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First illustrated and first octavo set of The Works of Ben Johnson in beautiful armorial fine full morocco. Ben Johnson was Shakespeare's contemporary and rival, considered second only to the Bard in importance and eminence (by modern scholars) during the reign of James I. Though at the time, the distinction of superior literary merit was less clear. Set Condition: Good, detached front board on Vol. I Scarce set to find complete. BOOK INFO Published in 1716 by J. Walthoe, et al. in London. First octavo edition and first illustrated edition of The Works of Ben Johnson. Large paper edition. Rebound early 19th century by John Clarke in the style of 17th century fine French bindings for Rev. Theodore Williams of England (1785 -1875). An armorial full morocco fine binding. Covers with centered coat of arms of Thedoore Williams tooled in gilt. Raised spine bands separate compartments lavishly tooled and ruled in gilt; two compartments with gilt lettered and decorated morocco spine labels. All board edges ruled in gilt. All page edges gilt. Marbled endpapers and turn-ins ruled in triple gilt fillets with corner fleuron devices. Endpapers refreshed. Octavo, 8 3/4" x 5 1/2". Copper engraved plates and woodcut initials and head- and tail-pieces. Collated and complete in six volumes, including all 12 plates (inlcuding frontispiece): Vol I: 512 pages, [5] leaves of plates.Every man in his humour; Every man out of his humour; Cynthia's revels, or, The fountain of self-love; Poetaster Vol II:[2], 448 pages, [4] leaves of plates.Sejanus: his fall; Volpone, or the fox; The silent woman; The alchymist Vol III:488 pages, [1] leaf of plates.Catiline's conspiracy; Epigrams; The forest; Entertainments, masques, speeches, & c Vol IV: 455, [1] pages, [2] leaves of plates.Bartholomew Fair; The staple of news; The devil is an ass; The magnetick lady, or, Humours reconcil'd Vol V:[2], 432 pages.A tale of a tub; The sad shepherd, or, A tale of Robin Hood; Under-woods: consisting of divers poems; Mortimer's fall; Masques Vol VI:[2], 414, [10] pages.Masques; Horace's Art of poetry translated into English verse; The English grammar; Explorata, or, Discoveries made upon men and matter; The new inn, or, The light heart; Epilogue CONDITION REPORT Volumes are Good overall. Front board detached in Volume I. Refreshed endpapers. Exterior and Binding: Volume I with front board detached and back board three-fourths detached (may detach during shipment). Several volumes with vertical cracks down spine. Heavily rubbed joints, cracking. Rubbed and worn extremities. Areas of soiling and darkening of leather. Interior: Descriptive note of set adhered to front pastedown of Volume I. Pages are generally clean and bright and off white to lightly toned. Light to sporadic foxing. Several areas with professionally repaired tears and neat marginal paper restoration. Some pencil writing and partially erased pencil writing on blanks. A few passages with marginalia in pencil in a 19th century hand. A few plates with very light offsetting. Other signs of light handling like some bent or nicked corners or light creases. No ex libris marks or former owner bookplates. PROVENANCE Theodore Williams (1785 - 1875) was the son of James Williams of Westmoreland, Jamaica. He was the Vicar of Hendon for sixty-three years. As a young man he collected a magnificent library, which he had sumptuously bound. The majority of his collection were bound by Charles Lewis or John Clarke, often in the style of 17th century fine binding. His library was sold at auction in London in 1827. He lived almost another 50 years post-sale. An uncommon example of a cured bilbiomaniac - an example to which I cannot relate! ABOUT BEN JOHNSON Benjamin Jonson (June 1572 ? August 1637) was an English poet and playwright. Jonson's artistry exerted a lasting influence on English poetry and stage comedy. He popularized the comedy of humors. He is best known for the satirical plays Every Man in His Humour (1598), Volpone,
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