SHAKESPEARE, William (1564-1616). Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies. Published according to the true Original Copies. Unto which is added, Seven Plays, never before Printed in Folio. London: [Robert Roberts and others for] H. Herringman, E...

SHAKESPEARE, William (1564-1616). Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies. Published according to the true Original Copies. Unto which is added, Seven Plays, never before Printed in Folio. London: [Robert Roberts and others for] H. Herringman, E. Brewster, and R. Bentley, 1685.

An exceptionally tall copy of the Brewster/Bentley issue of Shakespeare's Fourth Folio. Shakespeare’s collected works are considered the most important and influential in the English language, described by Samuel Johnson as “the mirrour of life” and his contemporary Ben Jonson as “not of an age but for all time.” The last edition of Shakespeare's plays to be published in the 17th century, the text of the Fourth Folio provided the basis for most of the editions of the following hundred years. It was the first collected edition of Shakespeare to appear in over twenty years, meeting a renewed interest in the Bard’s work and becoming part of Herringman’s series of folio publications of the pre-Restoration “Triumvirate of Wit” (Shakespeare, Jonson, and Fletcher). The most immediately striking aspect of the Fourth Folio is its height. Herringman and his co-publishers decided on a larger paper size to increase the number of lines per page and decrease the bulk of the book. Wing S-2915; Greg III, pp 1119-21; see Pforzheimer 910 and 911.

Folio (364 x 227mm). 458 leaves: COMPLETE. Shakespeare's portrait engraved by Martin Droeshout in fourth state. With all missignings as in Pforzheimer except Oo (title and portrait neatly repaired in the inside margin; 35 leaves with short marginal repaired tears, of which 5 just crossing border, Xx2 with discreet repairs touching text, Ii3 and Yy6 with printer’s flaw crossing text). 19th-century red crushed levant morocco gilt by F. Bedford (foot of upper joint starting). Provenance: George Smith (his sale, Sotheby’s, 10 July 1867, lot 2359) – Cecil Dunn Gardner (pencil notes, signature; his sale, Sotheby’s, 21-26 June 1880, lot 1419) – Parke-Bernet Galleries, 5 October 1965, lot 190.

Pre-Lot Text
PROPERTY OF A PRIVATE COLLECTOR