Tempest; or the Enchanted Island
by SHAKESPEARE DRYDEN John DAVENANT Sir William
- Used
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
1690. (SHAKESPEARE) [DRYDEN, John and DAVENANT, William]. The Tempest, or the Enchanted Island. A Comedy. As it is now Acted At Their Majesties Theatre in Dorset-Garden. London: Printed by J. M. for H[enry] Herringman, 1690. Small quarto, 20th-century full navy morocco, all edges gilt. Housed in custom cloth clamshell box. $9500.Fifth edition of the Restoration version of The Tempest by William Davenant and John Dryden, handsomely bound in full morocco by Sangorski & Sutcliffe.After the end of the Puritan interval under Cromwell, the restored London theatre depended upon Shakespeare as a source of dramatic materials; but Shakespeare's plays, as he originally wrote them, did not suit the tastes of the newer audiences. Standards of versification and behavior had changed, and to meet the needs of contemporary audiences playwrights refurbished Shakespeare in adaptations that often proved enduring. The motivating force behind this Restoration Tempest was Sir William Davenant, the poet laureate, whose admiration for Shakespeare led him to hint that he himself was an illegitimate son of the dramatist. His co-adaptor Dryden, who the next year would succeed Davenant as poet laureate, writes in the Preface to this edition that Davenant ""first taught him to admire"" Shakespeare, and praises his amplification of Shakespeare's plot: balancing out the character of Miranda, a woman who has never seen a man, ""he design'd the Counter-part to Shakespear's Plot, namely, that of a Man who had never seen a Woman."" Samuel Pepys noted the premiere of the adaptation in his Diary on Nov. 7, 1667: ""The house mighty full; the King and Court there: and the most innocent play that ever I saw
all mightily pleased with the play."" The first edition of this version was published in 1670. Wing S2947. Jaggard, 463. McDonald 73d. Bookplate.Interior quite clean, binding fresh. A lovely copy of this important Shakespeare adaptation.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Bauman Rare Books (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 118308
- Title
- Tempest; or the Enchanted Island
- Author
- SHAKESPEARE DRYDEN John DAVENANT Sir William
- Book Condition
- Used
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Date Published
- 1690
Terms of Sale
Bauman Rare Books
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About the Seller
Bauman Rare Books
Biblio member since 2009
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
About Bauman Rare Books
In business since 1973, Bauman Rare Books now has locations in New York, Philadelphia and Las Vegas.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- 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...
- Morocco
- Morocco is a style of leather book binding that is usually made with goatskin, as it is durable and easy to dye. (see also...
- Quarto
- The term quarto is used to describe a page or book size. A printed sheet is made with four pages of text on each side, and the...
- Gilt
- The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
- 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...
- Clamshell Box
- A protective box designed for storing and preserving a bound book or loose sheets. A clamshell box is hinged on one side, with...
- Bookplate
- Highly sought after by some collectors, a book plate is an inscribed or decorative device that identifies the owner, or former...