Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
William Shakespeare. The Plays of Shakespeare Vol. I. George Routledge & Co., 1858.
Price: US$28.27 + shipping
Condition: Fair
Description: 1858. No Edition Remarks. 746 pages. No dust jacket. Half bound in red leather with marbled paper covered boards and gilt. Rebound. Pages remain clear with minimal tanning and foxing, mild to end-papers and text-block edges. Heavy cracking at the hinges with exposed binding material. Boards have moderate edge-wear with bumping to corners and rubbing to surfaces. Cloth has minor damp and dust stains. Mild crushing to spine ends. Book has a slight forward lean. Peeling and loss to leather. Gilt lettering is bright and clear. Hinges are worn with some splitting to leather.
Seller: World of Rare Books, Goring-by-Sea, SXW, United Kingdom
Price: US$288.19 + shipping
Description: First thus. Published 1858-1860. 3 volumes large 8vo (101/4 x 7 inches), pages: 746; 771; & 816. Strongly bound contemporary half dark green morocco over marbled boards. Spines gilt ruled and gilt lettered direct, all edges gilt. Some scuffing to boards and edges but overall very good and attractive on the shelf.
Seller: Bristow & Garland, Shaftesbury, United Kingdom
Price: US$384.26 + shipping
Description: Three volumes, large 8vo. Numerous engravings in the text, marbled endpapers and edges, later bookplate to paste downs. Contemporary red half morocco, gilt spines, some very mild rubbing otherwise a handsome set.
Seller: Bow Windows Bookshop (ABA, ILAB), Lewes, United Kingdom
Price: US$634.03 + shipping
Description: The complete plays of Shakespeare in three volumes, edited by Howard Staunton and adorned with illustrations by John Gilbert. The plays of William Shakespeare in three sweeping volumes, with editing by Howard Staunton, chess master and world's strongest player from 1841 to 1951, as well as praised Shakespeare scholar. He undertook this work with Routledge from 1847, and received positive criticism. First edition thus, in uniform half morocco bindings.Embellished with a frontispiece to vol. I and illustrations by John Gilbert in text engraved by the brothers Dalziel. In uniform half morocco bindings over cloth covered boards, gilt to edges. Externally smart with shelf wear, boards lightly marked, general light soiling, minor mark to front board vol. III. Front hinges slightly strained, boards holding firm. Binding firm. Light spotting to endpapers and frontispiece, otherwise pages bright and clean. Very Good Indeed
Seller: Rooke Books PBFA, Bath, United Kingdom
Price: US$650.00 + shipping
Description: First Edition Thus. Hardcover. Exceptionally illustrated by John Gilbert, engraved by "The Brothers Dalziel". A handsome set embodying the renowned editing of H. Staunton. Bookplate of Alfred Petit (?-1895), noted French artist in two of the three volumes.Book ticket of Veuve J. Boyveau, Librairie Étrangère, Paris at verso of ffep. Increasingly hard to find in nice condition, particularly in period binding. Overall, a handsome set. Light shelf/edge wear, some tips/edges through, bit of rubbing/wear at hinges, head and heel, minor foxing at preliminaries (text blocks clean), owner bookplate at pastedown, bookseller plate at ffep, else tight, bright and unmarred. Halfbound, brown leather spine and tips, four raised bands, gilt lettering and decorative elements, frontispiece, purple silk ribbon bound in. Small 4to. 746pp; 768pp; 816pp. Illus. (b/w plates).
Seller: Lux Mentis, Booksellers, ABAA/ILAB, Portland, ME, U.S.A.
William Shakespeare. Plays of Shakespeare. George Routledge & Co, 1858.
Price: US$1000.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: THIS COMPLETE THREE VOLUME SET IS IN GREAT CONDITION BEAUTIFULLY BOUND IN FULL CRUSHED MOROCCO WITH BRIGHT GILT ELABORATE RULE TO BOARDS, SIX COMPARTMENTS AND FIVE RAISED BANDS TO SPINE WITH BRIGHT GILT DETAILS AND TITLE. BINDING AND HINGES ARE VERY GOOD, MARBLED END PAPERS AND PASTE DOWNS WITH BRIGHT GILT END PAGES. NO LOOSE OR MISSING PAGES, PAGES ARE BRIGHT AND CLEAN, WITHOUT MARKS AND MINIMAL FOXING MOSTLY TO PRELIMINARY PAGES. PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED, BOOKS MEASURE 10"x7". 163 YEARS OLD. A STUNNING SET IN REMARKABLE CONDITION.
Seller: Reagan's Rare Books, Moseley, VA, U.S.A.
Price: US$1375.00 + shipping
Description: 3 volumes. First edition edited by Howard Staunton and illustrated by John Gilbert. Engraved frontispiece of the Bard and a great profusion of engraved illustrations throughout, both within the text and as full page plates. 8vo, original midnight-blue three-quarter morocco edged in gold over pebbled cloth boards, spines richly gilt, separated into compartments with gilt lettering, gilt ruled raised bands, and elaborately decorated gilt panel designs within the compartments, marbled endpapers, a.e.g. lxviii, 746; 768; 816 pp. A fine set, all gilt and all bindings still very handsome and bright, with only expected minor foxing to the prelims. A HANDSOME SET INDEED. Staunton has painstakingly researched Shakespeares original language and manuscripts (when possible) in an attempt to wrap himself around the Bards mind, "to explain his obscurities, to disentangle his intricacies and to illustrate his allusions" [preface]. The result is a well-glossed and intelligently edited set of Shakespeares plays, complete with an extensive biographical section about Shakespeare, miscellaneous documents relating to his estate, and a reprint of his famous will in which he bequeaths to his wife his "second best bed, with the furniture." This edition also contains a plethora of intricate and delightful illustrations by John Gilbert. A truly beautiful set.
Seller: Buddenbrooks, Inc., Newburyport, MA, U.S.A.