Description: I have here for sale a book entitled OROONOKO A Tragedy, As it was acted at the Theatre Royal by His Majesty's Servants, in the Year 1699 by THOMAS SOUTHERN - this was an adaptation of the work of Aphra Behn, first published in 1696. It was printed for W Feales; B Motte; A Bettesworth, etc., etc., London, in 1735. Based on a novel by his colleague Aphra Behn, Irish dramatist Thomas Southern (1660-1746) wrote the tragedy "Oroonoko", a play in five Acts, which was staged in 1695, and published in 1696 with a foreword in which he expresses his gratitude to Behn and praises her work. This edition includes a full-page b/w plate on the frontispiece, decorative headers, footers and initial letters.A book that was the precursor of a genre that flourished in the eighteenth century, that of the "literature of the noble savage". Oronooko, or the story of a prince of Guinea who ended his life reduced to slavery on a plantation in Suriname in the 1660s, was first published in London in 1668 under the title Oroonoko or the Royal slave. Denouncing the immorality of slavery, long before the discourses on tolerance and barbarism by the philosophers of the Enlightenment, the book focuses above all on the myth of the noble savage, of which Oronoko is a perfect archetype. In fact, it is said to be the first English novel in which Africans are presented in a benevolent way.The novel served as a reference for the first abolitionists and particularly inspired Voltaire for the writing of Candide (1759), and even, later, Victor Hugo for Bug-Jargal (1820).Aphra Behn (1640-1689) is considered the first professional woman of letters in the history of Anglo-Saxon literature. Author mainly of plays and translations, she was also a secret agent in the service of her country. Independent and adventurous - she spent a long time in South America - she is now a role model for the feminist movement. Disbound copy with remains of a spine. Title page in red and black lettering. Minor browning to borders of pages. Frontispiece illustration partially detached, and last page (Epilogue) detached, but all other pages are intact and the book is in very good condition for its age. 106 pages. 16.5 cm x 10 cm. We have over 2000 items in our Ebay shop on a range of subjects, so please feel free to have a browse and see if anything else takes your fancy.Postage will be by Air Mail outside of UK. If you buy more than one item then the postage cost falls for the second and further items as I will put them into one parcel - so you save money. We wrap and post the parcels on Monday and Tuesday - therefore if you pay before midday on Tuesday we will get it in the postal sacks on Tuesday night, and if it is after that time then it will go into the postal service on the following Monday. pages
Price: 249.99 GBP
Location: Whitegate, Cheshire
End Time: 2025-01-24T18:50:44.000Z
Shipping Cost: 31.28 GBP
Product Images
Item Specifics
Return postage will be paid by: Buyer
Returns Accepted: Returns Accepted
After receiving the item, your buyer should cancel the purchase within: 30 days
Binding: Disbound
Non-Fiction Subject: Literature, Poetry & Criticism
Language: English
Fiction Subject: Poetry, Theatre & Scripts
Special Attributes: Illustrated
Region: Europe
Original/Reproduction: Original
Author: Thomas Southern Aphra Behn
Publisher: W FEALES; B MOTTE; A BETTESWORTH, ETC.,
Country/Region of Manufacture: United Kingdom
Year Printed: 1735
Original/Facsimile: Original
