Gay, John. Plays viz The Captives, The Beggar's Opera, Polly, Achilles, The Distress'd Wife, The Rehearsal at Goatham to which is added An Account of the Life and Writings of the Author. J and R Tonson, London, 1760.

Price: US$127.54 + shipping

Condition: Very Good

Description: xii 391pp, engraved frontispiece, contemporary calf, spine gilt with red morocco label, marbled endpapers and edges, slight wear particularly to corners, front joint cracked, ex lib Douglas Grant with his signature in pencil on flyleaf, 12mo (10x17cm), ESTC T13745

Seller: Flora Books, Mears Ashby, United Kingdom

John Gay. Plays Written By Mr John Gay. Printed for J and R Tonson in the Strand, London, 1760.

Price: US$185.51 + shipping

Description: 'viz The Captive, a tragedy. The Beggar's Opera. Polly, of the second part of the Beggar's Opera. Achilles, an opera. The Distress'd Wife, a comedy. the Rehearsal at Goatham, a farce. To which is added, an account of the life and writings of the Author'. Fully bound inl eather with five raised bands, red title band and gilt titling to spine. Shelf wear and rubbing to boards and spine with small loss of leather to extremities; binding is tight and contents are clean with just a hint of foxing end papers and browning to margins of end papers. Previous owner's name to front paste down. pp391.

Seller: St Marys Books And Prints, Stamford, United Kingdom

Gay, John. Plays Written by Mr John Gay, Viz The Captives, A Tragedy, The Beggar's Opera, Polly, or, the Second Part of the Beggar's Opera, Achilles, an Opera, The Distress'd Wife, a Comedy, The Rehearsal at Goatham, a Farce, To which is added, An Account of the Life and Writings of the Author. J. and R. Tonson, London, 1760.

Price: US$193.24 + shipping

Condition: Good

Description: The full leather binding is worn at the edges with rubbing to the corners and some discolouration in places. The binding has half-inch cracks at the top and bottom of the spine along the edges of the front and rear panels. The spine is worn with about half the surface covering having flaked off. The loss is at the top and bottom and in three other places with part of the title panel missing and one of the raised bands gone. Marbled endpapers with a previous owner's book plate to the front paste down. The hinges have been reinforced with brown tape. The pages are browned with some discolouration in places and the title page has a number of small brown marks over it but the pages are otherwise generally unmarked. First printing of this collected edition.

Seller: Raymond Tait, Beccles, SUFFO, United Kingdom

Gay, John. Plays Written By Mr. John Gay, Viz. The Captives, a Tragedy. The Beggar's Opera. Polly, or, the Second Part of the Beggar's Opera. Achilles, an Opera. The Distress'd Wife, a Comedy. The Rehearsal of Goatham, a Farce. To Which is Added an Account of the Life and Writings of the Author. Printed for J. And R. Tonson., London, England, 1760.

Price: US$200.00 + shipping

Condition: Very Good

Description: First collected edition of John Gay's works. xii, 391 pages; rebound and repaired in dark leather with raised bands and gilt lettering on the spine. John Gay (1685-1732) was an English poet and dramatist, a contemporary and friend of Pope and Swift. He is most famous for 'The Beggar's Opera' (1728), included within, which caricatured Sir Robert Walpole and the South Sea Bubble. Gay lost all his money in the 'bubble'. 'Polly', which followed the Beggar's Opera was banned by the government making Gay even more famous.

Seller: Barry Cassidy Rare Books, Sacramento, CA, U.S.A.

[GAY John]. Plays Written by Mr John Gay viz. The Captives, a Tragedy, The Beggar's Opera, Polly, or, the Second Part of the Beggar's Opera, Achilles, an Opera, The Distress'd Wife, a Comedy, The Rehearsal at Goatham, a Farce. for J & R Tonson 1760 (first collected edition), 1760.

Price: US$257.65 + shipping

Condition: Good

Description: to which is added an Account of the Life and Writings of the Author, contemporary half-leather over marbled boards, raised bands, spine chipped at head and base, corners rubbed, hinges cracked, advertisement leaf, joints cracked, good. Dalrymple bookplate front pastedown; 391 pages; keywords: drama;

Seller: Tiger books, Canterbury, United Kingdom