George Colman; David Garrick — The Clandestine Marriage, a Comedy

London, T. Becket, P.A. De Hondt; R. Baldwin; R. Davis; T. Davies, 1766. First edition. Cloth. A smart copy of the scarce first edition of Colman and Garrick"s comedy of secret marriage, manners, and social ambition, first performed at Drury Lane in 1766. Rebound in a modern red cloth binding, endpapers renewed.  The scarce first edition of this work.  The first edition, in the variant with "Theatre-Royal" hyphenated on the title page. ESTC No.: T30807. A celebrated comedy jointly written by George Colman the Elder and David Garrick. First performed at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, in 1766. It became Colman"s greatest theatrical success and one of Garrick"s best-known contributions as a playwright.  A comedy of manners centred on the wealthy merchant Mr Sterling and the attempts to arrange advantageous marriages for his daughters, not knowing his younger daughter Fanny has secretly married the family clerk Lovewell, while Sir John Melvil, intended for her elder sister, instead falls in love with Fanny.  An important first edition of one of the most enduring English comedies of the 18th century stage. Rebound in a later cloth binding. endpapers renewed. Externally, very smart. Very slight shelf wear to extremities. Slight plae marking to front board towards joint. Internally, firmly bound. Pages bright and clean if slightly age toned, with light soiling to first and last few leaves; one or two light spots and handling marks to fore edge. Very Good Indeed . Ill.: None. Very Good Indeed .