[Rarebooks] fa: MEMOIRS OF CHARLES MATHEWS, COMEDIAN - 4 vols. 1839

[Ardwight Chamberlain]

Listed now, auction ending Sunday, October 8. Images and more details can be found at the URL below or by searching for the seller name arch_in_la. 

http://tinyurl.com/y9yuf8gx

Thanks,
Ardwight Chamberlain
Ann Arbor, MI, USA


Charles Mathews, Anne Mathews: Memoirs of Charles Mathews, Comedian. By Mrs. Mathews. London: Richard Bentley, 1839. Second editions of vols. I & II, first editions of vols. II & IV. Four volumes, 8vo (22.5 cm), in modern 3/4 leather and marbled boards; with 4 frontispieces and 13 plates, five of which are folding (complete), woodcut title-page vignettes.

The life of the leading comic actor of his time. Mathews (1776-1835) was an inspired mimic and impressionist and was the first actor to create and produce a play (At Home) in which he performed all the roles. He toured America with great success on more than one occasion. The young Charles Dickens was a fan and the character of Alfred Jingle in The Pickwick Papers is believed to have been modeled on Mathews. Bindings with modest wear to some corners and spine ends; foxing of various degrees to the frontispieces and title-pages and several of the plates, a few scattered small spots elsewhere, otherwise quite clean and crisp, firmly and strikingly bound.