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THE WORKS.
(Birmingham: Printed by John Baskerville for J. and R. Tonson, in the Strand, London, 1761). 230 x 125 mm. (9 1/8 x 5 1/2"). Three volumes.
EXTREMELY PRETTY DARK GREEN MOTTLED CALF BY MORRELL (signed on verso of front endpaper), covers bordered with French fillets with rosette cornerpieces, flat spines ornately gilt in compartments with diapered panel at head and foot flanked by wide bands of closely spaced oblique lines, two compartments with ring cornerpieces and Neoclassical urn centerpieces, crimson and tan morocco labels, turn-ins gilt with dense floral roll, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt.
With six engraved plates, including the frontispiece portrait of Congreve by Chambers after the painting by Kneller, and illustrations for each of the five plays. All volumes with the red morocco book label of William Burden to the front pastedown. Gaskell 16; Straus & Dent 46; Lowndes I, 510; Brunet II, 224; Graesse II, 250; ESTC T26067. ◆The slightest wear to lower corners, trivial imperfections only in the text: a very attractive set in just about perfect condition.
In the preface to his 1758 edition of Milton, Baskerville spells out the aims that are to guide his--and after him, many another--special press: "It is not my desire to print many books," he says, "but such only, as are books of consequence, of intrinsic merit, or established reputation, and which the public may be pleased to see in an elegant dress, and to purchase at such a price, as will repay the extraordinary care and expense that must necessarily be bestowed upon them." One can easily see these remarks reflected in the present printing of the collected works of the Restoration dramatist and poet Congreve (1670-1729), the acknowledged master of the artificial comedy of manners. The highlight of the present collection is the group of such comedies, in which wit and fashion play a larger role in one's destiny than probity and moral fortitude. The most famous of his confections in this genre is "The Way of the World." Additional works included here are three other comedies ("The Old Batchelor," "The Double Dealer," and "Love for Love"), a masque ("The Judgment of Paris"), and an operatic libretto ("Semele"). And, for a major contrast, there is Congreve's most unusual and only somber play, "The Mourning Bride," a melodramatic tragicomedy that hands out happiness for the virtuous and punishment for the wicked, in just the manner called for by his contemporaneous critics Jeremy Collier and John Dennis. Included at the end of the third volume is a section of 273 pages containing the author's "Poems upon Several Occasions," and the set concludes with Congreve's even-handed and thoughtful work of criticism entitled "A Letter to Mr. Dennis, Concerning Humor in Comedy." The Baskerville Congreve is not a rare book, but a handsomely bound copy in particularly fine condition like the present one is uncommonly desirable. Our copy was from the library of William Armistead Moale Burden II (1906-84), a prominent banker, art collector, bibliophile, and philanthropist. He was Eisenhower's ambassador to Belgium from 1959 to 1961. (ST19567-101)
Price: $3,250.00