Peg Woffington

London: George Allen, 1899. Very Good. FIRST ILLUSTRATED EDITION. 8vo, pp. [lii], [298] + numerous b/w vignettes and full-page illustrations by Thomson (title without tissue guard). Green cloth lettered and ornately (and theatrically) decorated in gilt to spine and upper board. All edges gilt. Dark green endpapers. Slight lean and sunning to spine, bruising and gentle wear to extremities, a little scuffed, bump to bottom board. Front and rear foxed, pencil POI to half-title, else, clean, tight and bright. A very good copy of the attractive Thomson-illustrated edition of Reade's popular novel. During her short life, Margaret Woffington (1720-1760) dominated the Georgian Dublin and London stages in comic and cross-dressed roles, with her breeches part as Sir Henry Wilder causing a storm at the Theatre Royal, Dury Lane. Known professionally as Peg, the Irish actor (initially apprenticed to Madame Sovre, a tightrope artist) was professionally, socially and financially canny. She successfully navigated socialite circles and affairs with aristocrats (plus a lengthy one with David Garrick), and never relinquished financial control (by never marrying), allowing her to raise and support her sister Mary and provide a pension for her mother. Reade's original 1853 novel was based on his play Masks and Swags (1852, with Tom Taylor); it spawned various film versions during the silent era.