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VOLTAIRE The Dramatic Works of M. de Voltaire. Translated from the French by the Rev. David Williams.
London: Printed for J. Walker..., 1781. 2 volumes. Large 8vo, pp. vii [viii blank], 377 [378 blank]; [ii], 357 [358 blank], contemporary tree calf, gilt spines, morocco labels; lacks title-page in volume 1, front cover volume 1 detached, joints cracked and tender, corners worn, tops and bases of spines chipped. David Williams (1738 - 1816) seems to have had a hand in every 18th century literary pie that he could find; and the quality of his writings and his ideas is unmistakable. However, he has received little commentary, and his numerous activities and publications await proper commentary and chronicling. Generally speaking, I like to avoid defective copies of books, but in the case of relatively scarce ones, a minor indulgence is perhaps acceptable. (Book ref. 3100) £150.00
Offered for sale by John Price Antiquarian Books
STOCKDALE (Joseph), editor: The Covent Garden Journal. Embellished with Four Views.
London: Printed for J. J. Stockdale, 1810. FIRST EDITION. Large 8vo, 258 x 156 mms., pp. 368; [ii], 369 - 816, including half-title in volume 2 engraved frontispiece and two other engraved plates in volume 1, engraved frontispiece in volume 2, entirely uncut and volume 2 unopened, contemporary boards, recently rebacked with new paper labels on spines; edges a little dusty, corners very slightly worn, but generally a very good set, with the later armorial bookplate of Clarence S. Bemen on the front paste-down end-paper of each volume. The journal is concerned with the Theatre Royal Covent Garden (the modern Royal Opera House). The first building on the site was in 1732, which was completely rebuilt and re-opened in 1753; it burned down in September, 1808. However, just over three years later, in December 1808, the foundation stone for the new building was laid; the architect was Robert Smirke. The building was completed in just over ten months, and the first night in the new house was on 18 September 1809, with a performance, of sorts, of Macbeth, followed by the Beggar's Opera the next night. Stockdale's account concludes with the date 28 April 1810 and is a wonderfully gossipy, invaluable account of the theatre's early months. (Book ref. 6970) £650.00
Offered for sale by John Price Antiquarian BooksSHERIDAN (Richard Brinsley): A Trip to Scarborough, A Comedy. As performed at the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane. Altered from Vanbrugh's Relapse; or, Virtue in Danger.
Dublin: Printed by R. Marchbank, for the Company of Bookseller, 1781. FIRST DUBLIN EDITION. 12mo, pp. vi [for iv], [2], 42, 49 - 72 (as issued), disbound. (Book ref. 5463) £50.00
Offered for sale by John Price Antiquarian BooksSHAKESPEARE (William). POPE (Alexander), editor: The Works of Shakespear. In Six Volumes. Collated and Corrected by the former Editions. By Mr. Pope.
London: Printed for Jacob Tonson..., 1725. FIRST EDITION. 6 volumes. Large 4to, 282 x 230 mms., pp. [ii], xli [xlii Herald's office document, xliii - xlv poem by "Ben. Johnson" (sic), xlvi - lii list of subscribers, liii volume title (dated 1723), liv plays in volume 1], 563 - 564 blank]; 656; [iv], 203 [204 blank], [3], 92 - 499 [500 blank]; 547 [548 Epilogue]; 599 [600 blank]; 591 [592 blank, 593 - 623 Index, 624 blank, 625 - 626 previous editions of Shakespeare's plays], title-page in volume 1 in red and black, engraved portrait of Shakespeare usually found opposite page xxxi of the life of Shakespeare used here as frontispiece (fore-edge chipped and slightly detached at inner margin), title-pages for specific volumes dated 1723, very attractively rebound in full antique-style panelled calf, gilt spines, morocco labels; lacks the engraved portrait of Shakespeare as frontispiece, some gatherings browned, others pristine white, ex-library, with shelf mark on verso of title-pages and library stamp of Y. M. C. A. New York City very faint in lower margin of title-pages. Pope's Edition of Shakespeare tells us much not only about Pope but about attitudes towards Shakespeare just over 100 years after his death; equally interesting, though completely unscholarly, are Pope's editorial principles, which are very much those of his time. Although Pope collated the texts more systematically than his editorial predecessor, Nicholas Rowe (whose edition was first published in 1709), he was more concerned to present Shakespeare as poet than as a dramatist. He had approximately twenty-seven previous texts to work with, more than Rowe had had. He retrieved some original readings (e. g., "important letters" in The Comedy of Errors, which had been printed "impotent letters" in the last folio edition), but many of his emendations were just wrong-headed. By almost any later standard of textual criticism, Pope's edition of Shakespeare is textually unreliable; but without it, scholars would not know how the major poet of the eighteenth century, and many of his contemporaries, actually perceived and valued Shakespeare. Griffith 149. (Book ref. 6012) £4500.00
Offered for sale by John Price Antiquarian BooksSHAKESPEARE (William): The Works of Shakespeare. The text of the First Folio with Quarto variants and a selection of modern readings: edited by Herbert Farjeon. The Nonesuch Press.
New York: Random House, 1929. 7 volumes. Large 8vo, 235 x 145 mms., all edges uncut, handsomely bound in full tan niger morocco, gilt rules on covers, gilt spines. A very attractive set. No. 1249 of 1600 copies. (Book ref. 6380) £1500.00
Offered for sale by John Price Antiquarian BooksSHAKESPEARE (William): The Works of Shakespear. In Six Volumes. Carefully Revised and Corrected by the former Editions, and Adorned with Sculptures designed and executed by the best hands.
Oxford: Printed at the Theatre, 1744, 1743. FIRST EDITION. Large 4to, 350 x 250 mms., pp. [ii], xliii [xliv - l text of legal document about John Shakespeare and Jonson's poem], 514; 600; 563 [564 blank]; 507 [508 Epilogue]; 552; 547 [548 blank, 549 - 563 Glossary, 546 Errata], volumes 2, 3, and 4 dated 1743, engraved portrait of Shakespeare as frontispiece as well as the 2 engraved plates of the Stratford and Westminster sculptures, engraved vignette on title-page, 36 full-page engraved plates (one for each play), engraved tail-piece at end of each play, the plates being engraved by Gravelot after Hayman's designs, entirely uncut, recently rebound in half calf, gilt spines, morocco labels, marbled boards; some occasional water-staining of text and borders of plates, engraved plate of Othello in volume 6 mounted to repair missing piece from fore-margin and tear in plate, edges slightly dust-soiled, but generally a very good set with uncut margins, with the autograph "John Salmon Junr./ 1814" on the top margin of each title-page. This edition by Sir Thomas Hanmer (1677 - 1746), Speaker of the House of Commons, produced this edition of Shakespeare in his retirement; D. W. Hayton, in his Oxford DNB entry for Hanmer, describes it as an "utterly unremarkable edition" of Shakespeare; the engraved plates are anything but "unremarkable," and the set is finely printed. Hanmer completed the edition for the printers at the end of 1742; his letter of 30 December of that year reveals his reasons for publishing an edition of Shakespeare: "I must now acquaint you that the books are gone out of my hands, and lodged with the University of Oxford, which hath been willing to accept them forthwith, in a fair impression adored with sculptures; but it will be so order that it will be the cheapest book that ever was exposed to sale.... None are to go into the hands of booksellers." Hanmer had used Pope's text as his copy-text, often adopting some of Theobald's readings; Hanmer's copy of Pope's edition, with the Preface and Notes in his holograph is now in the Bodleian. In their William Shakespeare: A Textual Companion (1997), Wells, Taylor, Jowett and Montgomery, confirm the assessment of the text made in ODNB: it "...was one of the worst in the eighteenth century, despite its elegant bindings, fine typography, and original illustrations...." Nonetheless it enjoyed a considerable commercial success. Textual verisimilitude is undoubtedly a priority, but fine typography and original illustrations are not to be ignored: Hanmer's edition for all its textual infelicities is still one of the most beautifully-printed editions of Shakespeare, and it was the first to illustrate each play. These achievements are not negligible. (Book ref. 6507) £3500.00
Offered for sale by John Price Antiquarian BooksSHAKESPEARE (William): The Dramatic Works of Shakespeare, In Six Volumes; With Notes by Joseph Rann.
Oxford: at the Clarendon Press, 1786 - 1793. 6 volumes. Large 8vo, pp. [viii], 628; [iv], 676; [iv], 690 [691 notice to subscribers and Erratum, 692 blank]; [iv], 699 [700 Errata]; [iv], 607 [608 blank]; [iv], 549 [550 blank], contemporary mottled calf, red and black morocco labels; bindings dried and soiled, front cover volume 1 detached, front joint volume 2 holding (just) by two cords, tops and bases of spines chipped. Rann's edition was published by subscription, but there is not list of subscribers printed in any of the volumes. He may also have had some difficulty with the Clarendon Press, whose imprint appears on the title-page of the first four volumes, but not in the last two which are undated but were published in 1793. Although he annotates the texts frequently and often admirably, he never mentions which edition of any play he has chosen for his copy-text. He has accepted some of Theobald's readings, including, for example, the famous textual crux in Henry V, "a Table of green fields." Rann prints Theobald's emendation, but annotates "and a Table of green fields" as "and as green as grass." Quickly's lines - "for his nose was a sharp as a pen" - immediately before the crux could suggest a reference to Falstaff's nose, though why it would be green in death, unless he had developed gangrene or something similar before his death, would still remain unexplained. For the most part, Rann's comments and explanations are perfectly straightforward, but he often bends over backwards to explain that which almost no one could misconstrue. ESTC locates surprisingly few sets: L, BMp, O; CtHT, CSmH, MH-H, KMK, and NIC, but copies in the antiquarian book trade do not seem uncommon. (Book ref. 2657) £350.00
Offered for sale by John Price Antiquarian BooksSHADWELL (Thomas): The Dramatick Works of Thomas Shadwell Esq;
London: Printed for J. Knapton...and J. Tonson..., 1720. 4 volumes. 12mo, pp. [xxiv], 416 [417 - 418 Epilogue]; 382; 431 [432 Epilogue]; 488 [489 - 490 Epilogue], including frontispiece portrait of Shadwell and additional title-page in volume 1, rebound in 20 century stout library blue buckram, gilt blocking and shelf marks on spines; ex-library, with library stamps in blind on prelims and title-pages and other library marks on verso of title-pages. The first collected edition of Shadwell's works was in 1693, followed by another in 1706. This edition also appeared in Dublin in the same year. No further editions of Shadwell's works were published in the 18th century, but there was an edition in two volumes printed in Dublin in 1727 styling itself The Works of Mr. Charles Shadwell. This appears to be a re-issue of one of the 1720 Dublin editions with cancel title-pages and a new first name for Shadwell. The dedication to the King in the first volume is signed "John Shadwell," who probably also wrote the brief biography of Shadwell. (Book ref. 4236) £250.00
Offered for sale by John Price Antiquarian BooksSAVAGE (Richard): The Works of Richard Savage, Esq. Son of The Earl Rivers. With an Account of the Life and Writings of the Author, by Samuel Johnson. A New Edition.
London: Printed for T. Evans..., 1777. 2 volumes. Large 8vo, pp. [vi], cxvi, 185 [186 - 187 Epilogue, 188 blank]; [iv], 279 [280 blank, 281 contents, 282 blank], engraved vignette on each title-page, contemporary calf, skilfully rebacked with old spines richly gilt, red morocco labels laid down; text a little browned throughout, spines darkened with some loss of gilt. Johnson's life of Savage was first published in 1744, and the collection of his works, which the publisher, Evans, edited, with the life in 1775. This is actually the second edition of Savage's works, and the quoted material in the life has been extensively cut. (Book ref. 3048) £450.00
Offered for sale by John Price Antiquarian BooksREYNOLDS (Frederick): The Blind Bargain: Or, Hear it Out; A Comedy, in five acts. As performed at the Theatre-Royal, Covent-Garden.
London: Printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme..., 1805. 8vo, pp. 75 [76 blank, 77 - 78 Epilogue, 79 - 80 adverts], disbound; title-page soiled. (Book ref. 3729) £25.00
Offered for sale by John Price Antiquarian Books[PROCTOR (Brian Waller)]: Mirandola. A Tragedy. By Barry Cornwall. Second Edition.
London: John Warren..., 1821. 8vo, pp. [viii], 110, including half-title, newly cased in half calf, Cockerell boards, morocco label. Inscribed by Proctor on half-title: "Revd. R. Morehead/with best Compts/ of the Author" and another inscription underneath in shorthand, probably by Morehead, the Scottish minister and author of two imitations of David Hume's Dialogues concerning Natural Religion. (Book ref. 2494) £150.00
Offered for sale by John Price Antiquarian BooksMOLIERE (Jean Baptiste): Oeuvres de Moliere, avec des Remarques Grammaticales, des Avertissemens et des Observations sur chaque Piece. Par M. Bret.
Paris, Par la Compagnie des Libraries Associes, An 15 1805 8 volumes. 12mo, pp. [ii], xii, 450; [iv], 488; [iv], 458; [iv], 439 [440 blank]; [iv], 456; [iv], 474; [iv], 456; [iv], 459 [460 blank], including half-title in each volume, engraved portrait of Moliere in volume 1, 31 engraved plates, contemporary calf, rebacked, with old spines(or portions of them) laid down on volumes 4, 5, and 6, new red morocco labels; a serviceable set. This appears to be another reprint of the 1773 edition with the plates re-engraved and in good condition. This edition was preceded by one in six volumes in 1804. (Book ref. 5781) £150.00
Offered for sale by John Price Antiquarian Books[MALLET (David)]: Elvira: A Tragedy. Acted at the Theatre Royal in Drury-Lane.
London: Printed for A. Millar..., 1763. FIRST EDITION. 8vo, pp. [viii], 69 [70 postscript, 71 - 72 Epilogue], disbound; title-page and last page of text soiled, lower corner of last leaf torn. (Book ref. 3700) £40.00
Offered for sale by John Price Antiquarian BooksMACKLIN (Charles). KIRKMAN (James Thomas): Memoirs of the Life of Charles Macklin, Esq. Principally compiled from his own papers and memorandums: which contain His Criticism on and Characters and Anecdotes of Betterton, Booth, Wilks, Cibber, Garrick, Barry, Mossop, Sheridan, Foote. Quin and most of his contemporaries. Together with his Valuable Observations on the Drama, on the Science of Acting, and on various other Subjects.: the whole forming a Comprehensive but Succinct History of the Stage; Which includes a Period of One Hundred Years.
London: Printed for Lackington, Allen, and Co...., 1799. FIRST EDITION. 2 volumes in 1. 8vo, 208 x 125 mms., pp. xxi [xxii blank], 471 [472 blank]; xii, 452, engraved portrait frontispiece (foxed) in volume 1, contemporary calf, rebacked, red and black morocco labels; corners worn. The Irish actor Charles Macklin (1699?–1797) made his reputation with his representation of Shylock, on 14 February 1741. He was a great friend of David Garrick, though they later became bitter rivals, a feature perhaps not too uncommon in theatrical circles. Kirkman's life of Macklin is generally considered to be more reliable than that of Francis Congreve, Authentic memoirs of the late Mr Charles Macklin (1798). (Book ref. 6735) £250.00
Offered for sale by John Price Antiquarian BooksLOGAN (John): Poems, and Runnamede, A Tragedy. With a Life of the Author.
Edinburgh: Printed for Bell & Bradfute, William Blackwood...and John Murray, London, 1812. 8vo, pp. xxxii, 206 [207 adverts, 208 blank], engraved portrait frontispiece (off-setting on title-page), contemporary half calf; worn, front cover detached, spine defective. Inscribed in a later 19th century hand on recto of frontispiece "To/ Miss Mathison/ From/ her affection/ Pupil. C. Duff". Logan (1748 - 1788) first published his poems in 1781. This is a revised version of the first posthumous edition published in 1805. (Book ref. 4905) £50.00
Offered for sale by John Price Antiquarian BooksKNIGHT (Thomas): The Turnpike Gate; A Musical Entertainment; In Two Acts. Now performing with Universal Applause, at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden. The Fourth Edition.
London: Printed for G. G. and J. Robinson..., 1799. 8vo (in 4s), pp. [iv], 52, disbound; title-page soiled, some fingering of text, and the upper corner margins of first few leaves seem to have provided a meal (unsatisfactory, one hopes) for a rodent. Knight's "musical entertainment" was first performed in the same year and issued in this form without music. The music is by Mazzinghi and Reeve, and Knight did not put his name on the first issue of this work in 1799. An edition printed in Dublin in 1800 also styled itself "The Fourth Edition." ESTC N26330: O; l CLU-C, l CLU-SC, l CLU-C, NcD, NIC. (Book ref. 5055) £65.00
Offered for sale by John Price Antiquarian BooksKEAN (Edmund):. HAWKINS (F. W.): The Life of Edmund Kean. From Published and Original Sources.
London: Tinsley Brothers..., 1869. FIRST EDITION. 2 volumes. Large 8vo, pp. xxiii [xxiv blank], 420; xiii [xiv blank], 430, including half-title in each volume, contemporary half red morocco, spines ornately gilt, in compartments, red linen sides, top edges gilt; front joint very slightly cracked, three leaves detached at inner margin in volume 1, otherwise a fine set. (Book ref. 2804) £150.00
Offered for sale by John Price Antiquarian BooksJERNINGHAM (Edward): Fugitive Poetical Pieces. By Mr. Jerningham.
London: Printed by Scott for J. Robson..., 1778. FIRST EDITION. 8vo (in 4s), pp. [viii], 46, disbound. Jerningham (1737 - 1812) is usually regarded as more of a dilettante than a "real" poet, and his poetry is seldom encountered in anthologies of 18th century verse. Seeing him in Bath in 1780, Fanny Burney described him as "a mighty delicate gentleman; looks to be painted, and [he] is all daintification in manner, speech, and dress … (whom Lord Mulgrave calls a pink-and-white poet, for not only his cheeks but his coat is pink)." This volume contains his short play, Margaret of Anjou. (Book ref. 5613) £200.00
Offered for sale by John Price Antiquarian Books[JENYNS (Soame)]: Poems. By *****
London: Printed for R. Dodsley..., 1752. FIRST COLLECTED EDITION. 8vo, 173 x 105 mms., pp. [iv], 194, [2], with H5 and H6 in cancelled state. BOUND WITH: [TOMKIS (Thomas)]: Albumazar: A Comedy. As it is Acted at the Theatre Royal in Drury-Lane. London: Printed for R. Dodsley..., 1747. 12mo, 173 x 105 mms., pp. 96. 2 volumes in 1, bound in contemporary calf, spine gilt in compartments; top of spine chipped, lacks label. The first poem in the volume by Jenyns (1704 - 1787) is "The Art of Dancing," published in 1729 (some sources give 1727, but the earliest copy recorded in ESTC is dated 1729), an instructive poem doubtless of some use to those just learning to dance. There seems to be no clear reason for binding Jenyns' poems with Tomkis' Albumazar, which was first published in 1615. In the 19th century it was occasionally attributed to Shakespeare. (Book ref. 6864) £200.00
Offered for sale by John Price Antiquarian BooksJACKSON (John): The History of the Scottish Stage, from its first establishment to the present time; With a Distinct Narrative of some Recent Theatrical Transactions. The whole necessarily interspersed with Memoirs of his Own life, by John Jackson, ten years manager at the Theatre Royal of Edinburgh.
Edinburgh: Printed for Peter Hill, and G. G. J. and J. Robinson..., London, 1793. FIRST EDITION. 8vo, pp. xiv, [15 - 16 [17 errata, 18 blank], 424, 41 [42 blank], including half-title, contemporary calf, red morocco label; joints neatly restored. A very good copy. Jackson's involvement with the Edinburgh theatre began with his acting debut in 1761 and terminated, after his second term as manager, about 1809. A vain and sometimes unscrupulous man, Jackdson (1729/30 - 1806) made a better manager than an actor; though one might regard his financially frustrated bid (following the success of his opening season in Edinburgh) to work together the theatres of Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee, and Aberdeen, as a measure of his vanity rather than his entrepreneurial capabilities. However, his tenure as manager was nothing if not eventful and witnessed "one of the most extraordinary cases of persecution that ever disgraced a theatrical audience" (Dibdin), namely, the unprovoked and otiose attacks upon the actor Fennell, which resulted in his published account of the affair, an account corroborated by Jackson when he retired from the Edinburgh stage. Jackson also provides an account of the events leading up to the birth of the legal theatre in Scotland--a sequence of events which saw some actual conflict in the theatre stalls as well as a fierce pamphlet war over the grant of patent. The eventual victor in that dispute, David Ross, whose own integrity may not have been perfect, became the first manager of the Edinburgh Theatre Royal; from him, Jackson acquired the patent in 1781 "on advantageous terms." The controversies did not end here, as one may seen from that part of the above volume devoted to the "Statement of facts, explanatory of the dispute between John Jackson and Stephen Kemble, relative to the Theatre Royal of Edinburgh" (Lowe Arnott and Robinson 1954), which had been issued separately and in advance of Jackson's History, "to give an early statement of Jackson's arguments in the quarrel between Kembel and himself" (Lowe). Dibdin terms Jackson's History "that most pompous and inaccurate work," but its account - biased and instructive in about equal parts - provides a unique insight into a turbulent period of Scottish theatre. This issue conforms to the description in ESTC T36525, viz., "In this issue, the text on pp.295-296, beginning on p.295, line 11, and ending at the foot of p.296 is present; the documents numbered xviii-xxii are removed from the appendix by the partial resetting of sig.2e4 and by cancelling leaves 2f1-3; signature *Mm4 appears to be a whole-sheet cancel." (Book ref. 5940) £650.00
Offered for sale by John Price Antiquarian Books