The Cambridge History of English and American Literature in 18 Volumes (1907–21).
Volume VIII. The Age of Dryden.
§ 5. French Influence on Restoration Tragedy
The works of the great French dramatists had, also, a considerable direct influence on English tragedy during the restoration period; and this is particularly true of Pierre Corneille. A version of the Cid by Joseph Rutter had been acted before 1637 “before their Majesties at Court and on the Cockpitt Stage in Drury Lane”—it is said under the special patronage of queen Henrietta Maria. This, the first translation of Corneille into English, was followed, in 1655 and 1656, by two very poor blank-verse versions of Polyeucte and Horace respectively, executed by Sir William Lower. Neither piece seems to have been acted.