1760 DRAMA/PLAYS OF COLLEY CIBBER LEATHER ILLUS XRARE!!

THE

DRAMATIC WORKS

OF

COLLEY CIBBER, ESQ.

Colley Cibber; 1760; Vol. IV; London, Printed for J. Clarke, C. Hitch, Others; Leather; Illustrated Woodcuts; 383 Pages; 4.2"x 6.9"; Extremely Rare!!

Great for any Drama/Play Fan or Collector.  Great on a Shelf in Great Condition; 249 Years Old!!

Attributes:

A Charming, sleek all leather cover design with pretty gold borders, ornate gold binding with nice black/gold labels and five raised bands, and lots of beautiful woodcuts to headings/endings and initials and four classic plays written in old english "f" instead of "s" on handmade paper!!!

Contents Included:

THE REFUSAL OR THE LADIES PHILOSOPHY A COMEDY; THE PROVOK'D HUSBAND OR A JOURNEY TO LONDON A COMEDY; LOVE IN A RIDDLE A PASTORAL; PAPAL TYRANNY IN THE REIGN OF KING JOHN A TRAGEDY; WITH PROLOGUES/EPILOGUES, CHARACTERS, SCENES, ETC.!!!

Background:

Colley Cibber (pronounced /ˈkɒli ˈsɪbər/; 11 June 1671 – 12 November 1757) was a British actor-manager, playwright, and Poet Laureate. His colourful memoir Apology for the Life of Colley Cibber (1740) started a British tradition of personal, anecdotal, and even rambling autobiography. He wrote some plays for performance by his own company at Drury Lane, and adapted many more from various sources, receiving frequent criticism for his "miserable mutilation" (Robert Lowe) of "hapless Shakespeare, and crucify'd Molière" (Alexander Pope). He regarded himself as first and foremost an actor and had great popular success in comical fop parts, while as a tragic actor he was persistent but much ridiculed. Cibber's brash, extroverted personality did not sit well with his contemporaries, and he was frequently accused of tasteless theatrical productions, social and political opportunism (which was thought to have gained him the laureateship over far better poets), and shady business methods. He rose to herostratic fame when he became the chief target, the head Dunce, of Alexander Pope's satirical poem The Dunciad.

Cibber wrote two other original comedies. Woman's Wit (1697) was produced under unpropitious circumstances and had no discernible theme (see Barker, 30–31); Cibber, not usually shy about any play of his, even elided its existence in the Apology. The Lady's Last Stake (1707) is a rather bad-tempered reply to female critics of Lady Easy's wifely patience in The Careless Husband. It was coldly received, and its main interest lies in the glimpse the prologue gives of angry female reactions to The Careless Husband, of which we would otherwise have known nothing (since all contemporary published reviews of The Careless Husband approve and endorse its message). Some women, says Cibber sarcastically in the prologue, seem to think Lady Easy ought rather to have strangled her husband with her steinkirk:

"Yet some there are, who still arraign the Play,

At her tame Temper shock'd, as who should say—

The Price, for a dull Husband, was too much to pay,

Had he been strangled sleeping, Who shou'd hurt ye?

When so provok'd—Revenge had been a Virtue."

Condition:

Condition is Very Good.  Some wear to edges, newer end pages, some chipping to hinges, little color added, pages are very good, owner's signature, hinges/text block are very good.  Overall, for close to 250 years old its in Very Good Condition!!!