Item #2408143 The Medall a Satyre against Sedition. By the Authour of Absalom and Achitophel. John DRYDEN.

The Medall a Satyre against Sedition…
The Medall a Satyre against Sedition. By the Authour of Absalom and Achitophel.

London: Jacob Tonson, 1682.

Small quarto, 32pp.; protected in modern wrapper.

First edition, second issue: 'the second of Dryden's political satires'.

First edition, second issue: 'the second of Dryden's political satires'.

The acquittal of the Earl of Shaftesbury on charges of treason for opposing the succession of the Catholic James was regarded as a great Whig victory. Flushed with success, they issued a medal, Shaftesbury's head on the obverse, the sun rising over the Tower of London on the reverse. It was the perfect prompt for Dryden's mock-heroic satire: 'Of all our Antick Sights, and Pageantry, Which English Ideots run in crowds to see, The Polish Medall bears the prize alone…'.

Grolier, Wither to Prior, 313.

Price (AUD): $850.00

US$558.29   Other currencies

Ref: #2408143