The Beggar's Opera
by Gay John
- Used
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- Good-
- Seller
-
Bere Alston, Devon, United Kingdom
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Synopsis
‘Whore and rogue they call husband and wife: All professions be-rogue one another' The tale of Peachum, thief-taker and informer, conspiring to send the dashing and promiscuous highwayman Macheath to the gallows, became the theatrical sensation of the eighteenth century. In The Beggar’s Opera , John Gay turned conventions of Italian opera riotously upside-down, instead using traditional popular ballads and street tunes, while also indulging in political satire at the expense of the Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walpole. Gay’s highly original depiction of the thieves, informers, prostitutes and highwaymen thronging the slums and prisons of the corrupt London underworld proved brilliantly successful in exposing the dark side of a corrupt and jaded society. Bryan Loughrey and T. O. Treadwell’s introduction examines the eighteenth-century background of musical theatre and opera, the changing cityscape of London and the corruption of the legal system. This edition also includes a note on the music in The Beggar’s Opera and suggestions for further reading.
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Details
- Seller
- Victoria Bookshop (GB)
- Seller's Inventory #
- 9603
- Title
- The Beggar's Opera
- Author
- Gay John
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used - Good-
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- First Edition.
- Publisher
- William Heinemann
- Place of Publication
- London
- Date Published
- 1921
- Keywords
- FICTION
Terms of Sale
Victoria Bookshop
About the Seller
Victoria Bookshop
About Victoria Bookshop
Glossary
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- Edges
- The collective of the top, fore and bottom edges of the text block of the book, being that part of the edges of the pages of a...
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Plate
- Full page illustration or photograph. Plates are printed separately from the text of the book, and bound in at production. I.e.,...