1693 1ed Old Bachelor William Congreve Comedy Purcell RARE Restoration Theatre

1693 1^ed Old Bachelor William Congreve Comedy Purcell RARE Restoration Theatre

 

William Congreve was an English playwright known for his satires and comedies. His first work, and perhaps most important, was ‘The Old Bachelor’ which gained its fame through English composer Henry Purcell who set it to music. The first of many comedies, ‘The Old Bachelor’ follows the story of an old man who, while trivializing women, falls in love.

 

This 1693 first edition was published in Buck in London. “Dryden pronounced it to be the best first play he had ever seen; and the players, to whom he had at first read it so badly that they almost rejected it, soon changed their opinion. The manager granted him the privilege of the house for six months before it was acted, a then unprecedented compliment” (DNB). Congreve wrote that he had written the play four years earier to “amuse himself in a slow recovery from a fit of sickness.” Wing C-5863.

 

Item number: #21844

Price: $2500

 

CONGREVE, William

 

The old batchelour : a comedy : as it is acted at the Theatre Royal

 

London: Printed for Peter Buck, 1693. First edition.

 

Details:

• Collation: Complete with all pages
  • [12], 55, [1]
• References: Wing C 5863
• Language: English
• Binding: Leather, tight and secure
• Size: ~8.75in X 6.5in (22cm x 16.5cm)
• Exceedingly rare and desirable with the last auction record at $3,000 from Christie’s in 2004 (our example being superior in condition)

 

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