The Beggar's Opera As it is Acted at the Theatre-Royal in Lincolns-Inn-Fields bound with Polly: An Opera being the Second Part of the Beggar's Opera GAY, JOHN Literature

10. GAY, JOHN (1685-1732). The Beggar's Opera As it is Acted at the Theatre-Royal in Lincolns-Inn-Fields bound with Polly: An Opera being the Second Part of the Beggar's Opera. London: Printed for John Watts, 1728 and London: Printed for T. Thomson, 1729 respectively. SECOND EDITION (Beggar's Opera) and PIRATED EDITION* (Polly) published the same year as the First Edition, 8vo, full calf, a.e.g., 76 & 62 pp., gilt armorial design on covers. Title page for The Beggar's Opera has lower right corner missing with some text loss, with the page remounted. Title page for Polly has lower right corner missing, with the page re-mounted. Title page darkened and has two stains, a few pp. have ink stains. Pages trimmed closely with slight loss to headers, page numbers & musical staffs. Above the staffs (16 pp.) are old manuscript notations of the titles for the 71 airs. Bound by Hering with his stamp on verso of front flyleaf; apparently Charles Hering, a London book binder (d. 1815). Contains extra illustrations (Grangerized) with 5 engravings bound-in or mounted on blanks including Les Charlatans after Karel Du Chardin; an unidentified scene with minstrels playing guitar and dancing with several dogs and other figures; a hand-colored plate of Mr. Hammond as Filch with the quote, "I've nabbed the Lily for Black Moll"; The Beggars (sic) Opera (tavern scene, 1791) with the quote, "I must and will have a kiss to give the wine a zest;" and Arlequin, Pierot et Scapin after Watteau. The cover's gilt armorial design indicates previous ownership of Charles Stanhope, 4th Earl of Harrington (1780-1851).** The title page has a faint signature of an Ann Hudson and faint & unreadable writing at the top right corner of the title. The front pastedown has the signature of a previous owner, Caroline Ingham, and a bookplate indicating ownership by Edward Frederick Sanderson and shows the logos for his two alma maters - Amherst College (graduated in 1896) and Hartford Theological Seminary (ordained in 1899). Sanderson was a Congregational minister in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New York. After he retired to Nantucket, he became a major benefactor of the Nantucket Whaling Museum to which he donated numerous whaling artifacts he had collected. * Pirated edition was published in the same year as the first edition, with p. 9 having 44 lines; p. 21 having 41 lines. For more information about the various printings of this title see Modern Language Review, 1942 (volume 37, pp. 291-303). ** Reference: University of Toronto, British Armorial Bindings