A Game at Chess. By Thomas Middleton. 1624.

Oxford, The Malone Society Reprints, 1990. Hard Cover. xxii p., 13 plates on 5 leaves, 119 p.; 22 cm. "Thomas Middleton's A Game at Chess is the most striking manifestation of popular political sentiment to survive from the early English drama. The play was written to capitalize on the strong anti-Spanish feelings stimulated by the proposed match between Prince Charles, the heir apparent, and the Infanta of Spain... Middleton also drew forcefully on the animosity of Londoners towards the Jesuits... A Game at Chess was a risky venture for the King's Men because the play dealt transparently with matters of state, and included obviously satirical representations of influential men, in particular... Spain's former ambassador to the Court of St James. The play was... performed at the Globe... from 5 to 14 August (Sunday excluded). The Spanish ambassador's complaints to King James caused the Privy Council to suppress the play, and thus end the longest known run of consecutive performances of a single play to that date." Contents include List of Sigla and Abbreviations; A Game at Chess; The Trinity Manuscript; The Bridgewater-Huntington Manuscript; Middleton's Handwriting; Editorial Conventions. Tan linen; fine, gift quality. stock#25043.