J. Playford. Select Ayres and Dialogues For One, Two, and Three Voyces, 1659

Playford, John

[Select Ayres and Dialogues For One, Two, and Three Voyces; To the Theorbo-Lute or Basse-Viol. Composed by John Wilson Charles Colman...Henry Lawes William Lawes Nicholas Laneare William Webb...And other Excellent Masters of Musick, London: W. Godbid for J. Playford, 1659]

2 leaves, 114 pages, folio (c.29 x 18cm), woodcut initials, type-set music, a few early annotations, some modern pencil annotations, old manuscript note describing the edition laid down on front endpaper, Dolmetsch pencil shelfmark ("II E 18") to verso of photocopy of title, conservator's label (dated 2 April 2007) to folder, modern paper wrappers, modern cloth folder, lacking 2 leaves (frontispiece and title-page), title-page supplied in photocopy,some paginations and leading edges cropped, numerous expert repairs, outer corners of last leaf torn and restored, with slight loss of text, lower margins of last seven leaves cropped, the gatherings strengthened at hinge, browning

RARE. We have not traced a copy at auction in the last forty years.

This work is the third edition, with additions, of Select Musical Ayres and Dialogues, first published in 1652, and again in 1653. It was later reissued in 1669 as the first book of The Treasury of Music. In addition to songs by Henry Lawes and his brother William, this selection of 125 items also includes songs by Brewer, Cobb, Colman, Lady Dering, Goodgroome, Ives, Jenkins, Johnson, Lanier, Playford, Savile, Smegergill, Tompkins, Warner, Webb and Wilson.

LITERATURE:

RISM Recueils, p.539; Day & Murrie 14; BUC, p.789