1720 Thomas Shadwell The Miser Moliere L\'Avare Restoration Comedy Theatre Royal For Sale

OverviewEarly eighteenth-century edition of Thomas Shadwell’s The Miser: A Comedy, Acted at the Theatre Royal, printed in 1720 as part of the collected edition of Shadwell’s dramatic works.Shadwell’s The Miser was originally published in 1672 and is his English adaptation of Molière’s L’Avare. Rather than producing a direct translation, Shadwell reshaped the French comedy for the Restoration stage, expanding the cast and incorporating additional English comic characters and situations.Thomas Shadwell (c. 1642–1692) was one of the major comic dramatists of the Restoration and succeeded John Dryden as Poet Laureate in 1689. His comedies are closely associated with the Restoration “comedy of humours” tradition and frequently drew upon French drama, particularly Molière.This 1720 printing was issued in the posthumous four-volume collected edition of Shadwell’s dramatic works prepared by his son, Sir John Shadwell. Each play in the collection was given its own special title page, allowing the individual works to function visually as separate plays within the larger set.The original title page for Volume III of Shadwell’s Works, from which this copy was removed, accompanies the play and lists The Miser as the opening work in the volume.Edition DetailsAuthor: Thomas Shadwell
Title: The Miser: A Comedy, Acted at the Theatre Royal
Place: London
Date: 1720
Edition: From the 1720 collected edition of Shadwell’s dramatic works
Format: Small-format dramatic work
Source volume: The Works of Thomas Shadwell, Esq.; Volume the Third
Literary source: Adapted from Molière’s L’Avare
Reference for collected edition: ESTC T119901ConditionGood condition for an early eighteenth-century dramatic work.Previously bound and now extracted from Volume III of Shadwell’s collected works, with leather, sewing, and binding remnants along the spine. General age toning and soiling with scattered spotting, rubbing, edge and corner wear, and handling creases.The 1720 special title page for The Miser is present. The original Volume III title leaf also accompanies the play; that leaf is detached and substantially worn, with chips, tears, creasing, and losses as photographed.Please review photographs for condition. Photographs form part of the item description.