Search Results: Theatre History from G.Gosen Rare Books & Old Paper, ABAA, ILAB

Rhodes, William Barnes. BOMBASTES FURIOSO: A Burlesque Tragic Opera. With Designs by George Cruikshank. London: Thomas Rodd, Great Newport Street; and T. Griffiths, Wellington Street, Strand. MDCCCXXX [1830]. Printed by Lowndes and White, Crane Court, Fleet Street. 12mo. 16cm. [1 blank; 34 pages followed by a full-page woodcut , "Tu ral, lu ral, la, /Tu ral, laral, laddi" below three men and a woman dancing and singing; original wrapper front and back, with eleven blank sheets bound in behind]
Nine woodcuts: seven full-page and the vignette on the title page, and one on the wrapper (bound in) which differs from the one on the title page. Both feature a pair of boots, initialed "G.C." with the same motto: "who dares this pair of Boots displace / must meet Bombastes face to face." The image on the wrapper has the boots in a standing position with the feet parallel, pointing in the same direction. The vignette on the title page has the feet pointing in opposite directions. The cover to the wrapper is… Read More

London: Printed for J. Watts, at the Printing Office in Wild-Court near Lincolns-Inn Fields, MDCCXXIX. Hardcover. Cibber, Colley. Love in a Riddle. A Pastoral. As it is Acted at the Theatre Royal, By His Majestys Servants. London: Printed for J. Watts, at the Printing Office in Wild-Court near Lincolns-Inn Fields, MDCCXIX [1729?]. Price of 1S. 6d. in square brackets. ESTC Citation No. T38640. 8vo, [iv; 96 pages]. Decorated headpieces, epilogue with engraved musical air and 22 pages of engraved music (tunes to the songs sung in the play). Rebound in modern full pebble grain morocco with earlier labels preserved on the spine. Gilt-edged all around. A near-pristine, very fine copy. Love in a Riddle is a ballad-opera, Cibbers attempt to emulate John Gays Beggars Opera. His attempt did not meet with critical success, in fact, his effort was condemned. However, he rescued its comic subplot for his Damon and Phillida.

Kemble, John, Theatrical Broadside for the New Theatre Royal, Covent-Garden, Saturday, March 6, 1811, 23.5 cm x 15.5 cm, linen-backed blue paper, with a portrait of John Kemble, engraved by J. Rogers from a drawing by T. Wageman, on the verso. Below the portrait is a cutting of the cast of The Tragedy of Cato. This Present Saturday, March 16, 1811, will be acted (the 10th time) the Tragedy of Cato. To Which will be added, for the 18th time, the GRAND DRAMMATICK ROMANCE of BLUE BEARD; Or, Female Curiosity. Trimmed, slightly soiled, otherwise very good. A remarkable document of the life and career of John Kemble.
John Kemble was born into a family of actors. His brother Charles Kemble also appeared in the performance advertised on this broadside. John was the second child of Roger Kemble, manager of the Warwickshire Company of Comedians. He was educated at Sedgley Park Catholic Seminary and the English college at Douai, France. John Kemble first appeared at the Royal Theatre, Drury Lane, as Hamlet in… Read More