Lot 2: The exceedingly rare first edition of Ben Jonson's comedy, The New Inn

JOHNSON, BEN.

The New Inne. Or The light heart. A comoedy... London: Thomas Harper for Thomas Alchorne, 1631. First edition. Modern speckled calf, gilt. 6 1/4 x 3 3/4 inches (15.75 x 9.75 cm); unpaginated, but (*)⁸ A², B-F⁸. Rubbing along joints and spine, contents worn, with light toning, staining, possible mold in last two gatherings, silked paper repairs to the top edges and corners of some of the leaves in gatherings E and F, with losses to headline at leaf F8, missing all leaves after F8 (G⁸ and H², situated after G7, the final leaf of which is a blank), old manuscript annotations, sold as-is.

Ben Jonson's play, The New Inn, was first performed at Blackfriars Theatre, London, in 1629 where, according to Jonson, it caused a stir and was poorly received. Jonson himself had suffered a stroke the previous year and was unable to attend his own play. He addresses the scandal head-on in the first edition of the play, offered here. The irreverent title page states that it, "was never acted, but most negligently play'd by some, the king's servants. And more squeamishly beheld, and censured by others, the king's subjects. 1629. Now at last, set at liberty to the readers, his Ma[jes]ties Servants, and subjects, to be judged. 1631." This is the only play by Jonson to appear in octavo format, perhaps an indication of Jonson's anxiety about the play's fate in print. The first edition is exceedingly rare in any condition, with only three copies listed in WorldCat (Harvard, BL, BSB) though the Folger also has a copy. No copies at auction since 1946 (when it sold for $325 at Parke Bernet) per RBH. Pforzheimer 552; ESTC S109237