Comedies of the Georgian Stage: A London Anthology
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Author: Cumberland, Garrick, Colman & Goldsmith
Binding: Hardback
Published: Various, 1770
Condition:
Book: Good
Jacket: No dust jacket - some marks on spine and corners
Pages: Tanning and foxing
Markings: No markings
Condition remarks: Good for age. Bound in aged boards showing edgewear and surface rubbing,. Structurally sound but visibly timeworn. Cracked spine yet stable, with no loose or detached leaves. Binding remains firm throughout. Internally, the text block is clean and legible, with some scattered foxing. Pages lack the crispness of a fine copy, they retain full integrity and readability. Overall, this is a solid working or reference copy with strong bibliographic value.
This exceptional volume brings together five influential comedies from the golden age of Georgian theatre, bound in a single collection that reflects both literary significance and bibliographic rarity. It opens with The Brothers: A Comedy by Richard Cumberland, printed for W. Griffin in 1770, a 72-page first edition octavo that argues for moral reconciliation through familial tension and sentimental resolution, performed at Covent Garden. The Fashionable Lover (1772, new edition), printed for W. Griffin at Garrick’s Head, comprising x, [2], 63pp in octavo format, where he presents a sentimental comedy centred on Augusta Aubrey’s escape from manipulation and her pursuit of integrity amidst aristocratic seduction, staged at Drury Lane. Next is The Clandestine Marriage (1785 new edition, 90pp), a biting satire by David Garrick and George Colman that exposes social ambition and marital hypocrisy through mistaken identities and concealed motives, emblematic of late-century comedy of manners. The Man of Business (1774 second edition, 76pp) by George Colman critiques commercial vanity and political opportunism across 86 pages, illustrating the collision of public virtue and private gain in a rapidly modernising London. She Stoops to Conquer (1773 fifth edition, 106pp ) by Oliver Goldsmith overturns romantic conventions with comic misdirection and rural inversion, championing sincerity over status in a 96-page octavo that helped redefine English comedic structure. Together, these plays form a curated anthology of London’s theatrical repertoire between 1770 and 1785, offering collectors a rare convergence of first and early editions, each complete with original pagination and title pages. The volume’s historical cohesion, authorial range, and preservation of performance texts make it a singular artefact of 18th-century dramatic publishing.
Author: Cumberland, Garrick, Colman & Goldsmith
Binding: Hardback
Published: Various, 1770
Condition:
Book: Good
Jacket: No dust jacket - some marks on spine and corners
Pages: Tanning and foxing
Markings: No markings
Condition remarks: Good for age. Bound in aged boards showing edgewear and surface rubbing,. Structurally sound but visibly timeworn. Cracked spine yet stable, with no loose or detached leaves. Binding remains firm throughout. Internally, the text block is clean and legible, with some scattered foxing. Pages lack the crispness of a fine copy, they retain full integrity and readability. Overall, this is a solid working or reference copy with strong bibliographic value.
This exceptional volume brings together five influential comedies from the golden age of Georgian theatre, bound in a single collection that reflects both literary significance and bibliographic rarity. It opens with The Brothers: A Comedy by Richard Cumberland, printed for W. Griffin in 1770, a 72-page first edition octavo that argues for moral reconciliation through familial tension and sentimental resolution, performed at Covent Garden. The Fashionable Lover (1772, new edition), printed for W. Griffin at Garrick’s Head, comprising x, [2], 63pp in octavo format, where he presents a sentimental comedy centred on Augusta Aubrey’s escape from manipulation and her pursuit of integrity amidst aristocratic seduction, staged at Drury Lane. Next is The Clandestine Marriage (1785 new edition, 90pp), a biting satire by David Garrick and George Colman that exposes social ambition and marital hypocrisy through mistaken identities and concealed motives, emblematic of late-century comedy of manners. The Man of Business (1774 second edition, 76pp) by George Colman critiques commercial vanity and political opportunism across 86 pages, illustrating the collision of public virtue and private gain in a rapidly modernising London. She Stoops to Conquer (1773 fifth edition, 106pp ) by Oliver Goldsmith overturns romantic conventions with comic misdirection and rural inversion, championing sincerity over status in a 96-page octavo that helped redefine English comedic structure. Together, these plays form a curated anthology of London’s theatrical repertoire between 1770 and 1785, offering collectors a rare convergence of first and early editions, each complete with original pagination and title pages. The volume’s historical cohesion, authorial range, and preservation of performance texts make it a singular artefact of 18th-century dramatic publishing.