[Baker, David Erskine]:

$1,000 · Offered by William Reese Company

THE COMPANION TO THE PLAY-HOUSE: OR, AN HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF ALL THE DRAMATIC WRITERS (AND THEIR WORKS) THAT HAVE APPEARED IN GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND, FROM THE COMMENCEMENT OF OUR THEATRICAL ... This copy bears the bookplates and ownership signatures of Philip Philip Livingston (1741-87), the descendant of the prominent Livingston family of New York State. His bookplate is also on the front pastedown of both volumes, and his ink stamp is on the first volume's titlepage.Baker's work is one of the earliest reference works on the history of the theatre in the British Isles. The first volume gives a critical and historical account of every known English-language play, with an evaluation of the leading actors. The second volume gives biographies of every dramatist who had worked in the English and Irish theatres. An important reference, and scarce on the market.

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