A Select Collection of Old Plays: Volume the Ninth (Provenance: Early Owner W.H. Monogram; Later from the Library of Loftus H. Canton)

1744. First edition. Octavo. Original full leather binding, unrestored. Boards worn and rubbed; corners softened. The spine shows a crack running the full length from head to tail, though both boards remain attached and the volume remains structurally intact. Engraved frontispiece present; title page dated M.DCC.XLIV. Text complete, with expected age‑toning and occasional handling marks consistent with an 18th century working copy. 456pp A desirable first edition volume from Robert Dodsleys influential A Select Collection of Old Plays (1744 45), one of the earliest scholarly attempts to preserve non Shakespearean English drama. This ninth volume contains five important 17th century comedies, reprinted from scarce early editions. Contents of Volume IX (this copy): Albumazar. A Comedy. By Thomas Tomkis The Gamester. A Comedy. By James Shirley The Bird in a Cage. A Comedy. By James Shirley The City Night Cap. A Comedy. By Robert Davenport. The Parsons Wedding. A Comedy. By Thomas Killigrew. These plays were already difficult to obtain by the mid 18th century; Dodsleys edition was instrumental in preserving them for later scholarship. Provenance 1. Early 19th century owner W H A finely impressed blind stamp on the endpaper, showing the initials W.H. beneath an emblem of a serpent entwined with arrows. This type of personalised library device is characteristic of private gentleman collectors c. 1820 1870, often associated with military or scholarly backgrounds. The emblems classical symbolism (wisdom, vigilance, martial readiness) suggests a cultivated early owner with a substantial personal library. 2. Later 19th to early 20th century owner: Loftus Henry Canton Inserted loosely is the printed calling card of Loftus H. Canton, giving his residential address as 56 Regents Park Road, N.W. Archival London directories record a Loftus Henry Canton active in the same period, with business premises at 94 Great Portland Street, W. The rarity of the name, the matching initial, and the dual residential and commercial address pattern strongly indicate the same individual. The card serves as his informal ex libris and provides a rare surviving trace of a London gentleman whose library included early English drama.…