Two New Tragedies: The Black Prince, and The Tryphon. The first Acted at the Theatre-Royal, by His Majestie's Servants; The Other By His Highness The Duke Of York's Servants. Both written by the Right Honourable The Earl Of Orrery,
London: T.N. for H. Herringham at the Sign Of The Blew Anchor, 1672. Second Edition. Folio, now rebound in 3/4 morocco with marbled paper insets. pp, [ii], 61, [1], [v], 57, [ii]. The spine has six compartmets with two lettered in gilt on a red backing. A very solid copy of this very scarce early edition. On the verso of the title page is a long hand-written quote from the Diary's of Samuel Pepys where he discusses seeing the plays in question and offers some insights. This quote is signed by James Reid. Some of this writing is visible from the title page. Two pages later there appears the "Dramatis Persona" listing the characters, as well as the actors who appeared at the Theatre-Royal production of "The Black Prince." The lead female role was played by Nell Gwynn (spelled here as Guinn) famously known as a mistress of King Charles II. A secondary actress in the list is that of Mary Knepp (spelled here as Nepp), who was a mistress of the afore mentioned Samuel Pepys. There are very brief marginal notations in the same hand as the above mentioned Pepys quote, next to the actors names, providing the amorous details. "The Black Prince" is notable as being one of the earliest plays to be written in heroic rhymed couplets. Wing - 502.
Price: $1,250.00