Plays (4 vols.). Histories and Novels (2 vols.) Written by the Late Ingenious Mrs. Behn.
Behn, Aphra. Plays Written by the Late Ingenious Mrs. Behn. In Four Volumes. The Third Edition. London: Printed for Mary Poulson and sold by A. Bettesworth, 1724.
4 vols., 12mo.; foxed; endpapers offset from binding turn-ins; green ribbon bookmarks in each volume; contemporary ownership signature, “J. Rolfe,” on top right corner of each title page – save for Vol. I – with an ink monogram on the verso of the title page; armorial bookplate of Thomas Hutton on each front pastedown; contemporary full calf; stamped in blind and gilt.
Third edition; with an engraved portrait of the author by B. Cole opposite the title page in the first volume, and six engraved plates by J. Pine. The contents of each volume are as follows: Vol. I: Containing, I. The Rover; or, the Banish’d Cavaliers. II. The Second Part of the Fame. III. The Dutch Lover. IV. The Roundheads; or, the Good Old Cause. Vol. II: Abdelazer; or, The Moor’s Revenge. The Young King; or, The Mistake. The City Heiress; or, Sir Timothy Treatall. The Feign’d Curtezans; or. A Night’s Intrigue. Vol. III: The Town-Fop; or, Sir Timothy Tawdry. The False Count; or, A New Way to Play an Old Game. The Lucky Chance; or, An Alderman’s Bargain. Forc’d Marriage; or, The Jealous Bridegroom. Vol. IV: Sir Patient Fancy, The Widow Rancher; or, the History of Bacon in Virginia. The Emperor of the Moon. The Amorous Prince. The Younger Brother; or, the Amorous Jilt.
Together With:
Behn, Aphra. All the Histories and Novels Written by the Late Ingenious Mrs. Behn, Intire in Two Volumes. Published by Mr. Charles Gildon. The Seventh Edition, Corrected, and illustrated with Cuts. London: Printed by J.D. for M.P. and sold by A. Bettesworth, 1722.
2 vols., 12mo.; foxed; endpapers offset from binding turn-ins; green ribbon bookmarks in each volume; contemporary ownership signature, “J. Rolfe,” on top right corner of title pages with an ink monogram on the verso of the title page; armorial bookplate of Thomas Hutton on front pastedowns; contemporary full calf; stamped in blind and gilt.
Seventh edition, corrected, and illustrated with cuts. With an engraved portrait of the author by B. Cole opposite the title page in the first volume. The contents of each volume are as follows: Vol. I: The Life and Memoirs of Mrs. Behn. The History of Oroonoko; or, the Royal Slave. The Fair Jilt; or, the Amours of Prince Tarquin and Miranda. The Nun; or, the Perhured Beauty. Vol. II: Agnes de Castro; or, the Force of Generous Love. The Lovers Watch; or, the Art of Making Love: Being Rules for Courtship for Every Hour of the Day and Night. The Ladies Looking-Glass to Dress Themselves by; or, the Whole Art of Charming all Mankind. The Lucky Mistake. Memoirs of the Court of the King of Bantam. The Adventures of the Black Lady.
These two posthumously published sets include all of Behn’s plays, stories and novels; she also published several poems – including erotic poetry – that are not included.
Aphra Behn was born around 1640, near Kent, England. In 1663 her father was transferred to Surinam on a military post, but died en route. After her return to London, Aphra married Hans Behn, a Dutch merchant, in 1665. The marriage was brief; Hans died in London after an outbreak of the Bubonic plague. Behn became active in the court of Charles II, and in 1666 she was summoned to act as a spy for him during England’s war against Holland. As a result of this experience, she ended up in debtor’s prison in 1668; when she was released she vowed to support herself, turning to a literary career to this end.
Behn’s decision to take up writing coincided with the renaissance of the London stage under the reign of Charles II. The theatre had experienced decades of decline after the Civil War in London, but by the 1670s two theater companies had re-opened. One of them, Duke’s Company at Dorset Garden, produced Behn’s first play in 1670, whose title suggests autobiographical undertones: The Forc’d Marriage;
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