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INGERSOLL, CHARLES JARED.

Edwy and Elgiva; A Tragedy, in Five Acts. Performed at the New Theatre.

Place and Imprint: Philadelphia: Published by Asbury Dickins . . . H. Maxwell, Printer, 1801.
Edition: First edition.
Bibliographical References: American Bibliography 700; Hill, American Plays, 144.
Condition: Some foxing and scattered stains; very good copy, enclosed in a blue cloth clamshell box.
Book ID: 27323

Physical Description

8vo, modern blue paper wrappers, stitched, 84 pages. With half-title.

Comments

The first book by Charles Jared Ingersoll (1782-1862), a Philadelphian who later became a prominent congressman and lawyer. Edwy and Elgiva was successfully performed at Philadelphia’s Chestnut Street Theater in April, 1801, when Ingersoll was just 19 years old. The plot is an adaptation of the well known tale of a 10th century English monarch, Edwy, who marries his relative Elgiva – a story which was also successfully adapted for the stage by Fanny Burney. Though Ingersoll soon after entered the bar and politics, he remained close to the Port Folio crowd and in 1810 anonymously published the interesting satire Inchquin, the Jesuit’s Letters, During a Late Residence in the United States of America. Though printed on this title-page with one "l', Ingersoll spelled his name with two. Contemporary ink signature on the half-title and title-page.

Price: $750.00