Rowe N Icholas Editor (1 results)

First Octavo Edition. Large Paper Issue, with gutter margin measuring 1.6cm. Six Royal Octavo volumes (22.75cm); early 19th century bottle green English straight grain morocco, spines in six compartments, with double-ruled gilt panels and floreate tooling to covers, with titling and decorative elements in gilt within the spine compartments; gilt dentelles and marbled endpapers; all edges gilt; Vol.I: portrait frontispiece by M. Van der Gucht, general title, volume title, A-A4, xl,[1-3],4-463,[464] + [8] leaves of plates; Vol.II: portrait frontispiece, volume title, [465-467],468-975,[976] + [7] leaves of plates; Vol.III: portrait frontispiece, volume title, [977-979],980-1535,[1536] + [7] leaves of plates; Vol.IV: portrait frontispiece, volume title, [1537-1539],1540-2072 + [6] leaves of plates; Vol.V: portrait frontispiece, volume title, [2703-2075],2076-2647,[2648] + [7] leaves of plates; Vol.VI: portrait frontispiece, volume title, [2651-2655],2656-3324 + [9] leaves of plates. All misnumbered pages (per Ford) are accounted for; Volume I bound without the Arlaud-Duchange portrait, and Volume VI lacking preliminary blank leaf A1 (p.2649-2650).A hint of sunning to spines, mild external wear and a few tiny rubbed spots, upper text edges showing some light spotting and dust-soil, with rear cover of Vol.VI showing a 1.5" scratch and several faint scuffs; some general light aging to text, with occasional faint foxing to margins, though on the whole quite clean; hinges sound; Near Fine. Handsome set of Shakespeare's works, the first to follow the four folio editions. "In importance and interest, this edition ranks second perhaps to the edition princeps. It is the first manual text, the first to present a biography of the poet, the first to bear an editor's name, the first to possess illustrations, and the first of the endless army of editions in octavo. The text is copied from the fourth folio of 1685, and a companion (or seventh) volume was issued by another firm containing the 'Poems' (Jaggard, p.497). ESTC T138296; Ford, p.10. 8500.