[Rarebooks] fa: HENRY FIELDING - THE HISTORICAL REGISTER FOR THE YEAR 1736 - First Ed. 1737

[ArCh]

Listed now, auctions ending Sunday, March 31. Images and more details can be found at the URL below or by searching for the seller name arch_in_la. 

http://tinyurl.com/y44v3eru

Thanks again,
Ardwight Chamberlain
Ann Arbor, MI, USA

[Henry Fielding:] The Historical Register, for the Year 1736. As it is Acted at the New Theatre in the Hay-Market. To which is added a very Merry Tragedy, called Eurydice Hiss'd, or, A Word to the Wise. Both written by the Author of Pasquin. To these are prefixed a long Dedication to the Publick, and a Preface to that Dedication. London: Printed and sold by J. Roberts, near the Oxford-Arms-Inn in Warwick-Lane, [1737]. First (or first authorized) edition. Slim 8vo (19 cm) in modern calf-backed boards; [16], 48 pp.; woodcut decorations and initials. ESTC T89878; Cross III p. 301.

There was another edition published by "J. Roberts" in the same year, but, pace Cross, it was actually a piracy printed in Edinburgh under a false imprint, making this at the very least the first authorized edition, and most likely the true first. The year in the title has been (inexplicably) altered to "1746" by an early hand. Mild toning to the first and last leaf, occasional light spotting, but otherwise unusually clean and crisp in a fine and fresh modern calf-backed binding. A nice copy.

First performed in the year it was published, The Historical Register is a satire of contemporary politics and society, set, like Sheridan's The Critic, during the rehearsal of a play-within-a-play, as observed by the playwright, Medley, and two stock characters of London society, an ill-tempered critic, Sowrwit, and a titled nincompoop, Lord Dapper. Fielding's comedy proved so pointed in its satire (and so successful) that it almost singlehandedly led to passage of the Licensing Act of 1737, which censored the theatre and put all dramatic productions under the direct control of the Lord Chamberlain, a law which survived until 1968. His theatrical career at an end, Fielding went on to other pursuits, including novel writing.