Arne, Thomas Augustine The guardian out-witted, a comic opera London 1764
Arne, Thomas Augustine. The guardian out-witted, a comic opera. As it is performed at the Theatre Royal in Covent-Garden. The musick composed by Tho. Aug. Arne, Doctor in Music. London: printed for J. and R. Tonson; and T. Lownds, 1764. vii(1), 77 pp. 8vo, cloth boars, green morocco spine. First edition. Arne had worked for some time with Garrick at Drury Lane, but the two men never got along very well, and in 1760 Arne transferred his services to Covent Garden. He had considerable musical talent, which he is widely judged to have frittered away on ephemeral pieces for the stage. This comic opera has an interesting three-page preface, in which Dr. Arne says something about his artistic aims. The libretto itself is generally ascribed to him, though Benjamin Victor says at one point that he denied authorship. Scattered foxing and a few minor stains, but generally a very good copy, complete with the half-title; with a brief manuscript note by the theatrical historian Allardyce Nicoll. Nicoll, p. 233.
£75
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