N. P. Willis; Nathaniel Parker Willis - Tortesa the Usurer

New York, Samuel Colman, 1839. First edition. Cloth. A vanishingly scarce tragi-comedy drama play by noted American author Nathaniel Parker Willis, the first edition. The first edition of this vanishingly scarce work.Original wraps are bound in. Part of Colman's dramatic library. 'Tortesa the Usurer' is a romantic tragi-comedy, following a love triangle between a usurer, a young daughter of a Count, and a painter. Written in blank verse, this was a popular play for around a decade after its premier in Philadelphia, at the Walnut Street Theatre, on the 20th June 1839.Among this plays admirers was Edgar Allan Poe, who called it "by far the best play from the pen of an American author".Willis was a notable American author of the nineteenth century, writing both prose and poetry. He also worked as an editor, working with various eminent American figures of the day, including Edgar Allan Poe and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. During his career, he was the highest paid magazine writer. Two pages of adverts to the rear. Rebound in a cloth binding, with the original wraps bound in. Externally, smart, with light fading to the spine and extremities of the boards. Very light rubbing to the spine. Label residue to the front paste down. Stamp to the verso of the rear endpaper. Internally, firmly bound. Pages are bright with scattered spots. Tidemark to the head of the first few pages. Small tidemark to the front wrap. Very Good . Ill.: None. Very Good .

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