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JOHNSTON, Charles.
Chrysal; or the Adventures of a Guinea.
Chrysal; or, The Adventures of a Guinea, by the Irish writer Charles Johnstone, tells the tale of a coin and the human intrigue to which it finds itself bearing witness. After a rather dramatic and wonderfully overwrought beginning in which we learn of the coin being bestowed with consciousness and dug from a Peruvian mine, the monetary narrator proceeds to dish the dirt on various celebrities of the time as it passes from hand to hand, being conveniently present for a variety of gossip-worthy conversations, romps, and scandals. Spending some time circulating among the streets and elite of London, the coin also finds itself in the courts of Lisbon and Vienna, and the front-lines of war in Germany (the Seven Years' War was raging at the time), Canada, and the Caribbean.
- Published
- London: Printed for Hector McLean By Howlett and Brimmer, 1821.
- References
- Tooley 283.
- Plates
- 15
- Binding/Size
- S=8vo
- Value
- 0-5000
- Published
- London: Printed for Hector McLean By Howlett and Brimmer, 1821.
- Ref
- 243
3 vols. Full-leather. Book Condition: Very Good. Reade and Burney (illustrator). 8vo. A new edition to which is now prefixed a sketch of the author's life in three volumes bound in full diced calf raised bands with compartments decorated in gilt (fading) red and green leather, spine labels lettered and rule in gilt all with half-titles. Professionally re-spined, corners strengthened, etc. Marbled edges and endpapers. Fifteen hand-coloured plates by W. Reade after E.F. Burney. FIRST and the best edition. The best scandalous chronicle of the day the supposedly fictitious characters being taken from prominent men of the time. A key to their identity is in Davis's 'Olio' - one of the criticized being General Wolf. "We may safely rank Johnstone as a prose juvenal, " Sir Walter Scott. The following year, an inferior edition was published in duodecimo, with only 12 plates. Several chapters deal with the Hellfire Club. A nice set of internally clean and fresh plates bright and beautiful. Signature of "J. Eales 1833" on front pastedown. *Ron Norman of Hartlepool carried out rebinding and restoration work on this book. (Ronnorm@aol.com)* Coloured plates in order: Volume 1. 1. Frontispiece. Adventure of a Guinea. The Adapt is entranced by the Apparition of Chrystal in his Laboratory. 2. Adventures of a Guinea. The distressed situation of Amelia. 3. Adventures of a Guinea. Traffic visited in his Dungeon by the Goaler. 4. Adventures of a Guinea. The Author in his Study. 5. Adventures of a Guinea. The insolence of the Bailiff to the Young Lord. Volume 2. 6. Frontispiece. Adventures of a Guinea. The joyful meeting of Olivia & her Father. 7. Adventures of a Guinea. The massacre of the Bulgarian Family. 8. Adventures of a Guinea. The King of Bulgaria's Soliloquy upon Guinea. 9. Adventures of a Guinea. The bounty of the King of Bulgaria to the vanquished foe. 10. Adventures of a Guinea. The Kitchen Maid's daughter confesses her guilt. Volume 3. 11. Frontispiece. Adventures of a Guinea. The European Lady discovered in the Woods. 12. Adventures of a Guinea. Weighty reasons for continuing the Embargo. 13. Adventures of a Guinea [no other title]. 14. Adventures of a Guinea. The poor Beau at his toilet. 15. Adventures of a Guinea. The author's humanity.
