Gilbert and Sullivan and Their World

London England: Thames & Hudson, 1973. Hardback. Browning to spine of D/J. Price clipped to D/J. It is properly Gilbertian that one product of the earnest and orderly Victorian age which continues vigorous and popular should be the topsy-turvy art known as Gilber and Sullivan opera. In this lively and authoritative biography the author sets its fascinating contrasted progenitors in the context of the world in which they worked and from which they drew their inspiration. W. S. Gilbert was in many ways a typical Vixtorian gentleman, yet his satirical absurdities often made his contemporaries uneasy; while Arthur Sullican rose from a working-class background to become the foremost British composer of the day and the darling of smart society. With Richard D'Oyle Carte, whose business acumen allied to progressive taste catalysed their talents, these two wrought a revolution in the theatre, and Mr. Baily traces the story of their partnership from the inauspicious failure of Thespis throught the dazzling succession of triumphs at home and abroad to the final series of disastrous quarrels. Text and illustrations combine to give a vivid picutre of an age, and of the men who created a uniquely English confection of mock-heroic satire, geniality and authentic lyricism which, far from fading with the age that engendered it, still retains a special place in the culture and affections of the English-speaking world. With 143 Illustrations. 120 pp. (We carry a wide selection of titles in The Arts, Theology, History, Politics, Social and Physical Sciences. academic and scholarly books and Modern First Editions ,and all types of Academic Literature.) . Reprint. Cloth. Very Good/Good. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Hardback.