Censorship

Gay, John (1685-1732) ; music arranged by Johann Christoph Pepusch (1667-1752)

The Beggar’s Opera [Sixth Edition] [bound with] The Second Part of the Beggar’s Opera [Pirated First Edition]

London: John Watts & T. Read, 1749 & 1729.
A 'Forbidden' Augustan Sammelband
A significant eighteenth-century manuscript containing the definitive Augustan satire and its censored sequel. 

The Beggar’s Opera (1749) features the music woodcut within the text rather than as a separate appendix. It is bound here with a contemporary 1729 pirated edition of Polly, published anonymously the same year as the official subscription release. While the original Beggar’s Opera revolutionized London theater as an anti-opera lampooning Italian style and political corruption, Polly was so biting in its satire of Robert Walpole that it was banned from the stage for nearly 50 years.

KEY FEATURES
+++ Music: Numerous woodcut musical scores integrated within the text, including the overture.
+++ Sequel: Includes the rare 1729 pirated edition of Polly, issued during the height of Gay's legal battles with unauthorized printers.
+++ Binding: Modern full calf with harp-design compartments, floral blind-stamped borders, and a red leather title label.
+++ Provenance: From the scholarly collection of Anton Vishio, Sr.
+++ Catalog: Includes the 8-page publisher’s catalog of John Watts at the rear.

CONDITION: Very Good. The modern binding is tight, square, and handsomely executed. The text block is clean with light, even age-toning and occasional minor blemishes. The first few leaves show delicate edges. 8 inches tall; renewed endpapers.

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE –
John Gay’s The Beggar’s Opera remains the sole enduring example of the satirical ballad opera, a genre that weaponized popular tunes to expose social injustice and the absurdity of the Italian opera craze. Its sequel, Polly, became a cause célèbre of 18th-century censorship; banned by the Lord Chamberlain, the text became an instant forbidden bestseller. This volume documents the transition of the work from a theatrical performance to a literary protest, captured here in the format favored by 18th-century gentleman scholars.

SUBJECTS: Ballad Opera, Augustan Satire, 18th Century Theatre, Censorship, Pirated Editions, Drama, Music Score, Literary Sammelband.

BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCE: ESTC T13803; Pickering & Chatto (1909), p. 63.

Item #21646

Price: $375.00