A mine of information on not only how Londoners of all classes spent their leisure hours at these establishments, but also what they and the literati of the day thought of them. For here was contained, for more than a century, the recreational life of an entire people - from the fashionable, if somewhat dull, assemblies in Ranelagh's great rotunda, to the more democratic nightly festivities amid the decorated supper boxes and leafy avenues of Vauxhall Gardens, to the free and easy atmosphere of such middle- and working ...
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A mine of information on not only how Londoners of all classes spent their leisure hours at these establishments, but also what they and the literati of the day thought of them. For here was contained, for more than a century, the recreational life of an entire people - from the fashionable, if somewhat dull, assemblies in Ranelagh's great rotunda, to the more democratic nightly festivities amid the decorated supper boxes and leafy avenues of Vauxhall Gardens, to the free and easy atmosphere of such middle- and working-class pleasure haunts as Bagnigge Wells, Dobney's Bowling Green, and the ill-famed Dog and Duck in St. Georges Fields. Besides the amusements peculiar to the gardens themselves, there were the embryonic stirrings of a number of other entertainments that were destined to flourish in the second half of the eighteenth and the coming century. Thus, in addition to the music, dancing, bowling, occasional gambling, and consumption of tea, wine, cakes, and other comestibles for which the gardens were justly celebrated, and more ambitious ventures such as fireworks and illuminations, transparencies, masquerades, and balloon ascensions, there were often spirited exhibitions of trick horsemanship, juggling, and ropedancing (eventually a speciality of Sadler's Wells), together with more obviously dramatic fare such as puppets and burlettas. As the population of greater London continued to increase and the outlying regions in which many of the gardens lay were gradually built over, several of these last were incorporated into newly established circuses, summer theatres, and music halls, where the business of eating and drinking was also continued. For anyone studying the origins of these later entertainments, therefore, the history of the eighteenth-century pleasure gardens forms essential reading. - from the Foreword by A.H. Saxon
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Add this copy of The London Pleasure Gardens of the Eighteenth-Century to cart. $15.00, very good condition, Sold by Ann Open Book rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Lansing, MI, UNITED STATES, published 1979 by Archon Books.
Add this copy of The London Pleasure Gardens of the Eighteenth Century to cart. $18.95, like new condition, Sold by Pintail Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Williamsburg, VA, UNITED STATES, published 1979 by Archon Books.
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Seller's Description:
Fine in very good dust jacket. 335 p. Archon Book on Popular Entertainments. Audience: General/trade. Hard-cover edition in fine condition; no markings in the text. Some discoloration and minor tears on dust jacket. Will ship promptly.
Add this copy of The London Pleasure Gardens of the Eighteenth Century to cart. $22.29, new condition, Sold by Ingram Customer Returns Center rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from NV, USA, published 2022 by Legare Street Press.
Add this copy of The London Pleasure Gardens of the Eighteenth Century to cart. $28.00, very good condition, Sold by Eve's Book Garden rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from ALBANY, CA, UNITED STATES, published 1979 by Archon Books.
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Very Good. No Jacket. Archon Books, 1979. Book. Very Good. Hardcover. Facsimile reprint of the original 1896 edition. Clean unopened insides. With illustrations. Bright covers with some mild rubbing to spine edge and corner tips..
Add this copy of The London Pleasure Gardens of the Eighteenth Century to cart. $30.20, new condition, Sold by Ingram Customer Returns Center rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from NV, USA, published 2016 by Hansebooks.
Add this copy of The London Pleasure Gardens of the Eighteenth Century to cart. $33.45, new condition, Sold by Ingram Customer Returns Center rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from NV, USA, published 2022 by Legare Street Press.
Add this copy of The London Pleasure Gardens of the Eighteenth Century to cart. $35.34, new condition, Sold by Ria Christie Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Uxbridge, MIDDLESEX, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2022 by Legare Street Press.