Miscellaneous Papers And Legal Instruments Under The Hand And Seal of William Shakespeare including The Tragedy of King Lear and a Small Fragment of Hamlet from the Original Mss. in the Possession of Samuel Ireland of Norfolk Street

IRELAND, Samuel

Published by Mr Egerton, Whitehall (& 6 others), Printed by Copper and Graham, Covent Garden, London, 1795

About this Item

The very rare first folio-sized title (17 in. x 13 in. x 1.5 in. or 43cm x 33 cm x 4 cm) of which only 368copies were produced for the 122 subscribers which included Bristol Library and New College Oxford. Printed in December 1795, although dated 1796 to the title page, it precedes the octavo-sized edition of 1796 which is itself quite scarce. Old mottled calf laid down over later (probably 19th C) spine and corners, original pink, white and green marbled endpapers. Pastedown bears the scuffed bookplate of one James Beatty, a doctor of laws from Aberdeen circa 1780 and has the motto: "Lumen Coeleste Sequamur". Title page is dated 1796, dedication page dated Dec. 1795, 9pp Preface, 4ppKing Lear Glossary, Errata, 2pp list of subscribers, Directions to the Binder, Fac-similies of Shakespeare's Autographs, Queen Elizabeth's letter, Extracts from Miscellaneous Papers , Note Of Hand, Letter to Anne Hatherrewaye, Verses to the same, Letter to the Earl of Southampton, The Earl's Answer, Profession Of Faith, Letter to Richard Cowley, Portrait of Shakespeare enclosed in letter, Reverse of ditto, Deed of Gift to Ireland, Tributary Lines to Ireland, View of Ireland's House and Coats of Arms, Bassanio and Shylock (2 full hand-coloured prints), Agreement with John Lowine, Agreement with Henry Condelle, Lease to M. Fraser and His Wife, Deed of Trust to John Hemynge, King Lear, Hamlet (with copies of some of the handwritten manuscript pages). Heavy foxing in places, although the majority of the pages and the plates are quite clean. Front joint very good indeed, rear joint looser with good repair to old split at top. A genuine original Shakespearean rarity. Weighs 3.6 kg and will require extra postage and insurance which will be quote at the time of inquiring about purchase. This would be an ideal acquisition by an institutional library or perhaps by an individual collector who is an absolute completist on everything Shakespeare-related. Weighs 3.6 kg and will require extra postage and insurance which will be quote at the time of inquiring about purchase. Provenance: from the estate of the Scottish playwright John Cargill Thompson (1938-2000).

Seller Inventory # 8003

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Miscellaneous Papers And Legal Instruments Under The Hand And Seal of William Shakespeare including The Tragedy of King Lear and a Small Fragment of Hamlet from the Original Mss. in the Possession of Samuel Ireland of Norfolk Street
• Publisher: Mr Egerton, Whitehall (& 6 others), Printed by Copper and Graham, Covent Garden, London
• Publication Date: 1795
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket
• Seller catalogs:
  • Shakespeare
  • Antiquarian