PBA Galleries

[7], 82, [1] pp. (8vo) 19.2x12 cm (7½x4¾"), full polished calf by Riviere, brown morocco labels, gilt rules, decorations and lettering, a.e.g. First Edition.

Fielding’s second book, his first play and his earliest realistically obtainable work: there are only four recorded copies of his first book, The Masquerade, A Poem . . . by Lemuel Gulliver, published slightly earlier in 1728. Love in Several Masques was quite the triumph for the 20-year-old Fielding. It opened on February 16, 1728, in Drury Lane, with Colley Cibber and Mrs. Oldfield in the cast, and its competition was Gay's Beggar’s Opera and Vanburgh’s The Provok’d Husband. The published play has a long dedication to Lady Montagu, Fielding’s cousin, who assisted him with the final production. Bookplates of Arthur M. Brown and Roy and Helen Glover on front pastedown.