1827 - Life and Times of Frederick Reynolds - Georgian Playwright Memoir 2 Vols For Sale

The Life and Times of Frederick Reynolds, Written by Himself. In Two Volumes. Second Edition. London: Henry Colburn, New Burlington-Street, 1827. Volume I contains an engraved frontispiece portrait of Reynolds drawn by G. H. Harlow in 1814 and engraved by E. Vinge, published by Henry Colburn in 1825. Dedication to the King's Most Excellent Majesty, signed Frederick Reynolds and dated April 29th, 1826, followed by an Advertisement in which the author states he wrote the book on medical advice as a remedy for a long nervous illness. An ownership signature in pencil, Lucy Mabel Cooper, appears on a preliminary leaf.Frederick Reynolds (1764 to 1841) was one of the busiest comic dramatists of the Georgian stage, author of around a hundred plays for Covent Garden and Drury Lane, and this is his own account of that world. He writes about his schooldays at Westminster, his eyewitness experience of the Gordon Riots of 1780 in Lincoln's Inn Fields and Covent Garden, travels in France and a visit to pre-Revolutionary Paris and Versailles, and second-hand anecdotes of Voltaire at Ferney. The bulk of the book is theatrical gossip and shop talk: John Kemble, George Colman, the actors Parsons, Dodd, Palmer and Baddeley, the manager Harris, first nights, hits and failures, and the aristocratic patrons who filled the boxes. It remains a much-quoted source for late 18th and early 19th century English theatre and London social life.Leather rubbed with scuffing, wear to corners and to the head and tail of the spines with small losses to the leather at the top. Marbled paper rubbed at the edges and corners. Internally clean and tight, with foxing to the frontispiece, title pages and scattered leaves, text otherwise legible throughout. Please see all pictures for the overall condition.
INTERNATIONAL BUYERS, please read the information below:USA > Books (HS Code 49019900) are exempt from import duty tax. However, state sales tax may apply depending on your location. Usually you will see total (state tax included) amount at the checkout.EU > For some EU countries, will include the import duty tax at checkout. For other countries, you may need to pay the import duty tax upon delivery.DELIVERY >EU & USA delivery time: 4 - 12 working days after the parcel is handed to the courier. Delivery times to other countries may vary. Depending on the destination, we use Royal Mail,Parcelforce,DPD, or UPS. On your request we can use other couriers.SHIPPING WORLDWIDE >If the shipping cost doesn't appear, please contact us for a quote to your country.