About this Item
Nine volumes, large thick folio (each volume measures approximately 13 by 17 in., together occupying about 22 in. of shelf space). Contemporary full burgundy morocco over wood boards, raised bands, elaborately gilt-decorated covers and spines, all edges gilt. This set complete with a 1802 general title page for each volume, all half-titles, two portraits of Shakespeare, and 95 additional plates after Reynolds, Northcote, Porter, Bunbury, Opie, Westall, Smirke, Stothard, Hamilton, and other eminent artists. Note that, due to Boydell's inconsistent methods of assembling the volumes, complete copies can have anywhere between 95 and 100 plates. Scattered foxing around plates, a few instances of faint dampstaining; magnificent contemporary binding with slight sunning to spines and occasional scratch to boards. A beautiful copy of a historic edition of Shakespeare. First Boydell edition, perhaps the grandest edition of Shakespeare ever published: nine large volumes, on the finest Whatman paper, abundantly illustrated with engravings taken from specially commissioned paintings by leading artists. "According to the prospectus, issued in 1786, a type foundry, an ink factory, and a printing house were all specially erected for the production of this edition" (Jaggard). The massive undertaking put its publisher into bankruptcy due to the excessive cost of the production. At the Lord Mayor of London's suggestion, Parliament passed a special act allowing for a lottery which made it possible to finish the work. A truly monumental labor of devotion, all aspects of this edition are impressive; the Boydell Shakespeare has long kept its appeal to collectors, and Jaggard notes its increasing rarity as copies are broken up for its decorative plates. "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" (Franklin, p. 47). The king's printer, George Nicol, stated "no printing press, which has hitherto existed, ever produced a work in nine large volumes in folio so uniformly beautiful" (ibid., p. 48). Provenance: Nineteenth-century armorial bookplate of Charles Augustus Wood to upper pastedown of each volume. Jaggard 506; Lowndes VI, 2263. Colin Franklin, Shakespeare Domesticated, 1991. Near Fine.
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