBN0-7136-3349-2 (London: A&C Black, 1991), p. xiii, gives a birthdate of "ca. 1677" for the playwright.
Alex. Charles Ewald quotes from a slightly different version of these "Memoirs" in the introduction to his edition of The Dramatic Works of George Farquhar (London: John C. Nimmo, 1892), Vol. 1, p. vi–vii, and Strauss, op. cit, p. vi et seq., cites from but does not quote a biographical writing by "T. Wilkes" given in the 1775 Dublin edition of Farquhar which agrees in some but not all details with the version quoted in this article (referenced in the next note).
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The explanation for the dual birth year appears in Louis A. Strauss, ed., A Discourse Upon Comedy, The Recruiting Officer, and The Beaux' Stratagem by George Farquhar (Boston: D.C. Heath & Co., 1914), p. v. Strauss notes that "Our sole source of information as to the time of his birth is the entry of his matriculation in the register of Trinity College" on 17 July 1694, where "His age is given as 17." Earlier biographers took this to mean Farquhar was in his 17th year—hence born in 1678—and Strauss favors this date. But later writers, such as William Myers, ed., George Farquhar: The Recruiting Officer and Other Plays,ISBN0-19-282249-7 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995), p. vii, give the dual year, and John Ross, ed., George Farquhar: The Recruiting Officer (New Mermaids), 2nd ed., ISBN0-7136-3349-2 (London: A&C Black, 1991), p. xiii, gives a birthdate of "ca. 1677" for the playwright.
