•  Later green cloth with paper spine labels; labels browned and chipped. A nice set.  (30071)

This first edition contains an introduction that is not found in all of the reprints and some of the later editions also lack either the folding map and/or the appendix. The appendix (20 pages with its own signatures) is entitled “Authentic detail of the extravagant and inconsistent conduct of Sir Richard Musgrave, baronet; with a full refutation of his slander against 'Edward Hay'.” Musgrave was an Irish Protestant from Waterford, a polemicist, and ardent anti-Catholic.

Provenance:  20th-century signature of Francis Massey O'Brien and his bookplates (Portland, Maine), bibliophile and bookseller.

•  Publisher's half brown calf with blue-green paper boards. Front joint open; binding scuffed. Map with repair from rear. Scattered foxing.  (30024)

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Provenance:  Inked inscriptions of James Mack of Windham, VT (1784–1860) on front free endpaper and rear fly-leaf. Although both inscriptions are dated 1840, one gives “Col. James Mack” and the other “Major James Mack.”

•  American Imprints 25154.   Contemporary treed sheep, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label; joints, edges, and extremities rubbed, spine leather darkened and cracked, boards very slightly sprung. Inscriptions as above. Light to moderate age-toning and foxing, more pronounced to frontispiece and title-page. Now housed in a cloth clamshell case with gilt-stamped leather spine label.  (25116)

The date of printing is based on the fact that the printing firm of Tennery & Stockwell was active at Cambridge, N.Y., in 1804 only.

Provenance:  Ownership signature dated 1806 of M.H. Smith and another undated (i.e., Manassah H. Smith, a lawyer in Warren and Portland, Maine); 20th-century bookplate of Francis Massey O'Brien (Portland, Maine), bibliophile and bookseller.

•  Shaw & Shoemaker 6570.   Publisher's acid-stained sheep, abraded; black leather spine label; front joint (outside) starting. Early and late leaves with discoloration in outer margins from migration of leather oils, otherwise typical age-toning and the occasional stain or spot. Generally a very nice copy.  (29949)

Kelly’s first production, this play enjoyed great success both onstage and in print. Garrick wrote the prologue and epilogue to this rather provoking tale of an entire circle of friends attempting to get themselves successfully paired off, most of them foolishly determined to marry people they don’t love for the sake of nobly sparing everyone else’s feelings, and all of them completely misunderstanding the true natures of the various relationships.

This is almost certainly the first edition; of the four printings in 1768, one identifies itself as the fourth edition and the other two both seem to have been labelled "A new edition."

•  NCBEL 2, 845. On Kelly, see: DNB. Recent wrappers. Lacking half-title. Three pages including title stamped by now-defunct library. Pages with previous sewing-holes and some light foxing towards the end.

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•  ESTC R25145; Wing (rev. ed.) L1130; McAlpin, IV, 589.   Recent marbled paper wrappers. Title-page darkened and institutionally pressure-stamped, with lower outer portion torn away, just touching final number in date with no loss of sense. First few pages with edge nicks. Final (adv.) leaf with short internal tear with loss of a few letters, not affecting sense.  (25009)

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•  Sabin 78417.   Stitched originally, but this now perished and leaves separating; irregularly trimmed, in the case of two leaves to touch text; some foxing/staining, and chipping.  (26006)

Provenance:  Inscription of “Henry M. Pierce / Jersey City / NJ.”

•  Shaw & Shoemaker 44628; Drake, Almanacs, 3826.   Recent limp navy cloth, front cover with gilt-stamped title and date; extremities very slightly rubbed, otherwise very clean and fresh. Front free endpaper with inked ownership inscription as above. Pages age-toned with a few scattered spots; some pages trimmed closely, with headers occasionally touched but not taken. Nice!  (29641)

•  Publisher's purple cloth, stamped in gilt on the spine; boards lightly soiled, corners bumped; spine sunned, pulled at head and foot, cloth of spine with a couple of very tiny tears and black spots. Front pastedown with bookplate. Small piece cut from bottom blank areas of four leaves of preliminaries, blank leaf at front torn out. Several pages with stains in margins. Very good. (14498)

•  Publisher's blind-stamped cloth, spine with gilt-stamped title; cloth showing light wear over extremities and sides. Last few leaves with mild foxing. Text with pencilled marks of emphasis, including exclamation marks added at interesting points. (13564)

•  Publisher's printed paper wrappers, back upper corner slightly bumped and back cover with faint smudges, otherwise only minimally worn. Pages clean and crisp.  (29713)

•  Publisher's printed paper wrappers; spine and edges gently sunned, edges with minor shelfwear. Half-title with pencilled (relevant) annotations; pages crisp and clean.  (29718)

Signed binding: Publisher's striped cloth, predominantly seen in the 1840s and never common: Brown ripple-textured cloth thinly striped in light blue, covers each with blind-stamped frame and gilt-stamped harp and shamrock vignette, spine with gilt-stamped title and strapwork; front free endpaper with pressure-stamp of the Benjamin Bradley company. All edges gilt.

•  On binding cloth: Krupp, Bookcloth in England and America, 1823–50, Rip3.   Binding as above, cocked, corners rubbed, spine extremities chipped, tiny spot of insect damage in front joint; overall more attractive than this list might suggest. Front hinge (inside) tender. Pages gently age-toned; a few leaves of preface with light staining along inner margins. A very popular work, here in an unusual and distinctive binding.  (30344)

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Binding: Contemporary straight-grain black morocco, covers framed and panelled in gilt and blind, spine with gilt-stamped title and gilt-framed compartments, spine compartments blind-tooled in foliate designs, turn-ins with gilt double fillets. All edges gilt.

•  NCBEL, III, 264.   Bound as above, edges and extremities with minor rubbing, bottom spine compartment with small crack, leather (only) starting at front joint (joint itself strong). Front pastedown with early inked ownership inscription. Moderate foxing, more pronounced to first and last few leaves; two pages with offsetting from dried plant matter laid in. A lovely volume.  (24906)

•  American Imprints (1833) 20211; NSTC 2M35483.   Publisher's brown cloth, spine with printed paper label; cloth faded and discolored, spine label rubbed. Front free endpaper with faint pencilled ownership inscription dated 1856. Light to moderate foxing throughout. (20642)

Provenance:  Front pastedown with bookplate and front free endpaper with pencilled inscription of George M. Haverstick, an early proprietor of the company that eventually became the Whitall Tatum glass factory in Millville, New Jersey.

•  ESTC T92500; Sabin 52167. On Mary Peisley Neale, see: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online.   Contemporary treed calf, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label and gilt rules, expectably acid-pitted overall; spine chipped, front cover with spots of discoloration and abrasion, edges and extremities rubbed. Occasional scattered light spots, most noticeable on last three pages; some lower outer corners bumped. One pencilled text correction. An interesting item, and not tremendously common in the U.S.  (29674)