Venice Preserv'd: Or, A Plot Discover'd

Printed for G. Hamilton and J. Balfour, 1755-01-01. Pamphlet. Good. 1755 'Printed for G. Hamilton and J. Balfour' (Edinburgh, Scotland), 4 x 6 1/4 inches tall, removed from a larger collection of English plays but separately paginated, complete and tightly bound, lacking wraps or covers. Embossed stamp from the library at Wigan, Greater Manchester, England to title page and three other interior pages. 1926 presentation plate to library and stamp to verso of title page. Light stain to lower fore margin of title page and successive eight leaves. Otherwise, a very good, early imprint of an important Restoration drama. Reference: ESTC No. T121750. Scarce, with the English Short Title Catalog recording only three institutions holding a copy: the National Library of Scotland, the British Library and the Niedersachsische Staats und Universitatsbibliothek, in Gottingen, Germany. ~MMM~ Thomas Otway (1652-1685) was an English dramatist of the Restoration period, best known for this work, 'Venice Preserv'd,' which has been called the most significant tragedy of the English stage in the 1680s. It was first staged in 1682, with Thomas Betterton as Jaffeir and Elizabeth Barry as Belvidera. The play was soon printed and enjoyed many revivals through to the 1830s. 'Venice Preserv'd' contains a fair number of political parallels. The character of Senator Antonio is a reference to Shaftesbury (1621-1683), and the grand plot resembles the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, among others, most notably the so-called 'Spanish Conspiracy' against Venice of 1618. The oceanic city of Venice had been used as a stand-in for London before, but the subtext most noticeable to contemporaries was the parallel with the Exclusion Crisis (1679-1681). Therefore, one reason for the play's outstanding initial success was its political allusiveness. 'Venice Preserv'd' also has several feminist issues. As the play was written in the Restoration period, when the legal protections for women were few, the emotional heart of the play is the vulnerability of women. The play won instant success. It was translated into almost every modern European language, and even Dryden said of it: 'Nature is there, which is the greatest beauty.