Small, pocket edition (135cm x 105cm) of Sheridan’s masterpiece. It was first staged at Drury Lane Theatre in 1779, and is a burlesque on stage acting and play production conventions, and Sheridan considered the first act to be his finest piece of writing. One of its major roles, Sir Fretful Plagiary, is a comment on the vanity of authors, and in particular a caricature of the dramatist Richard Cumberland who was a contemporary of Sheridan.