THE REHEARSAL; A COMEDY. WRITTEN BY GEORGE VILLERS [sic] LATE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM, TO EXPOSE SOME PLAYS THEN IN VOGUE, & THEIR AUTHORS.

(FALSE IMPRINTS). BUCKINGHAM, GEORGE VILLIERS, DUKE OF.

(London [i.e., the Hague]: Printed for the Company of booksellers [but actually T. Johnson], [1720?]). 168 x 105 mm. (6 5/8 x 4 1/8"). 95, [1] pp.

20th century marbled paper wrappers, edges untrimmed, printed paper label on upper cover. ESTC T14982. See also Allington et al., The Book in Britain: A Historical Introduction, pp. 202-03. Spine a little cocked, occasional minor corner creases, but an excellent copy, fresh and clean with no major defects.

This is a pleasing copy of a popular satire, from a prolific pirate press. George Villiers (1628-87), the second Duke of Buckingham, was a politician, courtier, and famous wit. His best-rememberd literary work, "The Rehearsal," first published in 1671, is a rollicking lampoon of Buckingham's literary and political contemporaries. It was regularly performed for over a century, and DNB tells us that it was "the pioneer of a tradition of dramatic burlesque upon the English stage." While this is an oft-reprinted work, our copy is from an edition that represents a significant episode in the early history of copyrighted texts. In 1710, the Stationer's Company lobbied for the passage of an act forbidding the unauthorized printing of works by non-copyright holders. However, this only applied to printers in England, and our publisher, Scottish-born printer and bookseller Thomas Johnson (1677-1735), found the convenient loophole of printing in the Hague. He issued more than 60 plays and a handful of other works both for English expatriates in the Netherlands and for the British market, often with the false imprint seen in our volume, to allow them to be smuggled into Great Britain. (ST21178)

Price: $125.00