A Trick to Catch the Old One
A Trick to Catch the Old One is a Jacobean comedy written by Thomas Middleton, first published in 1608. The play is a satire in the subgenre of city comedy. Composition, performance, and printing history A Trick to Catch the Old One was entered into the Stationers' Register, together with The Revenger's Tragedy, now also commonly attributed to Middleton, by the printer George Eld on 7 October 1607. It was published in quarto by Eld in 1608. The first quarto was issued with two different title pages: the first lists Eld himself as the bookseller, but at some point during the printing process the play was apparently acquired by Henry Rocket and the second title page, also dated 1608, lists him as the bookseller. Both title pages state that the play was acted by the Children of Paul's; the second title page also states that it was performed by the Children of the Blackfriars, and that it had been presented before King James I "on New-yeares night last". Chambers and Greg, associating this statement with a record of a performance by the Blackfriars company at court during Christmas of 1608, argued that the New Year's night in question must be