$125.00
Three To One: A Comedy (1850) | Signed Author’s Presentation Copy | First Edition Rare Victorian Play
Rare Signed Association Copy:
This is a rare 1850 first edition of Three To One: A Comedy, published anonymously but later attributed to John Lettsom Elliot. This specific copy features a significant handwritten inscription on the title page: “Mrs. Kenyon Parker With the Author’s Compliments.” This provenance links the book directly to the social circle of Kenyon Stevens Parker, a prominent 19th-century Barrister and Queen’s Counsel.
Publisher & Printer Details:
Publisher: John Hearne, 81 Strand, London (1850).
Printer: J. Davy and Sons at the Dryden Press, 137 Long Acre. The Dryden Press was renowned for its high-quality scholarly and theatrical printing.
Condition & Features:
Format: Two-act comedy play script.
Unique Attribute: Author’s Presentation Inscription (Association Copy).
Historical Context: A quintessential example of mid-Victorian light comedy, printed by one of London’s premier technical printing houses.
Primary Condition Status
Condition: Good / Fair (Aged-Appropriate).
Binding: Original softcover wrappers. The front wrapper, the final leaf of text (pp. 81/82), and the rear wrapper (p.83) are detached but present.
Interior: Text block is remarkably clean with minimal foxing or toning. Edges remain largely untrimmed, as issued.
A rare survival from 1850. Personally gifted by the author to the wife of a prominent Queen's Counsel. Still in its original paper covers as it would have appeared on a Victorian parlor table.