John Dryden — Dryden: The Dramatic Works

London, The Nonesuch Press, 1931. Cloth. A smart limited edition set of the dramatic works of English author John Dryden. Complete in six volumes. Limited to seven hundred and fifty copies of which this is number seven hundred and three. The dramatic works of John Dryden, an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who in 1668 was appointed England's first Poet Laureate. He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the period came to be known in literary circles as the Age of Dryden. With the reopening of the theatres in 1660 after the Puritan ban, Dryden began writing plays. Although his first play was not successful, from 1668 on he was contracted to produce three plays a year for the King's Company in which he became a shareholder. He led the way in Restoration comedy, with his best-known work being Marriage à la Mode. Volume one contains The Wild Gallant, The Rival Ladies, The Indian Queen, and The Indian Emperor, with prefatory notes, an introduction, and a chronology of dramatic poesie. Volume two contains Secret Love, Sir Martin Mar-all, The Tempest, An Evening's Love, and Tyrannick Love. Volume three contains The Conquest of Granada Part I & Part II, Marriage-a-la-Mode, The Assignation, Amboyna, and The State of Innocence. Volume four contains The Mistaken Husband, Aureng-Zebe, All for Love, The Kind Keeper, and Oedipus: A Tragedy. Volume five contains Troilus and Cressida, The Spanish Friar, The Duke of Guise, and Albion and Albanius. Volume six contains Don Sebastian, Amphitryon, King Arthur, Cleomenes, Love Triumphant, and The Secular Masque. In the original quarter cloth binding with marbled boards. Externally, smart with light wear and minor rubbing to the extremities. Light bumping to the extremities of volume six. Fading to the spines with the odd small mark. Internally, firmly bound. Pages are very bright with scattered spotting to the foredge and endpapers. Much of the text block remains unopened. Very Good . Ill.: None. Very Good .