The Fair Circassian A Dramatic Performance

Small 8vo. 1729. 4th edition. Eng. frontis.(verso silked?). (11 ex 12?)57(3). Spotted and 3 library stamps otherwise clean in half calf and paper boards. Hinges split and worn. Spine lettered 'Fair Circassian My Trial's Copy 1729'. Title page inscribed with m/s inscription 'W. Hone, Par:Coll No 32. This is the copy I used on my Trials.' Hone was one of the leading radical publishers of his day. In Jan and Feb 1817 he published the three parodies which were to land him in court by the end of the year, to mock the corruption at the heart of the Government. After three trials on the 18th, 19th and 20th of December, in which Hone defended himself (on the third day after speaking for 8 hours) all three juries acquitted him. Croxall's Fair Circassian (published anonymously) was an adaptation of Song of Solomon, and an example of how using Biblical texts had long been used legitimately as sources of parody. From the transcript of the first trial - 'The next work to which he should allude was the Fair Circassian.a very free parody on the Canticles; he held it in his hand, but he did not think it fit to be publicly read.Hone published ' The Age of Intellect or Clerical Showfolk' - dedicated to the Fair Circassian in 1819. Images available on request.…