Plays, Viz. I. Volpone: or, the Fox. II. The Alchemist. III. Epicoene: or, The Silent Woman.
Glasgow: Printed by Robert Urie, 1752. First Glasgow edition and the first printing of any of Jonson’s works in Scotland. Robert Urie was going to publish and sell the plays separately, but soon had them bound together and likely exported, given that there are more copies located outside of the UK. Only a small number of libraries record plays that were bound and sold individually. Urie published a second edition in 1766 with a single title-page. Uniform title-page and separate title-page for each play. Front hinge cracked, but holding slightly. Very minor foxing, the occasional minor dampstain. Tear to outer margins of pp. 95-96 with loss of a few letters. A good copy of a rare edition. Contemporary calf, rebacked, with a gilt spine and red morocco spine label. Binding extremities rubbed and worn. Twelvemo. [2], 103, [1, blank], 104, [2], 111, [1, ad] pp. Item #16839
Robert Urie (bap. 1713, d. 1771) was a printer and bookseller. He first began printing in 1740 with a number of his books bearing the imprint of Robert Urie & Co. In 1747, after the dissolution of his partnership with Andrew Stalker and Alexander Carlisle, he began printing alone and raised the standard for his work. Influenced by Andrew and Robert Foulis, he acquired new type, rid himself of cluttered title-pages, printed on good quality paper, and almost entirely produced octavos and duodecimos. After 1757, he printed only occasionally and it is likely that he was focused on bookselling and publishing. The books he printed may have reflected his own taste and consisted of philosophy, history and poetry with very little of his contemporaries’ interest in sermons. During the 1750s and 1760s, he began printing books of the French Enlightenment, including a number of English translations of Voltaire. (Oxford DNB).
ESTC lists only three copies in North America (University of Illinois, University of Kansas, and University of Nebraska - Lincoln).
Price: $1,500.00