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Christopher Marlowe. The Famous Tragedy of the Rich Jew of Malta. London: J[ohn]. B[eale]. for Nicholas Vavasour, 1633....
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Description
Christopher Marlowe. The Famous Tragedy of the Rich Jew of Malta. London: J[ohn]. B[eale]. for Nicholas Vavasour, 1633.4to (181 x 132 mm). Title-page with woodcut ornament, woodcut initials and headpieces. Late 19th-century morocco gilt by F. Bedford.
PRESUMED FIRST EDITION. "Although written about 1589 and entered in the Stationers' Registers in 1594, no earlier edition than the present is known. The fact that the 1594 entry (Arber II 650) entitles the play, 'The famous tragedie' seems to indicate some relation with the present for which Vavasour made an original entry in 1632. However, the text here printed has been edited and revised by Heywood at a date which does not admit of this being a reprint of a 1594 edition while the use of the world 'famous' in the title of this edition may be from the tradition of the play-bills, as was the case in Cooke's Greenes Tu Quoque, and not from the usage of an earlier printed title" (Pforzheimer).
EXTREMELY RARE: According to online auction databases only two copies have been sold at auction in the past forty years, including the Martin copy in 1990 (and again in 2015), and another at Swann Galleries in 2020. An outstanding copy.
Condition: Lacking blank A1, final leaf K2 with margins discreetly restored, with catchword replaced (original?), and possibly a few letters retouched; slight marginal repair on I1. Overall a superior copy to the few that have appeared on the market.
References: Arber IV 288; Ashley III:116; Clark, Bibliography of Thomas Heywood 144; ESTC S109853; Greg II 475; Grolier, English 23; Hoe III (1903), 116; Pforzheimer 642; STC 17412; W. A. White Cat. 86; Wrenn Catalogue III, 117.
Provenance: Mitford (signature on front flyleaf dated 1832); W. St. Clair Baddeley (signature on title-page dated 1882 and front flyleaf dated 1881); Thomas Baring (bookplate). From the William A. Strutz Library.
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Auction Info
2024 June 27 Important English and American Literature: The William A. Strutz Library, Part I, Rare Books Signature® Auction #6295 (go to Auction Home page)
Auction Dates
June, 2024
27th
Thursday
Bids + Registered Phone Bidders: 3
Lot Tracking Activity: N/A
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