Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
Price: US$160.11 + shipping
Condition: Fair
Description: First edition thus 1914. With 12 tipped-in colour plates and line drawings by W. Heath-Robinson. Front endpaper is slightly creased at top corner. Some light foxing in places, heavier at the beginning and end. Publishers cream cloth spine and green paper covered boards. Corners lightly bumped and frayed, some marking and slight discolouration to paper sides. All edges lightly rubbed. Some slight bubbling to the paper on rear boards. Top of the spine very slightly frayed. The front panel of the dustwrapper is loosely inserted inside front cover. 185 p.
Seller: James Hine, Ilminster, SOMER, United Kingdom
Shakespeare, William. A Midsummer Night's Dream. Constable & Co., London., 1914.
Price: US$161.63 + shipping
Description: Decorated and gilt spine and front board. With illustrations by W. Heath Robinson. 12 tipped-in colour plates and 32 b/w illustrations. Good copy. Slight wear to cover. Rubbing to top and bottom of spine. Light bump to one corner. Exlibris to front endpaper. Small chip to bottom edge of pp. 175 and 179. An attractive copy of this rare edition. Publisher's green cloth. No dust jacket. 185pp.
Seller: Kælderantikvariatet, Aarhus C, Denmark
Price: US$224.15 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: 12 tipped in colour plates and 32 black and white illustrations. Internally very clean with occasional light foxing. Prize label on front free endpaper. Quarter binding with beige/oatmeal buckram over green cloth. corners worn and bumped especiall bottom where one inch of board shows through. slight rippling affecting approximately one sixth of the front . Two stains (one quarter inch and one half inch diameter) on front cloth which eaten away some of cloth allowing board to show through. Difficult to describe but a guess would suggest hot cigarette ash could have caused it. This is a heavy book which will incur extra costs for postage and insurance. Before ordering please check with us about availability and cost of postage by using the "Ask the Bookseller a Question" button
Seller: M and R Clark, Halifax, United Kingdom
Price: US$242.08 + shipping
Description: 295mm x 230mm (12" x 9"). [185pp]. 12 tipped-in colour plates and numerous b&w illustrations. Heavy book - extra shipping needed for overseas. Worn condition without dust jacket. Covers are worn, faded and stained. Browning to eps and text block. Inner hinge cracking. Contents shaken. Previous owner's name to fep
Seller: Barter Books Ltd, Alnwick, NORTH, United Kingdom
Price: US$430.10 + shipping
Description: London: Constable 1914. 4to. Marbled paper boards with yapp edges and with titling labels to spine. (xvi 188pp.). With illust. title-page12 tipped-in col. plates num. full-page b/w plates and text-illusts. Occasional light foxing otherwise a fine uncut copy of the first Heath Robinson illustrated edition.
Seller: Berkelouw Rare Books, Berrima, NSW, Australia
SHAKESPEARE, William.. A Midsummer-Night's Dream.. London, Constable & Co. Ltd., 1914., 1914.
Price: US$575.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: First trade edition. 4to. Frontispiece and 11 other color tipped-in plates and 32 b/w plates by W. Heath Robinson. Later 3/4 dark blue morocco over the original blue pictorial cloth. Very good (light foxing). No signatures or bookplates.
Seller: Houle Rare Books/Autographs/ABAA/PADA, Palm Springs, CA, U.S.A.
Price: US$576.39 + shipping
Description: First edition with these illustrations, late issue binding of buckram-backed green cloth boards. Quarto. pp xii, 187. Twelve tipped-in colour plates, thirty-two full-page black and white illustrations and numerous black and white decorations by W. Heath Robinson.1921 gift inscription in a calligraphic hand on front free endpaper. Corners a little bruised. Small dent in spine. Very good in the scarce dustwrapper which is very good, chipped at head and tail of spine with another hole and horizontal closed tear at centre of spine.
Seller: Peter Ellis, Bookseller, ABA, ILAB, London, United Kingdom
Price: US$781.88 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Pp.xv,188; Original quartered green cloth and boards, with papered spine label. Minor wear. Complete with 12 coloured and 16 black and white plates. The rare limited numbered English edition of 250 copies signed by W. Heath Robinson. Lar ge format.
Seller: Anah Dunsheath RareBooks ABA ANZAAB ILAB, Auckland, NZ, New Zealand
Price: US$864.58 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: first issue of first trade edition; 4to; xvi & 187 pages; with 12 tipped-in colour plates, each with its tissue guard present, plus numerous line illustrations, some full-page, all by W. Heath Robinson; original full green cloth, with illustration to lower part of front cover in green and blue, and gilt illustration to upper part of front cover, in-filled in pink, illustration and decoration to spine in gilt, with pink and blue in-filling; top edge stained grey as issued; a few pages unopened. Condition: bottom corners bumped, and a hint of rubbing to top and bottom of spine, otherwise covers in fine condition; internally, there is light browning to endpapers, and some foxing to tissue guards (which have done their job by keeping the plates clean), and slight bleeding of top-edge stain to a few upper margins, otherwise also very good and clean; all joints perfectly sound; contained in the original green dust-jacket, with illustrations matching the cover - very slight loss to top of backstrip, slight wear to extremities, and slight rubbing, but overall the jacket is in very good condition, and now preserved in a removable clear plastic cover. A very nice copy of the first trade issue of this lovely work, (not the later re-issue with half-cloth binding), in its original dust-jacket.
Seller: Andrew Johnson Books, Shipston-on-Stour, United Kingdom
Price: US$1024.69 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: First Edition Thus. Hardback. 4to. pp xii, 185. 29.5cm by 23cm. Bound in full powder blue leather by Baytun, lettered gilt at the spine with five raised bands and inner gilt dentelles. Highly attractive plates. Limited edition of 250 copies, this being no. 24. Signed by W. Heath Robinson on the limitation page. Very slight professional restoration at spine, otherwise very good indeed. Excellent condition.
Seller: Burwood Books, Wickham Market, United Kingdom
Price: US$1152.78 + shipping
Description: A very smart example of William Shakespeare's famous play 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. Scarce in the original dustwrapper. Very scarce in the original dustwrapper, which is in a lovely condition with only a few small chips.First edition thus, the first edition of this Heath Robinson illustrated edition.Illustrated throughout, with drawings by the noted cartoonist and illustrator William Heath Robinson. Robinson's whimsical drawings featured in editions of 'The Arabian Nights', 'Tales from Shakespeare', 'Twelfth Night' and many other popular works.'A Midsummer Night's Dream' is one of Shakespeare's noted comedies. It is set in Athens and comprises several subplots revolving around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta.A wonderful copy of this important play. In the publisher's original cloth binding. With original unclipped dustwrapper. Externally, smart. A few light marks to the boards. Minor bumping to the head and tail of spine. Dustwrapper is generally smart with chips to the head and tail of spine as well as to the extremities. Rubbing to the spine. Internally, firmly bound. Pages are bright. Occasional light scattered spots to the first and last few pages. Very Good Indeed
Seller: Rooke Books PBFA, Bath, United Kingdom
Price: US$1537.04 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: London: Constable & Co., 1914, Signed Numbered Limited Edition. Signed by the illustrator, limited edition of which this is number 239. Half leather binding, gilt titles on twin labels, 5 raised gilt bands. Beautiful specimen of an Illustrated Book [ROBINSON, W. Heath, illustrator]. SHAKESPEARE, [William]. Shakespeare's Comedy of A Midsummer-Night's Dream. With Illustrations by W. Heath Robinson. 1/250 copies signed by W. Heath Robinson (this copy being number 239). Twelve mounted colour plates, forty-six full-page and seventeen smaller black and white drawings. Collated and complete. Plate at page 32 bound in at page 1. Black and white illustrations included in the pagination (front and blank reverse), colour plates not part of the pagination. xii, [iv], 185pp. Approximately 12 inches tall. Condition Report Externally Spine good condition gilt titles on two labels, 5 raised gilt bands, 6 compartments. Joints good condition sound. Corners good condition. Boards good condition half leather and marbled boards. Page edges good condition top edge bright orange, fore ad bottom edges lightly tanned and uncut. See above and photos. Internally Hinges good condition intact. Paste downs good condition plain green. End papers good condition plain green. Title good condition illustrated title page, lightly tanned. Pages good condition Signed Limited Edition, limitation page prior to the frontispiece, coloured frontispiece, numerous coloured and b/w illustrations throughout, lightly tanned. Binding good condition. See photos Publisher: see above. Publication Date: 1914 Binding: Hardba
Seller: Louis88Books (Members of the PBFA), Andover, United Kingdom
William Shakespeare.. SHAKESPEARE'S COMEDY OF A MIDSUMMER-NIGHTS DREAM.. , 1914.
Price: US$2497.68 + shipping
Description: 1914, London, Constable & Co., Ltd., 4to, ppxii + 185, colour and black and white illustrations by W. Heath Robinson, full vellum, gilt decoration. Number 85 of 250 copies, limited edition, signed by the artist, of which only the first 100 copies were bound in vellum. The vellum shows some slight discolouring, and is slightly bruised at the foot of the spine and corners, otherwise a very good copy indeed.
Seller: Graham York Rare Books ABA ILAB, Honiton, United Kingdom
Price: US$3202.16 + shipping
Description: Signed limited edition, number 29 of 250 copies signed by the artist. The Athenaeum included the book as being "books published this week" on 24 October 1914, and it was issued in both a trade and a remarkably small signed limited edition. The Saturday Review of Politics, Literature, Science and Art reviewed the volume in December 1914 and stated "the book. is an obvious prize for anyone who desires Shakespeare decorated and defined. Messrs. Constable, in format, printing, and binding, have, as usual, given to their work high quality and care". Alan Horne notes that "perhaps Robinson's best work was done for the 1913 Andersen, for A Midsummer Night's Dream and for two books for children which he wrote as well as illustrated - The Adventures of Uncle Lubin (1902) and Bill the Minder (1912)" (p. 373). Heath Robinson would later develop his individual style and draw ridiculous contraptions, thereby giving his name as a noun to the English language. The Athenaeum, 24 October 1914, p. 428; Saturday Review of Politics, Literature, Science and Art, 19 December 1914, p. 635; Alan Horne, The Dictionary of 20th Century British Book Illustrators, 1994. Quarto. Original parchment boards, spine and front cover lettered and with designs in gilt, top edge gilt. Colour frontispiece and 11 colour plates, with captioned tissue guards, black and white illustrations in the text, all by Robinson. Bookseller's label to rear pastedown. Extremities a little bumped, consistent soiling to rear cover, browning to endpapers: a very good copy.
Seller: Peter Harrington. ABA/ ILAB., London, United Kingdom