Works of John Dryden - Two Folio Volumes

Dryden, John

Published by 1701 London, Jacob Tonson

About this Item

1st Thus Full-Leather. John Dryden, the great poet and dramatist of the 17th century was born in 1631 and died in 1700 just one year before this set was published. The title page of the books read 'The Comedies, Tragedies and Operas written by John Dryden Esq., Now first Collected together and Corrected from the originals'. This is the first edition thus of the Works of John Dryden.The publisher of the books was the now legendary Jacob Tonson who is known for his sterling volumes as well as the fact that he was the first person to obtain a copyright on Shakespeare's plays. The two volumes are Folio in size and contain 618 pages in volume I and 558 pages in volume II. The bindings of these books are very well worn and are of full-calf leather with blindstamping on both the front and back boards. New leather labels and 23k gilt lettering have been added to the compartmentalized spines (raised bands) as the originals were missing. After three centuries there is quite a bit of wear and rubbing to the boards as would be expected. There is some wear to the extreme bottom of the spine of volume two and there is a bit of missing spine material to the top of volume one. Neither is really a detraction in books of this nature. The volumes are complete and well intact and solid. There is virtually no paper loss except for the occasional edge chips that primarily occur in the first twenty pages of volume one and that do not affect the text. The textblock is in great condition for a book of this age and there is only scattered light foxing, an occasional small stain, and a bit of creasing here and there. The volumes are really beautiful and are extremely rare in any condition. A true Antiquarian treasure. Seller Inventory # 004649

Bibliographic Details

Title: Works of John Dryden - Two Folio Volumes

Publisher: 1701 London, Jacob Tonson

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: Very Good-

Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket