Beschreibung:

JOHNSON, SAMUEL (1709-1784). IRENE: A TRAGEDY . LONDON: R. DODSLEY, AND M. COOPER, 1749. 8 O (200 X 118 MM). HALF-TITLE, FINAL ADVERTISEMENT LEAF. (A FEW MINOR BROWN SPOTS.) MODERN MOTTLED CALF ANTIQUE, RED MOROCCO LETTERING-PIECES, TOP EDGE GILT. PROVENANCE : R.H. ISHAM (BOOKPLATE) -- PURCHASED FROM XIMENES, NEW YORK, 10 APRIL 1967. FIRST EDITION, published to coincide with David Garrick's production at Drury Lane. A run of nine nights, and profit from the copyright, brought Johnson the impressive sum of "nearly £300." However, twelve years earlier it had brought only a rebuff. Begun at Johnson's school, Edial Hall, near Lichfield, in 1736, and completed in his lodgings at Greenwich in 1737, the tragedy marks his first attempt to earn a living by his pen, and had been rejected out of hand when he originally presented it to Charles Fleetwood, manager at Drury Lane. The price of one shilling and sixpence is printed on the half-title. Ashley II, p. 211; Courtney and Smith p. 24; Chapman and Hazen p. 131; Fleeman 49.21/1a; Rothschild 1231.