"Chrysal; or, The Adventures of a Guinea Wherein Are Exhibited Views of Several Striking Scenes, with Curios and Interesting Anecdotes, of the Most Noted Persons in Every Rank of Life... By an Adept" [Charles Johnstone], A New [Extended] Edition, Volume I, published by Rivington, Robinson, Cadell and others, London, MDCCLXXXIII [1783].

The volume one only, it ends with the Chapter XXII [the coin witnesses the conversation between corrupt governor and treasurer].

Hard boards, leather [leather creases between spine and boards, some wear]; 4.1/4" x 7"; private hand-written label inside front cover [see photo]; 264 pages, some soiling and wear, antique bookworm hole the last c. 20 pages, no text damage, good/ very good condition.

One of the first of the immensely popular 18th-century "it-narratives", 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.

Upon publication in 1760, the book was a runaway success, being issued in five separate editions in its first three years alone. On the back of Chrysal's success there came a slew of similar titles told from the perspective of inanimate objects, nearly always in the form of "The Adventures of a ....", including a black coat, a watch, a corkscrew, and a Hackney coach.

Charles Johnstone (c.̢ۉۡ1719-1800) was an Irish novelist. Prevented by deafness from practicing at the Irish Bar, he went to India. He wrote essays and stories for the Bengal newspaper press under the signature of "Oneiropolos". He became in time joint proprietor of a journal, and prospered. He died at Calcutta about 1800. His book "Chrysal, or the Adventures of a Guinea" was a bestseller.

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