Author: BURGOYNE (Lieutenant General John):
Title: The Dramatic and Poetical Works of the Late Lieut. Gen. J. Burgoyne; to which is prefixed, Memoirs of the Author. Embellished with Copper-Plaes.
Description: London: Printed by C. Whittingham, for Scatcherd and Letterman, Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme; R. Scholey; P. and W. Wynne; J. Booker; J.J. Stockdale; J. Booth; J. Carpenter; R. Ryan; G. Richards; C. Chapple; and H. Ebers., 1808. FIRST COLLECTED EDITION. 2 volumes. 8vo, 207 x 129 mms., pp. [5] 6 - 235 [236 blank]; xii 13] - 248, one engraved plate in volume 1 at page 22, engraved frontispiece and 2 other engraved plates in volume 2, by W. J. White after R. Corbould, complete with four plates as found in other copies, contemporary half calf, gilt spines, olive morocco labels; spines a little dried, some slight browning of title-pages and plates, but a good set with the armorial bookplate of G. P. Rickman on the front paste-down end-paper (pasted over another bookplate) of each volume. Burgoyne (1723–1792) is remembered in American history as the officer who surrendered to the colonists after a desperate and furious battle at Bemis Heights in1777. He had more success as a dramatisst, as Max M. Mintz records in the Oxford DNB: "Burgoyne returned to literary pursuits, having in 1774 authored a play, The Maid of The Oaks, a mix of concealed identities featuring a female advocate of women's equality. The play had been written in two acts as part of the lavish wedding celebrations for Edward Smith Stanley, later twelfth earl of Derby, and Lady Elizabeth Hamilton, held at Burgoyne's home, The Oaks, near Epsom in Surrey. It was later expanded to five acts by David Garrick and became a popular part of the Drury Lane repertory. Burgoyne also wrote political satire, and he achieved a success with a comedy, The Heiress, regarded by contemporaries and later critics as an authentic depiction of upper-class society of the period. Presented in London at the Drury Lane Theatre Royal in 1786, it ran for thirty performances and remained popular in England and on the continent for half a century. Less successful was his libretto for Thomas Linley's adaptation of a French opera, Richard Coeur de Lion (1788)." The Monthly Review gave the volumes a firm endorsement in 1808, describing the work as "A very neat edition of the various offerings to the Muses, which were presented by an accomplished gentleman and a brave and skilful officer."

Keywords: Drama poetry literature


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