Shakespeare, First Edition (Over 5,400 results)

(Sankt Petersburg, 1748). 8vo. Bound with five other tragedies/dramas in a slightly later (late 18th century) full calf binding with gilt line-borders to boards and richly gilt spine with red and blue title- and tome-labels. Spine with some wear and corners bumped. Upper capital worn. Internally generally nice and clean and on good paper, but "Hamlet" - which has clearly been well red and presumably used for a stage set-up - has some light pencil-annotations and pencil-crossovers, occasional brownspotting, a few paper restorations - no loss of text, a tear to one leaf - no loss, and one leaf slighly loosening at the bottom. Hamlet: 68, (2) pp. - separately paginated. 26pp. + 79, (1) pp. + 62 pp. + 68, (2) pp. + 78 pp. + 1 f. blank + 29 pp. Extremely rare first edition of the first Russian translation/adaptation of Shakespeare's Hamlet. The first edition is incredibly scarce and deemed virtually unobtainable. A second appearance, which is also of the utmost scarcity, came out in 1786, in a collection of plays in Russian. The seminal first rendering of "Hamlet" in Russian constitutes a milestone in Russian literature and cultural history. It deeply penetrated Russian culture, and in many ways Sumarokov's "Hamlet" came to epitomize the Russian spirit. "The first Russian adaptation of Shakespeare's "Hamlet" was made by the founder of the Russian classical theatre Alexander Petrovich Sumarokov (1717-1777). The play was written in 1748 by the 31-year old ambitious statesman and poet.Some researchers suggest that this work was commissioned to legitimise the power of Peter the Great's daughter Elizabeth through cultural discourse. Elizabeth took the Russian throne as a result of a court coup against an infant great grandson of Peter's elder brother. Ivan VI was barely two months old when he became Russian Emperor and "reigned" for eleven months. For the rest of his short life he lived in exile and, from the age of 16, in solitary confinement. Elizabeth's actions might be seen as avenging her father by returning power to his successors.Translated from French, Shakespeare in Sumarokov's version was also turned into a classist play, where people represented functions, such as order and chaos, good and evil, wisdom and stupidity. According to this pattern, the state could not be left without a legitimate ruler. Therefore, Sumarokov wrote a happy end with Claudius and Polonius punished by death and Hamlet, Ophelia and Gertrude victorious and content.Although this version was rarely staged, the image of an outcast prince was often referred to. For example, Catherine the Great's son and heir Paul tried on this role - his father was assassinated and overthrown by his mother's lover to get her the throne.In the 20th century the story of Russian Hamlet continued. As the Russian poet of the Silver Age Maksimilian Voloshin put it, "Hamlet - is a tragedy of conscience, and in this sense it is a prototype of those tragedies that are experienced by the "Slavonic soul" when it lives through disintegration of will, senses and consciousness"." (Katya Rogatchevskaia, for the British Library exhibition "Shakespeare in Ten Acts").Sumarokov created the Russian "Hamlet" in 1748 and might have acquainted himself with the character of Hamlet through French sources" However, it is quite probable that his translation was actually done from English, as it is registered that he borrowed a copy of it from the Academic library in the period from 1746 to 1748.It came to play a seminal role in both Russian literature, culture, and politics in the centuries to come. "Soon after its arrival in a Russia in 1748, "Hamlet" and its chief protagonist became inseparable parts of Russian national identity, prompting such remarks as William Morris's: "Hamlet should have been a Russian, not a Dane". However, at the outbreak of the Second World War, the play seems to have disappeared for more than a decade from the major stages of Moscow and Leningrad. Thus was born the 'myth' of Stalin and Hamlet. Today virtually every mention of Hamlet in the Stalin era refers to the dictator's hatred for this tragedy and his supposed banning of it from all Soviet stages. Notwithstanding the efforts of theatre directors such as Sergei Radlov with his heroic production of Hamlet in 1938, there is no doubt that Hamlet was problematic in the context of the paradigm of Socialist Realism. And it was certainly not the most suitable play for a war-stricken country. Moreover, from Stalin's own pejorative reference to 'an indecisive Hamlet' in connection with Eisenstein's ill-fated depiction of Ivan the Terrible (Part II), it is evident that for the dictator the character of Hamlet had negative connotations. The chequered history of Hamlet in the Soviet Union from the outbreak of the War to the death of Stalin in 1953 and the flood of new productions almost immediately after this date, together with the myth of Stalin's 'ban', deserve more nuanced and broadly contextualised study than they have received to date, based on concrete historical facts, memoirs and official documents. (Michelle Assay :What Did Hamlet (Not) Do to Offend Stalin?)."Reforms initiated by Tsar Peter the Great (1672-1725) had far reaching effects on all spheres of life in eighteenth-century Russia, including the cultural sphere. Profound changes also occurred in Russian literature. As Russian literature was becoming increasingly secular and new literary genres evolved there began an intensive search for aesthetic principles and an ideological platform that would be suitable for the demands of the post-Peter the Great epoch. Alexander Sumarokov (1717-1777) was among those Russian writers who considered adopting ethical principles and aesthetic norms of French classicism the most appropriate path for the development of an emergent secular Russian literature. In his rendering of Shakespeare's Hamlet into the Russian language, Sumarokov subscribed to the rules and traditions of French classicist.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. 1st Edition, Illustrated Edition. THE WORKS OF MR. WILLIAM SHAKESPEAR IN SIX VOLUMES: ADORN'D WITH CUTS was published in 1709 by Jacob Tonson & edited by Nicholas Rowe. They are the 1st edition of Shakespeare's plays published after the four folios. These are the first illustrated edition of Shakespeare's plays, 1st edition to indicate acts, scenes & dramatis personae, 1st to provide stage directions, 1st to include a formal biography of Shakespeare. Also includes THE WORKS OF MR. WILLIAM SHAKESPEAR. VOLUME THE SEVENTH. CONTAINING VENUS & ADONIS, TARQUIN & LUCRECE AND HIS MISCELLANY POEMS published in 1710 by Edmund Curll. "The significance of the 'volume the seventh' as has been generally understood, is in the fact that the book was intended as a supplementary volume to be sold to purchasers of the set of Rowe's Works of Shakespeare" (Alden, 1916). This octavo set is bound in full calf, with gilt & blind tooled covers, gilt tooled spines with five raised bands, gilt titles to spines. Frontispiece & plates present all volumes. The text block (19 cm) is laid paper. Endpapers are wove, indicating the set was bound after 1759. An owner's inscription on volume 5's title page reads "ex libris Georgii Trenthas(?) Talbot". The 14th Earl of Shrewsbury (George Talbot 1719-1787), lived about the same time these volumes were bound. The father of the Earl (George Talbot 1675-1733) died before these volumes were bound, given the use of wove paper. It seems likely that this set was owned by the 14th Earl. CONDITION - In all seven volumes there are no missing pages, no page tears, corners not bumped, hinges are sound, binding is tight. Calf on all boards in fine condition. Top & bottom edges of spines rubbed. Light toning throughout. No markings at all except as noted below in Vol 1 & 5. Vol 1: old bookseller's price in pencil on front pastedown & ink gift inscription on free front endpaper. Vol 2: occasional foxing. Vol 3: small scuff to spine, small stain pg. 1087, some foxing. Vol 4: 3/8" worming bottom of front hinge, ¼" spots pp. 1561-1562, some foxing. Vol 5: title page has ink in old hand "ex libris Georgii Trenthas(?) Talbot" . Plate facing Hamlet Play Title page has been hand-colored. Small scuff to spine, ¼" stain pp. 2182 & 2183, small ink stain on fore-edge of pp. 2383-2391 doesn't affect text, areas of foxing pg 2573 & 2641-2647. Vol 6: foxing on pp. 2661, 3771, 3185. Vol 7: worming like Vol 4, stain in dedication pages, some foxing. Overall a gorgeous set in very good condition. DISTINGUISHING POINTS: Vol.1-5 are first editions, conforming to ESTC T138294 for signatures, pagination & plates, and to Ford's "Shakespeare, 1700-1740" first issue criteria regarding collation & pagination errors. Vol. 6 conforms to ESTC T138297 & to Ford's Second Issue criteria. ESTC T138297 refers to this edition as a 'lineatim reprint (possibly surreptitious) of the ESTC T138294 edition of the same year'. However, UCLA Clark rare book library states "H.L. Ford in 'Shakespeare 1700-1740', Oxford, 1935, claims that there were 2 printings of Tonson's 1709 ed. However, a comparison of sets of this ed. with Ford's distinguishing points of the 2 printings reveals that each set is composed of sheets from both printings, and that in many cases individual vols. are also composed of sheets from both printings. Possibly the printings were not discrete." Vol. 7 (Poems) is described in ESTC T138298 as "Intended to accompany the 6v. Rowe edition of 1709." It conforms to ESTC T138298, which states: "Editor's dedication signed: S.N. The 'critical remarks' and 'An essay' are by Charles Gildon." Vol. 7 contains the same Dedication by Charles Gildon. According to Alden, "There has been considerable uncertainty as to the editor of the volume, some authorities referring it to Charles Gildon, known to be the author of the essays it contains, others to a mysterious 'S. N.,' because in some copies those initials are attached to the Dedication." SHIPMENT: free, via US Postal Service Registered mail only.

hardcover. Condition: Near fine. First Edition. 2nd or 3rd separate edition, an internally fine copy of it and other copies are not fine. As rare as any of the 17th century editions of Julius Caesar including the 1st of 1684 (census data is vague). That said, the glory of this copy is its quality. Early 20th century full red morocco by Rivière & Son, spine gilt titled, ruled in gilt with a French fillet, intricate gilt inner dentelles, gilt edges. Small paper flaw to the blank margin of page 21, else fine and rare in this condition, with large margins all around (8 7/8" X 6 1/2"), but most important, the pages are fresh and unrepaired. And it is also much finer than the other copies of it at auction in the last 40 years, all defective, or with repairs, or trimmed, and/or in poor condition, with only one copy at auction, of any 17th century Caesar separate edition, in condition close to ours ($33,750, at Sotheby's, in 2011). Cloth case. No edition of Julius Caesar was published during Shakespeare's lifetime, the posthumous collected works in folio being the sole authority for the play. It was revived by Thomas Killigrew's King's Company in 1672, using the original text, with Charles Hart initially playing Brutus, but no edition was published. Thomas Betterton took the part in later productions and is here named in the cast listed in our edition, with his boyhood friend Edward Kynaston as Antony. The 1st separate edition was published by Herringman in 1684 (the most common of the quarto editions), the year he turned over the retail side of his business to Francis Saunders and Joseph Knight, and the year before he published Shakespeare's 4th folio. It was followed by 4 undated editions with closely similar imprints, and a 1691 dated edition with an imprint mentioning only Herringman and Bentley. No data positively ordering them is known, but in 1969 John Velz superseded Henrietta Bartlett's 1913 bibliography. He thinks the 1691 edition was an authorized one, and identifies our edition as the first (QU1) of 3 unauthorized editions printed by Henry Hills Junior, the printer of the 1684 edition, and was issued in direct competition to Herringman's 1691 edition, for which Hills was not re-employed as printer, so my guess is 1691, or it would not have been competitive, but we may never know for certain, because the data is so thin, and though the data for rarity seems firm, it would surprise no one if new discovery reordered them. Ref: John W. Velz, "Pirate Hills" and the quartos of Julius Caesar, BSA Papers, v. 63 (1969) 177-193.

FIRST EDITION. 233 x 143 mm. (9 1/8 x 5 3/4"). 2 p.l., v, [3], 206 pp., [1] leaf (ads). HANDSOME SCARLET MOROCCO BY RIVIERE & SON (stamp-signed on front turn-in), front cover WITH FIVE MINIATURE PORTRAITS OF SHAKESPEARE on ivory under glass ALMOST CERTAINLY BY MISS C. B. CURRIE, surrounded by delicate gilt tooling, rear cover and spine compartments framed by double gilt fillets, raised bands, gilt lettering to two compartments, gilt-ruled turn-ins, olive green silk endleaves, top edge gilt, other edges untrimmed. In a maroon fleece-lined slipcase. With five engraved plates reproducing portraits of Shakespeare. Jaggard, pp. 586-87. â Slight wear to silk endleaves at front hinge, isolated small printing smudges or other trivial defects, final leaf (ads) with short closed tear at head, otherwise A VERY FINE COPY, the text with no signs of use, and the splendid binding in perfect condition. This analysis of portraits purporting to depict Shakespeare is the perfect vehicle for a Cosway binding, used here to present the leading contenders on the front cover (these likenesses also appear on engraved plates in the book). The portrait at the center of our cover is considered the most authoritative, being that done by Martin Droeshout for the First Folio of 1623. The other portraits shown in the plates and in the miniatures are the Chandos Head, the Stratford Bust, the engraving by W. Marshall from the 1640 edition of the poems, and the Jansen portrait of 1610. A Shakespeare scholar who raised the alarm about forgeries of Shakespeare manuscripts in the 1790s, Boaden (1762-1839) sets forth here (as indicated in the preface) "a careful examination of the evidence" by which "the pretended portraits have been rejected, [and] the genuine confirmed and established." The so-called "Cosway" binding, with painted miniatures inlaid in handsome morocco--either inside or (as here) on the outside of the front cover--apparently originated with the London bookselling firm of Henry Sotheran about 1909. In that year, G. C. Williamson's 1905 book entitled "Richard Cosway" (which celebrated the career of this leading Georgian and Regency miniature painter) was remaindered by Sotheran and presumably given this special decorative treatment in order to boost sales. The name "Cosway" then was used to describe any book so treated, whatever its subject. The finest miniatures on Cosway bindings were executed by Caroline Billin Currie (1849-1940), who is known to have created such paintings for Sotheran's from 1910 until her death, usually from designs by J. H. Stonehouse, and typically for bindings executed, as here, by Riviere. Not present in this volume is an inserted leaf acknowledging Currie's work--something normally seen with Cosway bindings featuring her miniatures; but she has a distinctive deftness to her brush strokes and a recognizably refined execution that are clearly present here. The precision and detail of these portraits, and the wonderfully expressive eyes are hallmarks of her work.

8 Volumes. 12mo. (6 1/2 x 3 3/4 inches). Vol.1: Title [2] Frontispiece [2] [i-iii] iv-xlviii, [1-3] 4-384. 432 pp. Vol. 2: [1-7] 8-412. 412 pp. Vol. 3: [1-7] 8-432. 432 pp. Vol. 4: [1-7] 8-447 [1]. 448 pp. Vol. 5: [1-7] 8-392. 392 pp. Vol. 6: [1-7] 8-388. 388 pp. Vol. 7: [1-7] 8-452. 452 pp. Vol. 8: [5] 8-304, [i-iii] iv [5-7] 8-128. 432 pp. Contemporary tree sheep, rebacked, preserving spines in six compartments ruled gilt with red and brown morocco lettering-pieces in second and fourth compartments and gilt foliate in rest, [SHAKSPEARE'S | WORKS] in second compartment and volume number in fourth compartment. Some early ownership signatures on titles A complete copy of the rare first American edition of the works of Shakespeare, here spelled "Shakspeare." This is the first edition to be printed outside the British Isles, with the first engraving of Shakespeare printed in the New World, in contemporary bindings in fine condition. "Old World, he is not only thine! Our New World too has part, in his stupendous mind and heart." - Inscription on a Shakespeare statue in Central Park, erected 1872 In a time of high anti-British sentiment in the newly-formed United States, after the American Revolutionary War and before the War of 1812, Joseph Hopkinson, son of Founding Father Francis Hopkinson, decided to edit and publish an eight-volume set of that most English of writers, William Shakespeare. Later to be a US Congressman, Joseph brought out the first three volumes in 1795, and the remaining five in 1796. Joseph, whose father was also America's first composer, wrote the preface and "Life of the Author," marking the first publication of American literary criticism of Shakespeare. Befitting an American, Hopkinson, in his preface, takes issue with the competing "authoritative" British editorial interpretations of Shakespeare, in favor of a less-guided, more individual reckoning with his writing and its meaning. It was only sixty years prior, in 1730, that an American audience first saw a performance of a Shakespeare play, an amateur production of Romeo and Juliet in New York. At that point, Shakespeare had been dead for 114 years. It would seem that part of American tardiness on this matter was due to conservative public morality, as the preface to the first American edition is consumed with defending Shakespeare's plays against claims of moral indecency. Hopkinson assures his readership that the poet is a genius, if still yet imperfectly known, and asides, his contemporaries were even more base: "[W]e contend that none of his personages are expressly drawn to recommend vice, and that his plots are never, like those of Farquhar, and others, in a state of oppostition to conjugal virtue. His works indeed abound with exquisite maxims of morality." The stipple engraved frontispiece portrait of Shakespeare is the first published image of the author in America. The engraver, Robert Field, was a British artist, trained at the Royal Academy, who worked in Philadelphia, and made engravings of images of Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson. Field first appeared in America in 1794 and worked in the young country for over a decade, spending time in Washington DC, and later, Canada and Jamaica. In a 1927 guide to Field's work, the author Harry Piers calls Field's Shakespeare portrait, "a poor reproduction of the original, and does not equal Field's other engravings" but to the modern eye there is a freshness to the less restrained marking method in Field's engraving that evokes the populism of Shakespeare's work and brings him to life. As Anna Kerr at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Library writes, Shakespeare, from this first American edition forward, became imbricated in our nation's public life, inseparable from the United States and its conception of itself: "This first American edition, nonetheless, foreshadows the American engagement with Shakespeare throughout history, by people from every walk of life. Abraham Lincoln, for example, invoked the words of Shakespeare as political rhetoric during the Civil War, even as soldiers from both sides of the conflict performed his plays in between battles. Pioneers, miners, and farmers moving West often performed his plays as a form of entertainment during times of hardship. African-American actors and playwrights developed their own theatres in the early 19th century, from which Ira Aldridge, the noted Shakespearian actor, found his beginning, and subsequent immigrant movements to the United States have continued to engage with Shakespeare as a means of sharing in the American spirit, from Yiddish King Lear to Kabuki Macbeth." Contents: Vol. 1. Frontispiece; Title; Preface; The Life of Shakspeare; Shakspeare's Will Extracted from the Registry of the Archbishop of Canterbury; A Glossary, Explaining the Obsolete and Difficult Words in Shakspeare's Works; Tempest; Two Gentlemen of Verona; Merry Wives of Windsor; Measure for Measure; Comedy of Errors; Erratum. Vol. 2. Much Ado About Nothing, Love's Labours Lost, Midsummer-Night's Dream, Merchant of Venice, As You Like It. Vol. 3. Taming of the Shrew, All's Well that Ends Well, Twelfth Night: or, What You Will, The Winter's Tale, Macbeth. Vol. 4. King John, Richard II, Henry IV, Part I; Henry IV, Part 2; Henry V. Vol. 5. Henry VI, Part I; Henry VI, Part 2; Henry VI, Part 3; Richard III. Vol. 6. King Henry VIII, Coriolanus, Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra. Vol. 7. Timon of Athens, Troilus and Cressida, Titus Anronicus, Cymbeline, King Lear. Vol. 8. Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Othello, Advertisement, Dedication, and The Author's Poems including "Venus and Adonis," "Tarquin and Lucrece," Sonnets, "Passionate Pilgrim," and "A Lover's Complaint." Evans 29496, 31180. ESTC W28892. Jaggard, p.507. Piers, Robert Field: Portrait Painter in Oils, Miniature and Water-Colours and Engraver, pp. 16, 194. Sabin 79727.

Full Description: SHAKESPEARE, William. A Collection of Poems, Viz. I. Venus and Adonis. II. The Rape of Lucrece. III. The Passionate Pilgrim. IV. Sonnets to Sundry Notes of Musick. London: Bernard Lintott, [1709]. First edition, first issue of the second collection of "Poems" (the first being 1640) and the first to include "Venus and Adonis" and "The Rape of Lucrece." One small octavo volumes (6 3/4 x 4 inches; 170 x 103 mm). [4], [1]-155, [1, blank] pp. With four divided title-pages dated respectively 1630, 1632, 1599 and 1599 and "Price bound One Shilling Six-pence" on main title-page. With woodcut vignettes with tree motif on part-titles and woodcut initials. Full contemporary speckled sheep, rebacked to style. Boards ruled in blind. Spine lettered in gilt. Corners renewed. Some nearly invisible professional repairs to bottom blank margin throughout, never affecting text. Two previous owner's bookplates on front pastedown and front free endpaper. A small ownership stamp on front pastedown. Overall a very good copy. Chemised and housed in a quarter red morocco slipcase. Although this is the "second collected edition" of poems, after the Benson 1640 edition, Benson excluded the long poems Venus and Adonis and the Rape of Lucree which are included in the present edition. This present first issue with the early dates of 1630, 1632, 1599 and 1599 on the four part titles can be distinguished from the second issue which has the date 1609 on all four of the part titles. A second volume was printed later. Jaggard only knew of the first volume of this first issue, stating that the two-volume issue appeared in 1710 with the early dates given on the part-titles revised to 1709 (Jaggard's error for 1609). Ford gives a more detailed account of the publication: beginning with the initial printing of the first volume only; followed 'shortly after' by the addition of the second volume with a general title; followed by a publication of both volumes with the subtitle imprints revised to 'Printed in the year 1609'. The Lintott edition was evidently an opportunistic enterprise occasioned by the publication of Rowe's edition of Shakespeare's plays by Tonson in 1709. Tonson had rights only to the Fourth Folio plays, and Lintott evidently responded to demand for a new edition of the poems, as did the printer Curll, whose 1710 edition of the poems is occasionally found making a supplementary volume to Rowe's edition. While Curll's one-volume edition of the poems came to be seen as the natural companion to the Rowe plays, Lintott's edition takes primacy. Curll's version used the Benson version for his reprinting, making the Lintott edition more true to the original and thus more desirable. Ford, pp 37-39. Jaggard, p. 434. HBS 69083. $25,000.

Leather. Condition: Very Good. None (illustrator). First edition. Six volumes of Tonson's dramatic works of Shakespeare. Volumes I-V are in uniform bindings as a set, with the pages trimmed down. Volume VI is bound in a different half calf binding with larger page sizes due to their not being trimmed as closely as volumes I-V. The sixth volume could be trimmed and bound to match.This is the first edition of this work, edited by Nicholas Rowe. It is the first edition of Shakespeare's works to be published in the eighteenth century and has been referred to as the first 'modern' edition of the plays.As stated to the title page of volume I this set was originally published as six volumes as seen here. A seventh volume was published by a different publisher, E Curll, a year later in 1710 which added his poetry and critical remarks on his plays by C Gildon and is sometimes seen bound together with this set. This set contains all six volumes of Shakespeare's dramatic works edited by Rowe and is as originally published.Due to this work, Rowe is widely considered to be the first editor of Shakespeare. His practical knowledge helped him to divide the plays into both scenes and acts, including the entrances and exits of the players. He was also one of the first to prefix each play with a list of the dramatis personae and to write a 'life of the author'.The work is based on the somewhat textually corrupt Fourth Folio.To volume VI signature A4 under the 'here' of 'where.' and to volume I signature 'A' under the 'G of Goodness'. This copy is not the lineatim reprint issued in the same year. [ESTC T138296]Rowe basing his edition on the Fourth Folio paved the way for eighteenth century editors of Shakespeare, as subsequently they tended to use the Fourth Folio as their basis. This includes Alexander Pope.Jacob Tonson was an eighteenth-century English bookseller and publisher best known for having obtained a copyright on the plays of William Shakespeare by buying the rights of the heirs of the publisher of the Fourth Folio after the Statue of Anne came into effect, the first statute to provide for copyright regulated by the government rather than private partiesEach play has a separate title page with the imprint 'printed in the year 1709'Volume I The Tempest, Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Measure for Measure, The Comedy of Errors, Much Ado About Nothing, Love's Labour's Lost. Volume II: A Midsummer Night's Dream, Merchant of Venice, As You Like It, Taming of the Shrew, All's Well that Ends Well, Twelfth night, The Winter's TaleVolume III: King John, King Richard II, King Henry IV Part I, Henry IV Part II, King Henry V, King Henry VI Part I, King Henry VI Part II. Volume IV: King Henry VI Part III, Richard III, King Henry VIII, Troilus and Cressida, Coriolanus, Titus Andronicus.Volume V: Romeo and Juliet, Timon of Athens, Julius Caesar, Macbeth, Hamlet, King Lear, Othello.VI: Anthony and Cleopatra, Cymbeline, Pericles Prince of Tyre, London Prodigal, Tomas Lord Cromwell, Sir John Oldcastle, The Puritan, a Yorkshire Tragedy and Locrine.This is the first ever illustrated works of Shakespeare, with a plate per play and frontispiece to each volume.With a frontispiece and eight plates to volume I, seven plates to volume II, seven plates to volume III, six plates to volume IV, frontispiece and seven plates to volume V and a frontispiece and nine plates to volume VI.Volumes II, III and IV are bound without the frontispiece of Shakespeare (indentical in each volume). Volume I, V and VI, have this frontispiece present.Volume II, uses Midsummer Night's Dream frontis instead, volume III uses King John frontis as main frontispiece, volume IV uses the frontis to Henry VI part 3. With the bookplate of Sir Archibald Grand of Monymoske, Bart, to the front pastedown of volume I. Grant was a politician and agricultural improver. From the antiquarian library of Christopher Rowe. Christopher Rowe was a schoolmaster in Norwich and then in Bristol. Throughout his career he inspired many to love literature, history and music. He was a specialist on 17th century printer and bookseller, Humphrey Moseley and began his, unfortunately unfinished, PhD dissertation on him.Collated complete save for the three duplicates of the Shakespeare frontis to II,III and IV In full calf bindings with gilt stamping to spine. Volume VI is half calf binding with marbled boards. Volumes I-V are rebacked with original boards preserved. Externally, generally smart with rubbing to the boards and spines. Bumping to the extremities. Rubbing to volume VI is heavier to the boards. Slightly chipping to spine label of volume VI. Prior owner's bookplate to front pastedown or endpaper of all volumes, Christopher Rowe. Prior owner's bookplate to volume I, Sir Archibald Grand. Prior owner's inscription to recto of front endpaper and to title page, James Macphereson, Ardesier. J Macphereson's inscription to the recto of front endpaper to volume IV. 'Volume the Fifth' to volume V has been removed through scratching of the paper to volume V. Internally, all volumes are firmly bound. Pages are very slightly age toned, mostly to edges, and relatively light spotting throughout, moreso to page edges apart from volume VI which has heavier foxing to the last few pages. Some offsetting to title pages. Very Good. book.

First Edition. "SHAKESPEARE, William. The Dramatic Works of Shakspeare. Revised by George Steevens. London: W. Bulmer and Company for John and Josiah Boydell, and George Nichol, 1802. Nine volumes. Large thick folio (each volume measures approximately 13 by 17 inches), contemporary full burgundy morocco, raised bands, elaborately gilt-decorated covers and spines, all edges gilt. $21,000.The monumental 1802 Boydell-Steevens edition of Shakespeare's Works, complete with two engraved frontispieces and the full complement of 94 fine full-page copper engravings after paintings by the leading English artists of the time. Edited by Boydell and revised by renowned 18th-century Shakespearean scholar George Steevens. Sumptuously bound in full contemporary morocco-gilt."Boydell's gallery completely altered the course of English painting. Most painters earned their livings by painting portraits for the wealthy nobility, but when Boydell began to commission works from the best artists in England, they were free to explore other topics and themes, drawn first from Shakespeare's plays, then from other writers, and finally from the classics and English history. Boydell had almost single-handedly created a market for what was called 'history painting,' and painters had a source of income that was not rooted primarily in portraiture" (Friedman, 2). Contributors include Reynolds, Fuseli, Smirke, Northcote, Porter, Stothard, Hamilton, Bunbury, Opie and Westall. These images were "used repeatedly to illustrate the works of Shakespeare, and they appear in all sorts of modified, adapted, and borrowed forms in engravings and drawings that accompany the plays. Producers, directors and critics were all part of that public exposed to the Boydell prints" (Rusche). According to Boydell's prospectus of 1786, a type foundry, an ink factory, and a printing house were all specially erected for the production of this edition. He began issuing the work in 1791 in 18 eventual parts, then published a nine-volume folio edition in 1802 (this set), and finally a two-volume elephant folio of all the engravings in 1803. "There can be no doubt that Boydell's Shakespeare was the most splendid of bibliophile editions undertaken in the 18th century or at any other time no Printing Press, which has hitherto existed, ever produced a work so uniformly beautiful" (Franklin, 47-48). "During the last decade or two, [circa 1890-1910] complete surviving sets have greatly decreased in number " (Jaggard, 506, 508). This set with 1802 general title page for each volume, all half titles, and a complete complement of 96 folio plates, including the second frontispiece bust of Shakespeare not listed in the Directions to the Binder (not bound in this copy), which calls for 95 plates. Includes the important prefaces of Pope and Johnson. Two leaves in Volume II from Much Ado About Nothing supplied from a smaller copy. Scattered foxing, a few instances of faint dampstaining; magnificent contemporary binding with modest wear to boards. A beautiful copy of a historic edition of Shakespeare.".

Edition De Luxe of the Cambridge Shakespeare, one of 500 unnumbered sets only, printed on handmade paper with each play in a separate volume, here very handsomely bound. The set is from the library of the American tin tycoon William Bateman Leeds (1861-1908), with his bookplate in every volume. The Cambridge Shakespeare, first published between 1863 and 1866, has "become the standard text. the introductions contain the safest guide as to authorities for the text and the notes form a complete apparatus criticus of the text. it is a monument of editorial judgement and accurate scholarship" (Ward & Waller, p. 280). A. W. Ward & A. R. Waller, eds., The Cambridge History of English Literature, vol. V, 1964. 40 volumes, royal octavo (256 x 172 mm). Contemporary green morocco by Zaehnsdorf for C. Scribner's Sons, spines lettered in gilt, concentric gilt panelling to covers, gilt turn-ins, brown silk endpapers, top edges gilt, others untrimmed. Title pages in red and black. Spines lightly sunned, contents partly unopened, else a fine set.

hardcover. Alan James Robinson (illustrator). First Edition. Folio (10-3/8" x 15-7/8"), the exact untrimmed size of the First Folio of 1623, bound by Claudia Cohen and Sarah Creighton in full gilt-lettered rust morocco, with marbled endsheets by Faith Harrison, in a custom cloth clamshell box with a gilt-lettered large morocco spine label. Designed by illustrator Alan James Robinson and Arthur Kinney, who wrote the text. Illustrated with 54 wood engravings depicting the birds and beasts and one wood engraving as well as an etching of Shakespeare. This is copy #I of 5 special proof copies (of a total edition of only 131) printed by Harold Patrick McGrath on Cheloniidae rag made specially for the Press, the first paper to carry a Cheloniidae watermark, and SIGNED by the illustrator on the colophon page. With an extra suite of the engravings and etching, each SIGNED and numbered by Robinson, plus another suite, issued only with the limitation of 5, containing two working proofs of each wood engraving and three state proofs of the etching, all SIGNED by Robinson. In addition there are two ORIGINAL PENCIL DRAWINGS--one of a wolf, the other a lion--INSCRIBED and SIGNED by the artist to the original owner. Prospectus laid in. The rarest state of the greatest achievement of the press. Fine in a clamshell box, a beautiful book.

London: Printed by H. H. Jun for Hen Herringman and R Bentley., [N.d.c.a. 1695]. The first of the undated editions according to Bartlett. Small quarto. [1]- 64 pp. Complete but mispaginated as follows, Pp. 1, 4-18, 91, 20-40, 33-48, 57, 50, 51, 60, 61, 54, 55, 64. There is some confusion as to the priority of the undated quartos. According to Bartlett's 'Census of Shakespeare's Plays in Quarto' (1916), this present copy conforms to what she called the "Second quarto edition" based on catch words and pagination. However, in her revised edition of the Census in 1939 Bartlett's view had changed stating: There were four undated editions of this play issued after the first edition, 1684, and the second, 1691. This would place the undated quartos after the second edition and make this the third quarto edition. Bound by J. Kulesho in full red smooth morocco. Front board and spine lettered in gilt. Board edges gilt. Gilt dentelles. All edges gilt. One small spot on title-page. Light glue remnants on front pastedown from former bookplate. Overall about fine. "This was the first play by Shakespeare founded on Sir Thomas North's translation of Plutarch's Lives, which appeared in 1597 and was reprinted in 1595. Shakespeare used portions of the lives of Caesar, Antony and Brutus and followed Plutarch very closely" (Bartlett, Mr. William Shakespeare, 47). ESTC R469134/R11165 Bartlett 115. Jaggard, p. 319. Wing S2923. HBS 68593. $15,000.

Leather bound. Condition: Near fine. The Tragedie of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, from the Second Folio, published in 1632. Contains eleven original leaves from the text. (illustrator). Second Folio. Folio, 129-150pp. Leaves measure 312 x 212mm. Full paneled calf, tooled in blind, title stamped in gilt on front cover, raised bands on spine. First 7 leaves free of notable wear or restoration. Conservative paper restoration to leaf end of Page 143-144 and Page 145-146, with band added along fore edge. Leaf 149-150 laid down over new paper, edges trimmed. (Pforzheimer 906) (Jaggard 496) (Greg III: 1113-1116) (STC 22274a) A scarce and handsome presentation of Julius Caesar from Shakespeare's Second Folio. The second folio of William Shakespeare's plays was published in 1632 and contained 36 plays in total. It followed the first folio, which was published in 1623. It is estimated that approximately 1000 copies of the second folio were produced, with only a handful of complete examples still in existence today.

Hardcover. 1st Edition. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Signed. [GIELGUD, Sir John]. SHAKESPEARE. HAMLET. Prinz Von Daenmark. Mit 16 Lictdrucktafeln nach den Lithographieen von Eugene Delacroix. First Edition Thus. Large Folio [13 inches wide by 18 inches tall]. Limited edition of 100 numbered copies on Van Gelder paper, this being copy Number 41. Full morocco, the spine elaborately decorated in gilt, front panel titled in gilt, all edges gilt, marbled endpapers. A very nice example. Presentation copy from Elisabeth Bergner to Sir John Gielgud. A preliminary blank bears an inscription presenting the Book to Bergner in Berlin, 1927, underneath this is an inscription which simply reads: "To John / from Elisabeth / London, Christmas 1973". Elisabeth Bergner (1900, Vienna -1986, London). Famous early German stage actress & film star, made her stage debut in Zurich in 1919, appeared in Vienna, Munich, Berlin, & later on Broadway. Big break in 1924 with stage production of Shaw's Saint Joan. Bergner made several films from 1933 in England & France. Her film Catherine the Great [1934] was banned in Germany for featuring "émigré Jews." At the height of her career, she was called by Alexander Woolcott, "probably the ablest actress living today". Nominated for an Oscar in 1935 for her performance in ESCAPE ME NEVER. A British Citizen since 1938. Sir John Gielgud's copy - completely appropriate & intriguing as Gielgud's career was distinguished by his numerous performances as Hamlet. An important association copy, inscribed to Gielgud from a close friend & important actress. [#20776].

Hardcover. First American Edition. Elephant Folio (22.2 in. x 28.4 in.), Two Volumes. In Good plus condition. Three-quarter bound in red morocco and red buckram with gilt ruling and lettering to spine and gilt ruling to boards. Volumes show moderate rubbing to leather and gilt on spines, moderate plus bumping and chipping to head and tail of spines and corners, loss of approximately 0.25 in. of material to head and tail of spines. Edges show moderate shelf wear; light plus staining is visible on front and back boards on both volumes, along with discoloration to leather on front/back boards on both volumes, some minor splitting to leather along joints, and slight bowing to boards. Text blocks show light to moderate uneven age toning and foxing throughout interiors of both volumes, along with occasional light damp staining to bottom and top margins of both volumes (not impacting plates or text), offsetting from plates to facing verso throughout both volumes, and moderate chipping to top and bottom of pages. With all plates as issued: 51 plates present in Vol. I. and 49 plates present in Vol. II. CONTENTS: Vol. I (205 pages, [51 plates]) Front free end paper has been torn free, trimmed, and reattached with clear non-archival tape. Several small closed tears repaired with clear non-archival tape. Frontispiece has been tipped in and silked, repairing a complete vertical tear impacting rightmost edge of frontispiece image, and has a crease along the edge. Frontispiece tissue guard is significantly creased with chipping and open tears to edges, and a repaired open tear to lower edge (2.25 in. x 1.5 in.). Title page has been professionally silked to reinforce several large tears and two repaired open tears to lower edge of title page. Eight leaves following title page significantly creased, three of which have been silked, and the last of which shows some splitting to silk along crease. -- Vol. II. (200 pages, [49 plates]) Hole in buckram on back board. Buckram on front board has moderate damp staining. Front free endpaper and the first blank leaf have closed tears near spine (2.5 in.), and front free endpaper has large open tear to lower fore edge corner (3 in. x 1.25 in.). Six leaves following title page are significantly creased, and last leaf has closed tear on lower edge (4 in.). SC consignment. Shelved in Jey's Office. [Oversized book(s). Additional postage necessary for expedited/international orders. Economy International shipping unavailable due to size/weight restrictions. For international/expedited customers, please inquire for rates]. Boydell was a British publisher and engraver who decided to undertake the massive project of creating an illustrated folio edition of Shakespeare's works that took nearly twenty years to complete, and the first edition was published in 1805. It incorporates engravings based on the works of dozens of prominent artists, including George Romney, Henry Fuseli, Benjamin West, and Angelica Kauffman. The edition on offer here is the First American edition published by Shearjashub Spooner in 1852, reproducing only the plates from the original British edition. 1366178. Special Collections.

Edition : 1st Pope Edition & 7th edition of Shakespeare?s wo, Recent full blind-tooled alternating calf panels, speckled calf centerpiece panel encased within marbled calf panel border with blind lines and blind-tooled floral border and blind floral cornerpieces, surrounded by outer speckled calf panel, spine in six compartments of blind-tooled bands and gilt floral motifs, gilt green and red morocco labels on two and four, gilt text on six, edges speckled red, endpapers renewed. , Richard Brinsley Butler Sheridan (1751 ? 1816) renowned Irish satirist, a playwright, poet, and long-term owner of the London Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. He is known for his plays such as The Rivals, The School for Scandal, The Duenna, and A Trip to Scarborough. He was also a Whig MP for 32 years in the British House of Commons for Stafford (1780?1806), Westminster (1806?1807), and Ilchester (1807?1812).Printed in large font, nicely margined. Alexander Pope is considered one of the greatest English poets of the eighteenth century. Although he had been writing poetry since the age of 12, his first major contribution to the literary world is considered to be An Essay on Criticism, which was published in 1711 when he was 23. This was followed by The Rape of the Lock (1712, revised 1714), his most popular poem; Eloisa to Abelard and Elegy to the Memory of an Unfortunate Lady (1717); and several shorter works, of which perhaps the best are the epistles to Martha Blount. From 1715 to 1720, he worked on a translation of Homer's Iliad. Encouraged by the very favourable reception of this translation, Pope translated the Odyssey (1725-1726) with William Broome and Elijah Fenton. In this period Pope also brought out an edition of Shakespeare, which silently "regularised" his metre and rewrote his verse in several places. From Pope?s preface: ?If ever any author deserved the name of an original, it was Shakespear?The poetry of Shakespear was inspiration indeed: he is not so much an imitator, as an instrument, of nature; and tis not to so just to say that he speaks from her, as that she speaks thro? him?, Size : 4to, With frontispiece portrait of Shakespeare (engraved by G. Vertue), volume one title page in red and black inks. Elaborate engraved headpieces, tailpieces and initials throughout., Volume : Six volumes., With Ex-Libris of Richard Brinsley Sheridan. , References : Bateson II 300; Jaggard 498, P. Volume 1. frontis, title, blank, preface i-xxiv, Account of Shakespear xxv-xli, (1), poem (3), subscriber list (7), title, contents, half-title, 2-563; Volume 2. title, contents, half-title, 4-656; Volume 3. title, contents, half-title, 1-499; Volume 4. title, contents, half-title, 4-547, epilogue (1); Volume 5. title, contents, half-title, 4-599; Volume 6. title, contents, half-title, blank, prologue, 6-591, blank, index (31), blank, table (4). Printed in large font, nicely margined. Occasional light browning and offsetting otherwise a very good set in attractive binding.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. William Shakespeare's iconic love story comes alive with Salvador Dali's surrealist imagination and style in this illustrated edition of Romeo and Juliet. Published by Rizzoli Edizioni Milano in 1975, this fantastic book is limited to just 999 copies total, of which this is one the 819 copies "ad personam", signed in red crayon by Dali on frontispiece, printed in laid paper with watermarked artist's signature. The book compete with 10 color lithographs in full page, and Shakespeare's text, is bound in the original silk sanguine binding. The edition also includes a suite with the 10 lithographs in color signed in red and blue crayon by Dali, loose and collected in the original silk sanguine folder. Each signed print by tissue guards with printed captions in Italian. Ref: Lopsinger #1601. Signed by Illustrator(s).

London: Mess. Boydell & Co., London, Cheapside, [1803]. Large 4to (12.75 x 16.75 inches), [7] ff., + engraved title page, frontispiece, 2 portraits and 97 plates illustrating the most-famous scenes from Shakespeare. In the de luxe binding of publisher's straight-grain red morocco gilt, gilt-extra backstrip, gilt design on both covers. Hinges repaired, rubbing at extremities. Some foxing almost exclusively confined to the margins, a bit heavier at front and rear of volume. Bookplate of E.H. R. Noble of South Shields at the front. § First edition, large-paper copy. The very rare duplicate plate by Blake for Romeo and Juliet is present and exceptionally clean ? it is Blake's only plate in the collection. As the preeminent printmaker of his time, John Boydell's publishing house employed many of the best engravers of their generation including Bartolozzi, Stothard, Schiavonetti and Blake. Although Boydell ran this large-scale printmaking and publishing house for nearly 80 years, "his most significant contribution to British art can be considered the patriotic Shakespeare Gallery project conceived in 1786. Boydell employed more than forty different engravers for the large-format and quarto versions of the gallery's prints. A number of high-profile engravers? were employed on a handful of the plates, being paid exceptionally high rates" (DNB). Essick, CBI, XLII. Bentley, BB, p. 616.

"(SHAKESPEARE) [DRYDEN, John and DAVENANT, William]. The Tempest, or the Enchanted Island. A Comedy. As it is now Acted At Their Majesties Theatre in Dorset-Garden. London: Printed by J. M. for H[enry] Herringman, 1690. Small quarto, 20th-century full navy morocco, all edges gilt. Housed in custom cloth clamshell box. $9500.Fifth edition of the Restoration version of The Tempest by William Davenant and John Dryden, handsomely bound in full morocco by Sangorski & Sutcliffe.After the end of the Puritan interval under Cromwell, the restored London theatre depended upon Shakespeare as a source of dramatic materials; but Shakespeare's plays, as he originally wrote them, did not suit the tastes of the newer audiences. Standards of versification and behavior had changed, and to meet the needs of contemporary audiences playwrights refurbished Shakespeare in adaptations that often proved enduring. The motivating force behind this Restoration Tempest was Sir William Davenant, the poet laureate, whose admiration for Shakespeare led him to hint that he himself was an illegitimate son of the dramatist. His co-adaptor Dryden, who the next year would succeed Davenant as poet laureate, writes in the Preface to this edition that Davenant "first taught him to admire" Shakespeare, and praises his amplification of Shakespeare's plot: balancing out the character of Miranda, a woman who has never seen a man, "he design'd the Counter-part to Shakespear's Plot, namely, that of a Man who had never seen a Woman." Samuel Pepys noted the premiere of the adaptation in his Diary on Nov. 7, 1667: "The house mighty full; the King and Court there: and the most innocent play that ever I saw all mightily pleased with the play." The first edition of this version was published in 1670. Wing S2947. Jaggard, 463. McDonald 73d. Bookplate.Interior quite clean, binding fresh. A lovely copy of this important Shakespeare adaptation.".

Vellum with ribbon ties. Condition: Very Good+. William Morris (illustrator). Limited Edition. 8vo. Pp. [vi,] 216. Edited by F. S. Ellis. Woodcut Morris chapter head borders, initials and colophon. Set in Golden Type with section heads, running heads and sonnet numbers printed in red. Bound in limp vellum with overlapping fore edges, olive green ribbon ties, titles stamped in gilt on the spine. Edition limited to 500 on paper.Cover spine and edges moderately darkened, original ties intact with light offsetting to endpapers, top edge dust-soiled, fore-edges minimally age toned, small stain to rear endpapers.Drop-down-back clamshell case in full straight-grain brown morocco, bronze silk sides, spine titles gilt on black morocco labels, gilt rules, five raised bands. One of the scarcer Kelmscotts due to its broad appeal. While 15-or-so copies have appeared at auction in the last ten years, most were afflicted with condition issues, or offered in elaborate bindings. This paper edition is increasingly scarce in the condition at hand, with age-toning to the vellum cover being a characteristic of age. COCKERELL 11; PETERSON A11; RANSOM, p. 326.

First edition, first printing. Letter C of 21 lettered "ad personam" copies aside from the edition of 1200. The colophon states that 350 numbered copies are reserved for other countries, without specifying whether or not these copies are part of the 1200. The bas relief bronze on the upper cover is a recasting of the 'Reclining Figure' portion of 'Relief: Three Quarters Mother and Child and Reclining Figure', 1977 (A. Bowness, Henry Moore Complete Sculpture, vol 5. cat. no. 728). The edition was not signed by the artist. General consensus seems to agree that 1200 copies were not published and the highest recorded number at auction we could find is 520 A Bowness 728. Folio. Original full dark brown morocco with bas relief "Hamlet's Dilemna" in bronze by Moore to front cover, lettering to spine gilt. With sculptural wooden book stand covered in brown suede. Illustrated with 10 original full page drawings after Moore. All in excellent condition.

Couverture rigide. - John Lane Company & Bell & Cockburn, New YorkToronto 1914-1915, 23,5x31,5cm, 2 volumes reliés. - Édition originale de cette rare revue vorticiste qui ne connut que deux numéros. Reliures à la bradel en pleine percaline rouge, dos lisse comportant le titre et la date en noir, couvertures conservées. Rare. [ENGLISH TRANSLATION FOLLOWS] Blast - Review of the Great English Vortex, n° 1 & 2 June 1914 & July 1915 John Lane Company & Bell & Cockburn | New York/Toronto 1914-1915| 23,5 x 31,5 cm | 2 volumes in Bradel binding First edition of this rare and short-lived Vorticist magazine published only twice. Rare. Full red cloth Bradel binding, spine with title and date in black, original wrappers preserved.

Quarter Leather. Condition: Very good. The Merchant of Venice from William Shakespeare's second folio edition, published by Thomas Cotes in 1632. (illustrator). Second Folio. Folio, 163pp-184pp. Quarter calf, title in gilt on spine, raised bands, brown marbled boards. Printed in double column with a woodcut headpiece. Clean text block throughout, with a handful of marks in pencil. Occasional light spotting and staining, no impact to text. Final leaf of text [183-184] has paper restoration to tear along fore edge. Some loss of text to Page 183 from restoration. (Pforzheimer 906) (Jaggard 496) (Greg III: 1113-1116) (STC 22274a). The second folio of William Shakespeare's plays was published in 1632 and contained 36 plays in total. It followed the first folio, which was published in 1623. It is estimated that approximately 1000 copies of the second folio were produced, with only a handful of complete examples still in existence today.

"SHAKESPEARE. The Works. Cambridge and London: Macmillan, 1863-66. Nine volumes. Octavo, early 20th-century three-quarter red morocco, raised bands, elaborately gilt-decorated spines, marbled endpapers, top edges gilt, uncut. $7800.First edition set of the "Cambridge Shakespeare," extra-illustrated with over 250 plates (many of which are hand-colored) of views and scenes and actors and actresses, very handsomely bound by Bayntun."Shakespeare is the Canon. He sets the standard and the limits of literature" (Harold Bloom). "The Cambridge Shakespeare," first published in this 1863-66 edition, has "become the standard text of Shakespeare The introductions contain the safest guide as to authorities for the text and the notes form a complete apparatus criticus of the text [It] is a monument of editorial judgment and accurate scholarship" (Cambridge History of English and American Literature V § 20). Jaggard, 699. Old dealer description laid in.Occasional faint foxing to plates. A beautiful set.".

Hardcover. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Fine. 1st Edition. SHAKESPEARE, William. The Letterpress Shakespeare - 12 volumes. London: The Folio Society, 2007-14. 12 volumes of Shakespeare's finest plays as listed below. Each volume comprises a solander box, the letterpress volume itself, a companion volume, and a cardboard divider. This set is numbered 1,130. The condition of the set is fine. Each main letterpress-printed volume is half-bound in Nigerian goatskin leather. The spine is blocked with the title in gold and the boards are covered in hand-marbled paper. The volumes have sewn binding with a colour-coordinated head and tail band. End papers match the colour of the volume itself and there is also a single matching ribbon marker. The text is printed letterpress on Zerkall mould-made paper. The top edge is gilded, while the bottom and fore edges are deckled. The companion volumes are octavo-sized. Each is Smyth-sewn and bound in buckram coloured to match the rest of the set. The title is printed on a plain label affixed to the front of the volume, and blocked on the spine. The content of these companion volumes is identical to the paperback Oxford Shakespeare editions. The solander presentation boxes are covered in buckram, and lined with paper to match the colour of the rest of the set. Each is identified by a leather label, blocked in gold, that is affixed to the spine. Please note that this item is for UK DELIVERY ONLY. The twelve volumes comprise: A Midsummer Night s Dream Anthony and Cleopatra As You Like It Coriolanus Hamlet Julius Caesar King Lear Macbeth Othello The Tempest Titus Andronicus Twelfth Night.

Half Morocco. Condition: Very Good. First Edition. 101 hand-colored stipple and engraved plates on heavy grey paper stock, when including frontis portrait plate of Shakespeare. Scarce, we believe, in the hand-colored version. While there are a number of institutional copies listed on OCLC First Search, we believe that most, if not all, of these copies are without color -- there is no indication of hand-coloring, which ordinarily there would be, and we know for a certainty that among these copies are ones without coloring. Also seldom in commerce, with the last auction record in 1910, and none available on the internet as of the date of our cataloguing. 4to. 30 by 23 cm. The letterpress plates are on a heavy gray paper stock. The actual illustration is rather small, measuring 9 by 7.5, with the surrounding paper acting as a sort of frame and augmenting the exquisiteness of the illustration, as well as accentuating its importance, in our view. Half blue morocco by Zaehnsdorf. Marbled paper pastedown and endpapers. Top edge gilt, other edges uncut. Condition: binding has moderate wear, with considerable rubbing along joints and corners. One swirled abrasion on front cover leather. Plates clean, and a tight copy otherwise.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. 9 Volumes. large folio. with half-titles. 95 engraved plates (of 100?; incl. 2 portraits, 1 bound as a frontis.). contemporary blind & gilt-stamped straight-grained dark blue morocco, gilt backs, all edges gilt (rubbed, some surface abrasions to covers & spines, scattered foxing & browning). bookplate of William Kemmis. First Edition, Second Issue, of the 'Boydell Shakespeare'; our copy has 95 engraved plates whereas Jaggard calls for 100 (the NUC cites a frontis. & 96 plates). Boydell s Shakespeare combined the work of the best painters and engravers working in England at the time, among them Reynolds, Stothard, Hamilton, Smirke, Romney, Fuseli, Opie, Hamilton, Northcote, Neagle, Wheatley, West, Westall, and Schiavonetti. This work was " the first great effort of the kind ever made by English artists, and its influence cannot be overestimated." (DNB) According to Jaggard the production of these "sumptuous" plates "swallowed up a fortune." "The original paintings filled the great Shakespeare Gallery in Pall Mall, and made the name of Boydell famous." (Idem.) "This work was meant to be a magnificent national edition, in which splendour of production was to go hand in hand with correctness of text. "With regard to the Typographical part of the work," Nicol says, "the state of printing in England, when it was first undertaken [1786], was such that it was found necessary to establish a printing-house on purpose to print the work; a foundry to cast the types; and even a manufactory to make the ink." (Updike) Jaggard p. 508. Updike, Printing Types, II p. 144.

Condition: Near Fine. Hayman, Francis; Gravelot, Hubert (illustrator). First Hanmer Edition. Quarto. First edition of Hanmer's six volume set; first edition thus. Bound in contemporary speckled boards ruled in gilt, spines very neatly rebacked. Binding lightly rubbed and worn, though solid; corners softened and instances of leather lifting from boards. Previous ownership bookplates and notations to front endsheets. Spot of wear to bottom textblock edge of Volume VI. Light worming. Sir Thomas Hanmer, a British politician who served as Speaker of the House of Commons, based this set on Pope's 1725 edition. Though Hanmer's editorial treatment left some critics wanting, the merits of this edition were readily apparent in its stunning typography and 36 copper engravings by Francis Hayman and Hubert Gravelot. Originally printed in a small run, it proved to be very popular and commercially successful. Additionally, this Hanmer edition marked the first time Shakespeare's plays were printed at the University Press at Oxford.

Hardcover. Condition: Fair. 1st Edition. Fair in boards (separated). Wear to edges of boards, backstrip missing. some foxing to pages. Photos sent upon request. This extremely rare volume (the first printing of an octavo edition) of famous Shakespeare forgeries survives over the last 200 years with most of its pages bound together and boards present but separated. In fact, the first 5 pages are separate as well. They consist of the title page, blank page with signature of former owner and tear to upper right corner, frontispiece drawing (crudely executed) of what look to be a coat of arms and similarly crude drawing of Shakespeare with signature forged in each of 4 corners. Also, the first page of the 24-page preface is also separated. The preface is followed by a 3-page list of "Words and Letters supplied that appear to have been wanting in the MS." Following this list is: A letter from Queen Elizabeth to Shakespeare and his short letter in response and "Extracts from Miscellaneous Papers," 3 penned by Shakespeare and one by Jn Hemymge, all money notes. Also, a forged one-page letter and 5 short verses from Shakespeare to "Anna Hatherrewaye", Shakespeare's "Letter to the Earl of Southampton" together with "The Earl of Southampton's Answer", folowed by a "Profession of Faith" by Shakespeare (2 pages). Also, Shakespeare's "Letter to Richard Cowley" and "Deed of Gift to Ireland" and "Tributary Lines to Ireland, followed by "Agreement with John Lowine", "Agreement with Henry Condelle", "Lease to Mich, Fraser and Elizth, his Wife", and "Deed of Trust to John Hemynge." "Tragedye of Kynge Leare" is printed on 156 numbered pages. "Hamelette" is a fragment, only 7 numbered pages. There are 3 splits in the book itself: between the "Agreement with Henry Condelle" and "Lease to Michl, Fraser and Elizth, his Wife", between pp. 64 and 65 of "Kynge Leare", and between the last page and board.

Full Crimson Morocco. Condition: Nearly Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: No Dust Jacket. Special ROLFE EDITION. Twenty volumes uniformly bound. This is the SPECIAL ROLFE EDITION, limited to TEN SETS, this being #2. "The Cambridge text from the latest edition of William Aldis Wright: with introductions, notes and glossaries to each play by Israel Gollancz, Editor of The Temple Shakespeare. This set is edited and contains a special introduction by Wm. J. Rolfe. The set was bound by Whitman Bennett. Covers are bordered in heavy fillet with corner theatrical faces, an inner narrow fillet, with a central vignette of Mr. Shakespeare in profile. Spines are in six panels with gilt titles and designs. Top edges gilt. Inner dentelles. Marbled endpapers. Printed on Japon vellum. Each volume provided with a frontispiece in two states, each with a captioned tissue-guard. Additional illustrations in each volume, all in two states with captioned tissue-guards. The New Century Shakespeare was also published in limited edition of 100 and 1000. We are unable to locate another set from this special edition of ten. The sets with higher limitation were printed in twenty-four volumes. We believe that the limited set of ten was published complete in twenty volumes. Volumes 21-24 included those plays ascribed to Shakespeare, a Life of Shakespeare, and additional glossary. The twenty volumes include all 37 of the plays with the Poems and Sonnets. Volume 2 shows evidence of old water-staining. Pages are quite pliable, some wrinkling, without any loss of paper. Plates show water-stain. Binding does not show any damage. All other volumes are in superb condition. This is a beautifully-crafted set, A rare find among the Bard's offerings. Postage will be extra. Size: Large Octavo.

8vo. with half-titles in Vols. II-VIII. engraved frontis. portrait of Shakespeare by George Vertue. contemporary calf (1 cover not uniform in design, neatly rebacked (covers partly oxidized, corners worn, library stamp erased from titles & repaired on verso). Second Johnson Edition, with Johnson s preface paginated and the name of T.Longman appearing in the imprint in Volumes 1-II. Johnson first contemplated a variorum edition of Shakespeare in 1745. When it finally appeared his Preface attracted general admiration. "Adam Smith is said to have called it "the most manly piece of criticism that was ever published in any country". In the Cambridge edition both Preface and notes are described as distinguished by clearness of thought and diction and by masterly common sense . But, taken as a whole, the edition disappointed the expectations of the subscribers .Johnson s Preface gave a great impetus to Shakespearian study " (Courtney & Smith) Courtney & Smith pp. 103-08 & Chapman & Hazen pp. 146-47 (noting this as a second issue of the first edition). Jaggard p. 501. Pforzheimer 911g.