Published by [Philadelphia] : University of Pennsylvania Press, 1976
ISBN 10: 0812277058 ISBN 13: 9780812277050
Seller: Library House Internet Sales, Grand Rapids, OH, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: Poor. No Jacket. "There was a challenge lately intended for the Duke of Buckingham upon Sir William Coventrys account. . . . The occasion . . .was a new play to be acted on Saturday last called the Country gentleman. . . . But the King hath prevented all; and the play is not acted."--Samuel Pepys, 2 March 1669 This edition makes available for the first time The Country Gentleman, a play written by Sir Robert Howard and the Duke of Buckingham, personally suppressed by King Charles II in 1669. Its vicious personal attack on Sir William Coventry provoked a scandal. Consequently, it was banned before public performance and very naturally never printed. The play was long presumed lost. Fortunately, Pepys recorded the whole affair in some detail, and his description of the play's central satiric scene with "two tables . . . with a round hole in the middle" made it possible to identify an untitled, undated, anonymous MS in the Folger Library as a complete scribal copy of the play. This find is only the second such recovery of a "lost" Restoration play in the twentieth century. The Introduction gives a full account of the play's scandalous genesis--a lurid tale of political intrigue, a prevented duel between members of the King's Privy Council, and a fall from high office. For those curious about how literary "discoveries" come about, the editors have added an account of the detective work which began with an odd entry in Annals of English Drama, and led from the Folger Library in Washington to artistocrats' private collections in England. The play itself is brisk, delicious comedy, featuring pairs of lovers caught up in the intrigues of rivals--all against motifs of city vs. country life and scathing satire of government "business." The Country Gentleman is both timely in its use of the gay-couple love game, and a surprisingly early precursor of the exemplary comedies of the 1690s. Ironically, this cheerful, witty play became the vehicle for satire which shook the whole government of England. Due to age and/or environmental conditions, the pages of this book have darkened. The hinges have been meanded preserving the original covers and spine. Please note the image in this listing is a stock photo and may not match the covers of the actual item. Book.
Published by University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, 1976
ISBN 10: 0812277058 ISBN 13: 9780812277050
Seller: Between the Covers-Rare Books, Inc. ABAA, Gloucester City, NJ, U.S.A.
First Edition Signed
Hardcover. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Fine. First edition. Light foxing on top page edges, else fine in a fine dustwrapper. Warmly Inscribed by the editor Arthur H. "Joe" Scouten to fellow poet Daniel Hoffman.
Published by J. M. Dent & Sons, London England, 1976
Seller: The London Bookworm, East Sussex, United Kingdom
First Edition
Cloth. Condition: Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Good. First Edition. Hardback. Among the sixty-odd unprinted Restoration plays known once to have existed, none has seemed so tantalizing as The Country Gentleman. It was written by Sir Robert Howard and George Villiers, Second Duke of Buckingham, two of the best non-professional dranatists of the early restoration, and its satire provoked a scandal which rocked the government of England in the spring of 1669. Banned before performance, and very naturally never published, the play has always been presumed lost. We present here a complete edition of the Folger manuscript. Our introductary essays contains an account of the play and its place in Restoration comedy. But beyond that it recounts a lurid tale of political intrigue, a prevented dual between members of the King's Prive Council, and a fall from high office. 163 pp. ( We carry a wide selection of titles in The Arts, Theology, History, Politics, Social and Physical Sciences. etc.).
Published by J. M. Dent & Sons Limited, London, 1976
Seller: George Longden, Macclesfield, United Kingdom
Hardback. Condition: Good+. A little bumped at corners of boards and a little rubbed at head of spine, with slight splits at top of hinges. Faint spotting on top edge. No dustjacket. 205 x 135 mm. xii, 164 pp. Book.
Hardcover. Good condition. Dust jacket has some scuffing and bumping wear at edges.