Tom Thumb is a character of English folklore. The History of Tom Thumb was published in 1621, was the first fairy tale printed in English. Tom is no bigger than his father's thumb, his adventures include being swallowed by a cow, tangling with giants, becoming a favourite of King Arthur; the earliest allusions to Tom occur in various 16th-century works such as Reginald Scot's Discovery of Witchcraft, where Tom is cited as one of the supernatural folk employed by servant maids to frighten children. Tattershall in Lincolnshire, reputedly has the home and grave of Tom Thumb. Aside from his own tales, Tom figures in Henry Fielding's play Tom Thumb, a companion piece to his The Author's Farce, it was expanded into a single piece titled The Tragedy of Tragedies, or the History of Tom Thumb the Great. In the middle 18th century, books began to be published for children, by the middle 19th century, Tom was a fixture of the nursery library; the tale took on moral overtones and some writers, such as Charlotte Yonge, cleansed questionable passages.

Dinah Mulock however refrained from scrubbing the tale of its vulgarities. Tom Thumb's story has been adapted into several films. Tom Thumb may have been a real person born around 1519, it is set into the floor adjacent to the font of the main chapel in Holy Trinity Church at Tattershall, Lincolnshire, UK. The inscription reads: "T. THUMB, Aged 101 Died 1620"; the grave measures just 16" in length. The tale of Tom Thumb is the first recorded English fairy tale; the earliest surviving text is a 40-page booklet printed in London for Thomas Langley in 1621 entitled The History of Tom Thumbe, the Little, for his small stature surnamed, King Arthur's Dwarfe: whose Life and adventures containe many strange and wonderfull accidents, published for the delight of merry Time-spenders. The author is presumed to be Londoner Richard Johnson; the only known copy is in New York. Tom was a traditional folk character when the booklet was printed, it is that printed materials circulated prior to Johnson's, it is not known how much Johnson contributed to his adventures.

William Fulke referred to Tom in 1579 in Heskins Parleament Repealed, Thomas Nashe referred to him in 1592 in his prose satire on the vices of the age Pierce Penniless, His Supplication to the Divell. Reginald Scot listed Tom in his Discoverie of Witchcraft as one of the creatures used by servant maids to frighten children, along with witches, elves, fairies and other supernatural folk. Tom was mentioned by James Field in Coryat's Crudities: "Tom Thumbe is dumbe, until the pudding creepe, in which he was intomb'd out doth peepe." The incident of the pudding was the most popular in connection with the character. It is alluded to in Ben Jonson's masque of the Fortunate Isles: "Thomas Thumb in a pudding fat, with Doctor Rat."Richard Johnson's History may have been in circulation as early as this date because the title page woodblock in the 1621 edition shows great wear. Johnson himself makes it clear in the preface that Tom was long known by "old and young... Bachelors and Maids... and Shepheard and the young Plow boy".

The tale belongs to the swallow cycle. Tom gis swallowed by a cow, a giant, a fish, by a miller and a salmon in some extensions to Johnson's tale. In this respect, the tale shows little imaginative development. Tom is delivered from such predicaments rather crudely, but editors of dates found ways to make his deliverance more seemly and he passed beyond the mouth. Tom's tale was reprinted countless times in Britain, was being sold in America as early as 1686. A metrical version was published in 1630 entitled Tom Thumbe, His Life and Death: Wherein is declared many Maruailous Acts of Manhood, full of wonder, strange merriments: Which little Knight liued in King Arthurs time, famous in the Court of Great Brittaine; the book was reprinted many times, two more parts were added to the first around 1700. The three parts were reprinted many times. In 1711, William Wagstaffe published A Comment upon The History of Tom Thumbe. In 1730, English dramatist Henry Fielding used Tom Thumb as the central figure of a play by that name, which he rewrote in 1731 as the farce The Tragedy of Tragedies, or the History of Tom Thumb the Great.

The play is filled with 18th-century political and literary satire and is intended as a parody of heroic tragedies. The title of "The Great" may be intended as a reference to politician Sir Robert Walpole, called "The Great." Henry Fielding's tragedy Tom Thumb was the basis for an opera constructed by Kane O'Hara. Fielding's Tom is cast as a mighty warrior and a conqueror of giants, despite his stature, as well as the object of desire for many of the ladies at court; the plot is concerned with the various love triangles amongst the characters, who include Princess Huncamunca, giantess Glumdalca, Queen Dollalolla. Matters are complicated when Arthur awards Tom the hand of Huncamunca in marriage which results in Dollalolla and the jealous Grizzle seeking revenge. Tom dies when swallowed by a cow, but his ghost returns. At the conclusion, Tom's ghost is killed by Grizzle and most of the cast kill each other in duels or take their own lives in grief. Fielding's play was adapted into a spoof on opera conventions called The Opera of Operas.

This version includes a happy ending in which Tom is spat back out by the cow and the others are resurrected by Merlin's magic. This is considered t

Le temple de la Gloire is an opéra-ballet by Jean-Philippe Rameau with a libretto by Voltaire. The work was first performed in a five-act version on 27 November 1745 at the Grande Écurie, Versailles to celebrate the French victory at the Battle of Fontenoy, it transferred, unsuccessfully, to the Paris Opéra on 7 December 1745. A revised version, in a prologue and three acts, appeared at the Opéra on 19 April 1746. Scene: The Cave of Envy with the Temple of Glory in the background Envy and her followers plot to destroy the Temple of Glory but their attack is thwarted by Apollo, the Muses, the demi-gods and heroes. Apollo condemns Envy to be chained eternally to the foot of the temple; the prologue ends with a celebration of the arts. Scene: The grove of the Muses with the Temple of Glory in the background King Bélus has deserted his love, the princess Lydie, in a quest for glory through brutal military conquest. Lydie seeks consolation with the Muses and the local shepherds and shepherdesses try to comfort her with their dances.

Bélus and his warriors arrive. The gods have rejected his claim to enter the Temple of Glory because of his tyranny. Lydie and the shepherds persuade him that a true king should spread happiness among his people rather than wage war. Scene. Bacchus boasts of his invention of wine to his lover Érigone; as he approaches the Temple of Glory the High Priest forbids him to enter: he may have won fame by spreading drunken debauchery but only deeds of virtue bring lasting glory. Undiscouraged and his followers set off on their travels again. Scene: The city of Artaxata in ruins. Triumphal arches; the Emperor Trajan's wife Plautine has followed him to Armenia where he is fighting to crush a rebellion by five kings. Plautine persuades the priests of Mars and the priestesses of Venus to pray for Trajan's success in battle. Trajan returns victorious with the conquered kings in chains, but he magnanimously forgives them and has them freed. Glory descends from the skies to offer Trajan the scene changes to her temple.

Trajan says he is not worthy of such a great honour and asks for the gods to transform it into the Temple of Happiness for all the world instead. Le temple de la Gloire, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale, conducted by Nicholas McGegan Le temple de la Gloire, Choeur de Chambre de Namur, Les Agrémens, conducted by Guy Van Waas Le temple de la Gloire, La Grande Écurie et la Chambre du Roy, conducted by Jean-Claude Malgoire Original libretto: Le Temple de la Gloire, Feste donnée à Versailles, le 27 Novembre 1745, Ballard, 1745 Period manuscript score: Le Temple de la Gloire, Opéra de M De Voltaire. ISBN 0-14-029312-4 Sadler, The New Grove French Baroque Masters Grove/Macmillan, 1988 Rameau Le Site

The Secret Four is a 1921 American action film serial directed by Albert Russell and Perry N. Vekroff; the film is now considered lost. International spies compete to seize world power by cornering the market in oil supplies in the United States. Eddie Polo Kathleen Myers Doris Deane Hal Wilson William Welsh Thelma Daniels Behind the Mask The House of Intrigue Across the Chasm The Dive of Despair Black Waters The Highway of Fate The Creeping Doom The Flaming Forest The Fight in the Dark The Burning Pit The Stampede of Death Floods of Fury The Man Trap The Hour of Twelve Black Gold List of film serials List of film serials by studio List of lost films The Secret Four on IMDb