GAY, John 1685-1732. The Beggar's Opera With an Introduction by Oswald Doughty, M.A., B.Litt., Lecturer in English, University College, London, twenty-eight plates in collotype and a facsimile title of the first edition. [Libretto]. Daniel O'Connor [The Chiswick Press], London, 1922.

Price: US$29.00 + shipping

Description: Large octavo. Quarter ivory cloth with title label printed in red and black to spine and upper board; endpapers with reproductions of original cast portraits. 1f. (recto half-title, verso edition statement), 1f. (recto blank, verso portrait of Lavinia Fenton), 1f. (recto title, verso publisher's statement), v (contents), [vii-viii] (list of illustrations), ix-xxviii (editor's introduction), xxix-xxxii (appendix to the introduction), xxxiii-xxxiv (works consulted), vi, 99 pp., 1f. (colophon). On laid paper. With 28 collotype plates with tissue guards. Binding somewhat bumped, soiled, browned, and discolored. Minor foxing; slightly browned; previous owner's bookplate laid down verso of flyleaf "Ex libris Dr. P. Girardin." Limited to 1,000 copies, this copy unnumbered. The Beggar's Opera, a ballad opera a libretto by John Gay, premiered in London at Lincoln's Inn Fields on 29 January 1728. "The Beggar's Opera took London by storm, and it remains one of the most frequently performed operatic works in English. There was no precedent or model for the work. .The Beggar's Opera may fairly be called 'frivolously nihilistic'. Ironically, it is almost always now staged as a period romp, and appears to have been given in an equally superficial way during the 18th century. Other kinds of production are possible, as David Freeman demonstrated in his Opera Factory production of 1982, replete with punk rock additions but giving the text the ugliness and despair that are almost always masked in performance by surface jollity." Robert D. Hume in Grove Music Online.

Seller: J & J LUBRANO MUSIC ANTIQUARIANS LLC, Syosset, NY, U.S.A.

Gay (John).. The Beggar's Opera. Edited with an Introduction & Notes by Oswald Doughty (.). Twenty-eight Plates in Collotype and a Facsimile title of the First Edition.. Imperial 8vo, xxxiv, viii, 99 p. : plates ; 29 cm., London : Daniel O'Connor; printed at the Chiswick Press 1922., 1922.

Price: US$32.08 + shipping

Condition: Very Good

Description: Title-page in red and black. One of 1000 copies printed in Caslon on antique laid paper. Grey paper-covered boards with cream buckram back, printed labels to spine and upper board. Some spotting to pictorial endleaves and slight wear to edge of spine. A very good copy.

Seller: Collinge & Clark, London, United Kingdom

Gay, John.. The Beggar's Opera. Edited with an Introduction & Notes by Oswald Doughty (.). Twenty-eight Plates in Collotype and a Facsimiletitle of the First Edition.. London, Daniel O'Connor., 1922.

Price: US$33.06 + shipping

Description: 4°, XXXIV; V,99 S.m. Abb., OHLwdbd. m. mont. TSchildchen, Kopfgoldschnitt, unbeschnitten, Ecken ger. bestoßen; schönes Expl. Erste Ausgabe dieser Edition (eins von 1000 Exemplaren). Dieses Exemplar ohne Nummer auf Bütten. Schöner Schwarz/Rotdruck der Chiswick Press. Sprache: Englisch.

Seller: Rödner Versandantiquariat, Den Haag, Netherlands

Gay, John. The Beggar’s Opera By John Gay. With an Introduction by Oswald Doughty, Lecturer in English, University College, London, Twenty-Eight Plates in Collotype and a Facsimile Title of the First Edition [& Head & Tail Pieces].. London: Published by Daniel O’Connor At 90 Great Russell Street, MCMXXII [1922] Chiswick Press: Charles Whittingham and Griggs (Printers), Ltd. London., 1922.

Price: US$125.00 + shipping

Description: “This Edition is strictly limited to one thousand copies, of which, nine hundred and fifty are for sale. This copy is No. [-]” This copy is not numbered. Imperial octavo; size of binding: 7 ¾ in. x 11 1/8 in., xxxiv, facsimile titlepage; viii, 99 pp., including notes; printers’s mark, etc. on final page [100]; illustrated with 24 plates, which are reproductions in black & white of early prints of the actors, theatrical costumes, details relating to early productions, etc. (tissue guards show light tanning), list of books consulted; facsimile of 1729 titlepage, list of songs, etc. White cloth spine and sides, with printed paper title label on spine, and another label on front cover and on the front panel of the dustjacket; gray paper over boards, endpapers are reproductions of drawings or prints of characters in their dress, top-edge gilt; thick, brown paper dustjacket with embossed medallion of John Gay on the front panel, and mounted title label as mentioned above, cellophane wraparound over the dustjacket. Upper cover edges show nicks, tanning to cover edges, light bumping to cover corners, some tan spotting to the endpapers; former owner's bookplate on front paste-down, under the illustration; deckled edges of the paper shows some age-related tanning; dustjacket edges show light wear, creasing, two spilts to lower edge of back dustjacket panel. Very good+/very good; actually, a much finer copy than it sounds. Handsomely produced edition with an excellent introduction. The "Beggar's Opera", has been revived in different forms, as well as inspiring "The Three Penny Opera". Weight: 2 lbs.

Seller: Peter Keisogloff Rare Books, Inc., Brecksville, OH, U.S.A.