The Conscious Lovers, a Comedy by Richard Steele

The Conscious Lovers, a Comedy
as it is acted at the Theatre Royal in Drury-Lane, by His Majesty's Servants
written by Sir Richard Steele

London: Printed for J[acob] Tonson at Shakespear's Head over-against Katharine-Street in the Strand
1723

Condition: Plain brown paper covers, measuring 5"x7.5 inches, 86 pages. Includes the dedicatory letter to the King (George I), preface and prologue. Comparing to scans on archive.org, this is missing the final two pages with the Epilogue--printed copies of those scans are included for completeness's sake. Darkening/discoloration most apparent on the first few pages (title page, reverse of title and first page of the letter to the king), otherwise discoloration/spotting is minor to somewhat moderate throughout--see photos. Covers have a few chips, minor general wear, final page and back cover are pulling away from the binidng at the bottom, but overall binding remains secure. A few inconsequential pencil marks here and there, otherwise interior is unmarked, and text remains perfectly legible throughout.

Includes some lovely decorative pieces inbetween acts--see photos!

wiki: (on Jacob Tonson, the publisher) "Steele's Conscious Lovers appeared in 1722, and Tonson assigned to Lintot half the copyright for £70. He had to apply to the court of chancery for an injunction to stop Robert Tooke and others printing a pirated edition of the play; the sum paid for the copyright was £40. In the same year Tonson published the Duke of Buckingham's Works, and in 1725 Pope's edition of Shakespeare."

"Sir Richard Steele (bap. 12 March 1672 – 1 September 1729) was an Anglo-Irish writer, playwright, and politician, remembered as co-founder, with his friend Joseph Addison, of the magazine The Spectator."