Dryden

Absalom and Achitophel

"In pious times, e'r Priest-craft did begin,
Before Polygamy was made a sin..."

Dryden, John. Absalom and Achitophel. A Poem. London: Printed for J.T. and are to be Sold by W. Davis, 1681. Folio, 19th-century moiré cloth, leather spine labe. $2300.

First edition, first issue of Dryden’s most accomplished poem. Text clean and bright, with only minor foxing, some fading to spine. A "Part II", issued in 1682, is considered a different work, with many lines not written by Dryden. A handsome, wide-margined copy of the most important work of political satire in the history of English verse.