109. Chapman (George) The Conspiracie, and Tragedie of Charles Duke of Byron, Marshall of France, first edition, first word of title xylographic, lacks final blank, brown stain in corner of title, some headlines, signatures and catchwords slightly shaved, a few corners a little creased, some underlinings in pencil, 19th century bookplate of John Erlham on front pastedown, later endpapers, 19th century half morocco, gilt, corners a little bumped, [4968; Pforzheimer 147; Greg I, 247-5(a)], Printed by G. Eld for Thomas Thorpe, 1608.
est. £1500 – £2000
“ The Conspiracy ... dramatized A General Inventorie of the History of France (1607) by Chapman’s cousin Edward Grimestone, and was performed at Blackfriars by an unknown theatrical company. A retelling of the career of Charles de Gontant, baron de Biron, soldier and favourite of Henri IV, the play explores the fine dividing-lines between sovereign and subject, emerging as a fraught meditation upon freedom of the will, justice and loyalty to the crown. Although Byron’s prowess is contained on the battlefield, it is allowed to rage unchecked in civil society, in such a way that heroic individualism is both extolled and problematized as a behavioural ideal. The Conspiracy... found few admirers. On 8 April 1608 the French Ambassador, Antoine Lefèvre de la Broderie, complained that it represented the queen of France having her ears boxed by the king’s mistress, Madame de Verneuil, and recommended that Chapman be imprisoned.” - Oxford DNB.