The London Theatre. A Collection of the Most Celebrated Dramatic Pieces (26 volumes)

London: Whittingham and Arliss. Chiswick Press, 1814. Full Calf. Very Good Plus. 32mo - over 4 - 5" tall. 26 volumes, issued between 1814 to 1818, with a total of 104 plays, four per volume. Extremely rare in this full and continuous set. A few illustrations accompany each play. This is an extraordinary collection of the popular and canonical theater of the day, with some informative notes about the plays premier and players, sometimes listing those of contemporary performances, sometimes those who originated the plays. The plays include farces, burlesques, operas (essentially musicals or operettas, not full-fledged operas), masques, tragedies, etc. Some from playwrights still revered and even performed, such as Sheridan, Congreve, Milton, Garrick, Colley; others by now obscure writers. Also curious is the number of plays written by women, and this might constitute an interesting springboard for study on female writers in the theater. Plays include, in order of volumes, up to just volume 18, to provide a sense of the range: The Rivals - Sheridan, The Beggar's Opera - John Gay, Venice Preserved - Thomas Otway, The Irish Widow - David Garrick, The West Indian - Richard Cumberland, A Bold Stroke for a Wife - Mrs. Centlivre, Isabella - David Garrick, The Quaker - Charles Dibdin, The Provoked Husband - J Vanbrugh and Cibber Colley, Douglas - John Home, Love in a Village - Isaac Bickerstaff, Fortune's Frolic - John Till Allingham, The Belle's Stratagem - Mrs. Cowley, The Gamester - Edward Moore, The Brothers - Richard Cumberland, Richard Coeur de Lion - General Burgoyne, Man of the World - Charles Macklin, The Grecian Daughter - Arthur Murphy, Maid of the Mill - Isaac Bickerstaff, High Life Below Stairs - The Rev. James Townley, She Stoops to Conquer - Oliver Goldsmith, The Revenge - Dr. Young, The Busy Body - Mrs. Centlivre, Rosina - Mrs. Brooke, The Fashionable Lover - Richard Cumberland, Jane Shore - Nicholas Rowe, Lionel and Clarissa - Isaac Bickerstaff, Three Weeks After Marriage - Arthur Murphy, The Hypocrite - Isaac Bickerstaff, Cato - Joseph Addison, George Barnwell - Mr. Lillo, Midas - Kane O'Hara, The Beaux Stratagem - George Farquhar, The Fair Penitent - Nicholas Rowe, The Critic - Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Miss in Her Teens - David Garrick, All in the Wrong - Arthur Murphy, Alexander the Great - Nathaniel Lee, The Way to Keep Him - Arthur Murphy, Comus -- altered from John Milton, The Jealous Wife - George Colman, The Mourning Wife - William Congreve, Tancred and Sigismunda - James Thompson, The Guardian - David Garrick, The Clandestine Marriage - George Colman and David Garrick, The Roman Father - W. Whitehead, The Inconstant - George Farquhar, The Padlock - Isaac Bickerstaff, Tamerlane - Nicholas Rowe, The Wonder - Mrs. Centlivre, Rule a Wife and Have a Wife - David Garrick, The Tobacconist - altered from Ben Jonson by Thomas Gentleman, A Trip to Scarborough - Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Suspicious Husband - Dr. Hoadly, The Siege of Damascus - John Hughes, The Apprentice- Arthur Murphy, Oroonoko - Thomas Southern, Count of Narbonne - Robert Jephson, Confederacy - Sir John Vanbrugh, The Devil to Pay - C. Coffey, She Would and She Would Not - Colley Cibber, Love for Love - William Congreve, Mahomet - The Rev. Mr. Miller, The Citizen - Arthur Murphy, The Orphan of China - Arthur Murphy, Every Man in His Humour - David Garrick, Recruiting Officer - George Farquhar, The Mayor of Garratt - Samuel Foote, A New Way to Pay Old Debts - Philip Massinger, The Duke of Milan - Philip Massinger, The Orphan - Thomas Otway, The Recruiting Sergeant - Isaac Bickerstaff, and on and on. Condition is very good. There are some dampstains in a few volumes, and there is some other soilage here and there, but generally the pages are clean and free of issues. Spines rebacked with modern calf, featuring five raised boards and embossed title and volume number. Contemporary calf boards preserved and while generally scuffed and with wear along edges and corners, these remain attractive. Bindings are tight. Modern endpapers. (Inventory #: 001146)