01/09/2026
What can a satirical poem reveal about the political divisions of Restoration England? 📚
Chetham’s Library holds a first edition of John Dryden’s 'Absalom and Achitophel', a sharp and witty response to the Exclusion Crisis. Rather than naming the political figures at the heart of the controversy, Dryden recast them as characters from the Old Testament, leaving readers to work out who was who.
One early reader took up the challenge ✍️ A handwritten key in our copy identifies figures including Charles II, the Duke of Monmouth, the Earl of Shaftesbury and Titus Oates, alongside marginal notes throughout the text.
From political satire and royal succession to the origins of the Whigs and Tories, this remarkable volume offers a fascinating glimpse into how seventeenth-century readers engaged with literature and politics.
🔗 Read here: library.chethams.com/blog/a-sweetness-which-tickles-even-while-it-hurts-absalom-and-achitophel-1681-by-john-dryden-a-seventeenth-century-political-satire
