Sardanapalus, A Tragedy. The Two Foscari, a Tragedy. Cain, a Mystery.
London: John Murray, 1821.
Price: $300.00
About the item
First edition. viii, 439pp. 1 vols. 8vo. Uncut in the original boards, rebacked with rose-colored paper. Slight foxing, else fine. Wise, II, pp. 32-3.
Item #259624
The first publication of these three great historical plays—Sardanapalus set in ancient Nineveh and recounting the fall of the Assyrian monarchy and Cain based on the Biblical story of Cain and Abel.
The Two Foscari, set in 15th-century Venice and loosely based on the true events of the life of doge Francesco Foscari, was written in Ravenna in less than a month—between the 12th of June and 9th of July, 1821. He originally intended to dedicate Foscari to his friend Sir Walter Scott, but in the event he transferred that dedication to Cain and left Foscari without one. Byron's Foscari inspired Verdi's opera, I due Foscari.
