?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 300 - $ 500
Shirley, James (1596-1666) The Humorous Courtier. A Comedy.
London: Printed for T[homas] C[otes] for William Cooke, to be sold by James Becket, 1640.
First edition, quarto; deckle edges, blank corners missing from leaves C3, G3, & G4 (paper flaws), small hole in G4 with loss of a few letters due to paper flaws, a crisp unwashed copy; bound in modern half red morocco and buckram boards, 7 1/4 x 5 1/8 in.
Licensed as The Duke by Sir Henry Herbert in 1631, this comedic output of Shirley is set, as is often the case in the Caroline era, in Italy. After the unexplained disappearance of the Duchess of Mantua's preferred courtier, the Duke of Parma, our heroine needs to find a new beau. This sets the court into disarray as a series of amusing eligible bachelors vie for her affections. When she selects her favorite, is it really a newcomer, or the Duke himself in disguise?
