Lot 111: CONGREVE, WILLIAM.

The Way of the World... for Jacob Tonson, 1700

4to, first edition, half-title, 'Personae Dramatis' on a2v notes 'WOMEN.' only not 'WOMEN. By', catchword on L4v (p.80) is 'Lady', publisher's advertisements on final page, modern niger morocco gilt by Sangorski and Sutcliffe, first leaf repaired, occasional spotting, spine discoloured, covers slightly soiled

Wing C5878; Ashley I pp.229-30; The London Stage, I, p.525.

the first edition of congreve's last and greatest play, one of the masterpieces of english comic drama. The Way of the World had its premiere at the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre in early March 1700, where, as Downes records, "being too keen a Satyr, [it] had not the Success the Company Expected". Although the play gradually gained respect and became a standard part of the repertory, the initial disappointment was enough to confirm Congreve's decision to stop writing plays.