Shakespeare William. THE PLAYS AND POEMS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, With the Corrections and Illustrations of Various Commentators: Comprehending A LIFE OF THE POET, and an Enlarged History of the Stage, by the Late Edmond Malone. With a New Glossarial Index. [With the important preface by Boswell and the prefaces by Pope, Theobald, Hanmer, Warburton, johson, Steevens, Reed, Malone, Richardson as well as commentary by other illustrious thinkers and writers of the day, and including Rowe’s Life and Malone’s Life of Shakespeare and Commendatory Poems on Shakespeare, as well as extensive notes on the plays, their order and an essay on the English stage et al.]. London F.C. and J. Rivington; et al 1821, 1821.

Price: US$3795.00 + shipping

Description: 21 volumes. The ‘Boswell’s Malone’ Edition, first thus. With engraved frontispiece portraits of Shakespeare in Volume I and II and III, engraved illustration of the Globe and folding leaves in Vol. III, with steel-engraved plate in Vol. VIII, a large folding engraved plate in Vol. XVI, and printed music in Vol. XVII. 8vo, handsomely bound in contemporary full smooth tan calf, boards gilt ruled, gilt decorated board edges, spines attractively gilt tooled in panels between raised gilt tooled bands, lettering labels in two panels of dark green and buff morocco, smaller morocco volume labels at the tails, all labels lettered in gilt, a.e.g. A very handsome and stately set in proper bindings, internally very fresh, bindings with some minor age evidence, some cracking to hinges on some volumes, one cover detached and easily repaired,still a pleasing and handsome set. AN IMPORTANT AND EARLY PRINTING OF THE WORKS. This variorum edition not only forms a fine summery of the cumulative scholarship on Shakespeare during the 18th century but has time and again been called the foundation of modern Shakespearean scholarship. James Boswell, the son of Johnson’s biographer, had a hard task in ordering Malone’s papers - "I may add", he states in his 50 page introduction, "that it is not everyone who could have deciphered his notes." Along with all of Malone’s material this set contains three full volumes of scholarly works including the prefaces of all of the major editions of the previous century, more then one life of Shakespeare, Boswell’s life of Malone, histories of the stage, Shakespeare’s will, Coat of Arms and other relative documents to the Bards life and extensive notes on and from the modern editions. In addition to all of this material is the extensive and very useful ‘Glossarial Index’ and an Addenda. No less then 35 publishers joined forces to produce these volumes and it is alone among the variorum editions to include a volume of Poems. Its influence was such that many years later the Sette of Odd Volumes, a renowned bibliophile dining club, limited its membership to 21 stating this in its list of rules; "The Sette of Odd Volumes to consist of twenty one, this being the number of volumes of the variorum Shakespeare of 1821".

Seller: Buddenbrooks, Inc., Newburyport, MA, U.S.A.

Shakespeare William. THE PLAYS AND POEMS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, With the Corrections and Illustrations of Various Commentators: Comprehending A LIFE OF THE POET, and an Enlarged History of the Stage, by the Late Edmond Malone. With a New Glossarial Index. [With the important preface by Boswell and the prefaces by Pope, Theobald, Hanmer, Warburton, johson, Steevens, Reed, Malone, Richardson as well as commentary by other illustrious thinkers and writers of the day, and including Rowe’s Life and Malone’s Life of Shakespeare and Commendatory Poems on Shakespeare, as well as extensive notes on the plays, their order and an essay on the English stage et al.]. London F.C. and J. Rivington; et al 1821, 1821.

Price: US$3987.50 + shipping

Description: 21 volumes. The First Edition of ‘Boswell’s Malone’ Edition, a highly important printing of the bard's works. This copy with very interesting and established provenance. The set was owned by Edward Weeks, member of an old Boston and New England family and long-time editor of The Atlantic where he wrote a column for many years entitled "The Perpatetic Reviewer." Previous to Mr. Weeks, the set was owned by the aviator, Louis Bleriot, the first person to fly across the English Channel. His signature is in one of the volumes. With engraved frontispiece portraits of Shakespeare in Volume I, II and III, engraved illustration of the Globe and folding leaves in Vol. III, with steel-engraved plate in Vol. VIII, a large folding engraved plate in Vol. XVI, and printed music in Vol. XVII. 8vo, handsomely bound in contemporary full smooth tan polished calf, the covers gilt decorated at the borders with a roll-tooled chain pattern, gilt decorated board edges, the spines attractively gilt decorated in elaborate panels within the compartments, raised bands gilt ruled, contrasting lettering labels in red and green in three compartments. A very handsome and stately set in proper bindings, internally very fresh, bindings with some minor age evidence, some restoration to some hinges on some volumes. A handsome and pleasing set. AN IMPORTANT AND EARLY PRINTING OF THE WORKS. This variorum edition not only forms a fine summery of the cumulative scholarship on Shakespeare during the 18th century but has time and again been called the foundation of modern Shakespearean scholarship. James Boswell, the son of Johnson’s biographer, had a hard task in ordering Malone’s papers - "I may add", he states in his 50 page introduction, "that it is not everyone who could have deciphered his notes." Along with all of Malone’s material this set contains three full volumes of scholarly works including the prefaces of all of the major editions of the previous century, more then one life of Shakespeare, Boswell’s life of Malone, histories of the stage, Shakespeare’s will, Coat of Arms and other relative documents to the Bards life and extensive notes on and from the modern editions. In addition to all of this material is the extensive and very useful ‘Glossarial Index’ and an Addenda. No less then 35 publishers joined forces to produce these volumes and it is alone among the variorum editions to include a volume of Poems. Its influence was such that many years later the Sette of Odd Volumes, a renowned bibliophile dining club, limited its membership to 21 stating this in its list of rules; "The Sette of Odd Volumes to consist of twenty one, this being the number of volumes of the variorum Shakespeare of 1821".

Seller: Buddenbrooks, Inc., Newburyport, MA, U.S.A.

William Shakespeare [ Malone's Variorum Shakespeare. THE PLAYS AND POEMS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, WITH THE CORRECTIONS AND ILLUSTRATIONS OF VARIOUS COMMENTORS: COMPREHENDING A LIFE OF THE POET, AND AN ENLARGED HISTORY OF THE STAGED, BY THE LATE EDMOND MALONE. With A New Glossarial Index. F.C. & Rivington, London, 1821.

Price: US$5000.00 + shipping

Condition: Fine

Description: A handsome 21 volumes complete 3/4 leather bound with marbled boards and end papers, Malone's Variorum Shakespeare. Considered one of the finest scholarly Boswell/Malone editions. First printing, thus. Five raised bands to spines. Top edge gold gilt. No cracked hinges. No bumped corners. Although, one volume has very light rubbing to corner. No bookplates or ownership signatures. A lovely set which will cost extra to ship. See All Pictures.

Seller: Booklegger's Fine Books ABAA, Park Ridge, IL, U.S.A.

SHAKESPEARE (William). The Plays and Poems of William Shakespeare, with the Corrections and Illustrations of Various Commentators; Comprehending A Life of the Poet, and An Enlarged History of the Stage by the Late Edmond Malone. With a New Glossarial Index.. London: Printed for F. C. and J. Rivington; T. Egerton; J. Cuthell; Scatcherd and Letterman; Longman Hurst Rees Orme and Brown; Cadell and Davies; Lackington and Co.; J. Booker; Black and Co.; J. Booth; J. Richardson; J.M. Richardson; J. Murray; J. Harding; R.H. Evans; J. Mawman; R. Scholey; T. Earle; J. Bohn; C. Brown; Gray and Son; R. Pheney; Baldwin Cradock and Joy; Newman and Co.; Ogles Duncan and Co.; T. Hamilton; W. Wood; J. Sheldon; E. Edwards; Whitmore and Fenn; W. Mason; G. and W.B. Whittaker; Simpkin and Marshall; R. Saunders ; Cambridge : J. Deighton and Sons ; York : Wilson and Son ; Edinburgh : Stirling and Slade; Fairbairn and Anderson; and D. Brown Printed by C. Baldwin New-bridge street London, 1821.

Price: US$15527.51 + shipping

Description: 21 volumes. 8vo, 212 x 126, pp. [volume 1]: lxxvi, [3] – 585 [586 blank]; [volume 2]: [iv], 697 [698 blank]; volume 3: [iv], [3], 4 – 549 [550 blank], with engraved illustration of the Globe on page 64 and 3 folding leaves inserted between pages 356 and 357; volume 4: [iv], [3] 4 – 483 [484 blank]; volume 5: [iv], [3] 4 – 532; volume 6: [iv], [2] 3 – 521 [522 blank]; volume 7: [iv], [5] – 540; volume 8: [iv], [3] 4 – 456; volume 9: [iv], [3] 4 – 501 [502 blank], with steel-engraved plate printed vertically on page 501; volume 10: [iv], [2] 3 – 493 [494 blank]; volume 11: [iv], [3] 4 – 508; volume 12: [iv], [2] 3 – 432; volume 13: [iv], [2] 3 – 436; volume 14: [iv], [5] 6 – 430; volume 15: [iv], [2] 3 – 434; volume 16: [iv], [3] 4 – 435 436 blank], with folding engraved plate of Morris Dancers between pages 418 and 429; volume 17: [iv], [5] 6 – 482, with printed music in text on page 426 [Henry V]; volume 18: [iv], [3] 4 – 597 [598 blank]; volume 19: [iv], [3] 4 – 502; volume 20: [iv], [7] 8 – 468; volume 21: [iv], [3] 4 – 546 [547 Errata, 548 blank], engraved portrait of Shakespeare as frontispiece in volumes 1 and 2, bound in attractive straight-grain blue morocco, by Dickenson of Cambridge, with his stamp in blind – "Dickenson Binder Cambridge" – on the front cover of volumes 1 and 21, with the arms of Christ's College, Cambridge, in gilt on each cover, within a gilt and blind border, decorative ornaments in each corner, spine gilt with ornaments at top (Lancashire rose, with crown above) and base (portcullis surmounted by crown, for the Houses of Parliament) of spine, with decorations in gilt to fore-edges, all edges gilt; some slight damp-staining of pink end-papers, but a fine set. The literary career of Edmund Malone (1741 – 1812), who was trained as a barrister and was called to the Irish bar in 1767, was facilitated by an inheritance of £1000 from his uncle. He moved to London permanently in May, 1777, where he renewed his acquaintance with the Shakespearian scholar George Steevens (1736 – 1800). His first Shakespearean endeavour was that of determining, as best he could, the chronology of Shakespeare's plays. In a short period of time, he had embarked on his own edition of Shakespeare, writing to Joseph Warton in November, 1785, "My Shakespeare hardly leaves me time for eating or sleeping." He enthusiastically embarked on publishing his early results, remarking in Dec ember, 1785, to James Caulfiedl, First Ear of Charlemont (1728 – 1799), that "My edition of Shakespeare takes up all my time at present. I have printed about half my work, but it will be a full year before it will be completed." The edition was published in 1790. Malone died before he could complete the present edition, usually known as "The Malone-Boswell third variorum edition." As the unofficial literary executor of Malone's estate, James Bowell the younger (1778 – 1822) undertook the task of completing this edition. Boswell had plenty of material to work with. As Malone's biographer, Peter Martin writes, "Malone discovered more about Shakespeare's life than anyone before or since . He also discovered much about Shakespeare's immediate family . The influence of the edition would extend throughout the nineteenth century and into the modern era of Shakespearean scholarship, which while it has demonstrated that Malone made mistakes, has also confirmed his distinctions as a pioneer not simply in matters Shakespearean but in literary-historical scholarship as a profession." Peter Martin: Edmund Malone. Shakepearean scholar. A literary biography. (Cambridge, 1995).

Seller: John Price Antiquarian Books, ABA, ILAB, LONDON, United Kingdom