Mrs. Centlivre [Susanna Centlivre] — A Bold Stroke for a Wife

London, T. Lowndes; T. Caslon; W. Nicoll; S. Bladon, 1776. Leather. A smartly bound Covent Garden stage-text edition of Susanna Centlivre"s enduring comedy of disguise, courtship and four spectacularly incompatible guardians. Rebound in a modern quarter morocco binding with cloth boards, endpapers renewed. A later 18th-century edition of Centlivre"s celebrated comedy, here marked with the variations of the prompter"s book at the Theatre-Royal, Covent Garden. This setting was also issued as part of "The New English Theatre." The play was first published and performed in 1718 at Lincoln"s Inn Fields.  ESTC No. T22952. A fast-moving comedy of disguise and deception in which Colonel Fainwell seeks to marry Anne Lovely, whose fortune and marriage are controlled by four mutually incompatible guardians. Fainwell adopts a succession of disguises tailored to each guardian in order to secure their consent. Susanna Centlivre (c.1669-1723) was one of the most successful female playwrights of the early 18th century. A prolific writer of comedies, she is particularly remembered for the present work and The Busie Body, both of which remained staples of the English stage long after her death. An attractive copy of one of Centlivre"s most enduring comedies, particularly interesting in this 1776 Covent Garden stage-text edition preserving variations from the theatre"s prompter"s book. Rebound in a modern quarter morocco binding with cloth boards, endpapers renewed. Externally, very smart, with just light traces of shelf wear to extremities. Internally, firmly bound. Pages generally bright and clean, if characteristically age toned with light scattered spotting and the odd handling mark, more so fore edges of first and last few leaves. Very Good Indeed . Ill.: None. Very Good Indeed .