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GAY, John. Polly: an opera. Being the second part of The beggar's opera. Written by Mr. Gay. printed for T. Thomson, and sold by the booksellers of London and Westminster, London, 1729.

Price: US$250.00 + shipping

Description: 8vo. ix, [1], 62 pages; 16 pages engraved music. Three-quarter red morocco, red cloth boards, all edges gilt, by Riviere. Pirated edition published in the same year as the first, with p. 9, 44 lines; p. 21, 41 lines. For information on the various printings see 'Modern Language Review', 1942, vol. 37, pp. 291-303. ESTC N27915. A fine copy, the joints lightly rubbed

Seller: Riverrun Books & Manuscripts, ABAA, Ardsley, NY, U.S.A.

Gay, Mr. [John] (1685-1732). Polly: An Opera. Being the Second Part of the Beggar's Opera.. [Printed for the Author] [1729], [London], 1729.

Price: US$325.00 + shipping

Condition: Good

Description: [ii], vii, [1], 72 pages + 31 pages of engraved music. Early rebinding in half-calf and papered boards. Title leaf has been cropped and laid down, with the publisher's imprint lacking from the lower part of the leaf. Page dimensions: 232 x 184mm. A 2" split to leather at tail of front joint. 3/4" chips to leather at head and tail of spine. Boards rubbed. Corners of boards worn. Provenance: Early owner's signature: "Chs. Kirkpatrick Sharpe" [Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe (c. 1781-1851), of Hoddom Castle, Dumfriesshire, Scotland. Kirkpatrick Sharpe was an antiquary, an artist, a Freemason, a friend of the poet Robert Burns, and a friend of Sir Walter Scott]. Later owner's inscription: "R. B. Willis from W. R. K. Bedford 1852". [Robert Bruce Willis (1826-1897), who emigrated to New Zealand in the 19th century, son of John Walpole Willis, a Supreme Court Judge in New South Wales, Australia; William Kirkpatrick Riland Bedford? (1826-1905).] ; 4to

Seller: Renaissance Books, ANZAAB / ILAB, Dunedin, New Zealand

[GAY, John.]. THE SECOND PART OF THE BEGGARS OPERA.. London: printed for T. Read in White-Fryers near Fleet-street, 1729.

Price: US$390.05 + shipping

Description: 8vo in fours, pp. v, [i], 70; cut a little close at the head, else an excellent copy, rebound in early 20th century calf; top edge gilt. A very rare pirated edition of Polly, Gay's sequel to the Beggar's Opera. He had written it over the summer of 1729, and the news that he was at work on a follow-up to the dangerously popular original caused some anxiety in the ministry - and before its contents were known, the play was banned from production. That did not stop Gay from having it printed, and an enormous edition (said to be 10,000 copies) was circulated. This piracy is one of a number that sprang up like mushrooms when the authorised edition was published - but it is also one of the rarer editions as well: ESTC locates just two copies in the UK (BL and Foundling Museum), and nine in North America.

Seller: Christopher Edwards ABA ILAB, Henley-on-Thames, OXON, United Kingdom

GAY, John.. POLLY: AN OPERA. Being the second part of The Beggar's Opera. Written by Mr. Gay.. Dublin Printed in the year, 1729.

Price: US$422.55 + shipping

Description: 8vo, pp. [ii], ix, [i], 68; cut a bit close (no effect on the text), inner margin of title slightly torn, and light waterstain at foot; disbound. First Dublin edition: the same sheets were reissued later the same year, with a new title page, and the imprint 'Dublin: printed by S. Powell, for George Risk, George Ewing, and William Smith', which makes it clear that this is the first edition to be printed there. ESTC states that in this edition the pagination on p. 5 has failed to print, and p. 8 is misnumbered '1', but in this copy both are correctly numbered. Rare: ESTC locates just five copies - at the British Library, National Library of Ireland, and Trinity Dublin; and in the USA at Folger and Harvard only.

Seller: Christopher Edwards ABA ILAB, Henley-on-Thames, OXON, United Kingdom

GAY, John.. THE BEGGAR'S OPERA. As it is acted at the Theatre-Royal in Lincolns-Inn Fields. The third edition: with the ouverture in score, the songs and the basses, (the ouverture and basses compos'd by Dr. Pepusch) curiously engrav'd on copper plates. London: printed for John Watts, at the Printing-Office in Wild-Court, near Lincoln's-Inn Fields. 1729. [with:] POLLY: AN OPERA. Being the second part of the Beggar's Opera. Written by Mr. Gay.. London: printed for the author, 1729.

Price: US$650.08 + shipping

Description: Two works in one volume, 4to, pp. [viii], 60; plus 46 plates of music; [ii], vii, [i], 72; plus 31 plates of music; first title a bit browned; occasional stains in text; contemporary mottled calf, rebacked and repaired at corners. Third edition of the Beggar's Opera, and first edition of Polly, the sequel. Gay's great ballad opera - an innovation to the English stage - was first performed in January 1728 and continued with a sensational run of 62 performances. The first printed editions were in the standard octavo format, but given the work's enormous popularity, there was scope for an edition larger in format, at a higher price. This third edition is the result, issued in a grand quarto, complete with 46 plates (on 23 leaves) of the music, which had been arranged by Johann Christoph Pepusch. The clamour for a sequel resulted in Polly, which is set not in London but in the West Indies: its political satire resulted in the government having it banned, so it was not performed at the time (its first London performance was not until 1777). However, the scandal did not prevent Gay from making a healthy profit from the publication. Pepusch again contributed the musical arrangement, which is present here on 31 plates. Provenance. Contemporary signature on title of Wm. Reepe, 1730 - this is a West Country name, and there seem to have been Reepes in Barnstaple (Gay's home town) at this period. Later signature also on title of Wm. Pullein, 1770.

Seller: Christopher Edwards ABA ILAB, Henley-on-Thames, OXON, United Kingdom

Sammelband. -. The Beggar's Opera. As it is Acted at the Theatre-Royal in Lincolns-Inn Fields. The Third Edition: With the Ouverture in Score, The Songs, and the Basses, (The Ouverture and Basse Compos?d by Dr. Pepusch). Curiosly Engrav?d on Copper Plates. - [Angebunden:] Polly: An Opera being the second part of the Beggar?s Opera. Written by Mr. Gay. - [Angebunden:] The Dunciad, variorum. With the Prolegomena of Scriblerus. - [Angebunden:] Fables. - 4 Werke in 1 Band. John Watts [bzw. Printed for the Author], London, 1729.

Price: US$3779.25 + shipping

Description: Quart, 4,60467231, 1729,50 halbseitige Taf. Lederband der Zeit (Ecken bestoßen, Rückenkanten und Kaptal angrissen) mit reicher Rücken-, Deckel- und Stehkantenvergoldung, Rückentitel und LesebändchenDie Titel jeweils in Rot und Schwarz gedruckt. Zahlreiche gestochene Vignetten, Kopf- und Zierleisten, , 1600 Gramm. - Sehr seltene Erstausgabe der beiden berühmten Satiren auf die Blütezeit der italienischen Oper; die Ouvertüre, 1728 uraufgeführt, liegt in Partitur vor, den Liedern ist - ebenfalls als Erstausgabe - nur die Melodie gedruckt. - Eitner 7, S. 359 (Beggar?s Opera in 4. Ausgabe, 1735); nicht in BSB; CPM 44, 405 bzw. 45, 350.

Seller: Musikantiquariat Dr. Bernhard A. Kohl GmbH, Stuttgart, Germany