Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
Price: US$120.84 + shipping
Description: 8vo, pp. [viii], 67, [1] blank, [2] epilogue, [2] advertisements; with half title (a little soiled); disbound. First edition. First performed at Drury Lane in October 1807, with the author's wife in the role of Zelidy. Siddons himself wrote the prologue, and the epilogue is by Charles Lamb. The play itself is based on a story by Marmontel, and also takes inspiration from Fanny Burney's Cecilia. In his preface, Siddons admits to drawing on characters from the novel: 'The busy Morris, the proud Delville, and the dissipated Harrel are calculated for an excellent moral; indeed I have long wondered that the attempt has never been made by abler pens than mine'. These are all characters from Cecilia (although the correct spellings are Morrice and Delvile), and it says something for the popularity of Burney's novel that Siddons did not need to refer to its title for literate readers to understand his meaning. See Catherine Parisian, Frances Burney's Cecilia, a publishing history (2012), pp. 25-6.
Seller: Christopher Edwards ABA ILAB, Henley-on-Thames, OXON, United Kingdom
Price: US$850.00 + shipping
Description: 12mo, two volumes: pp. [i-iii] iv-ix [x] [1] 2-235 [236: blank]; [i-iv] [1] 2-261 [262-264: ads], twenty engraved illustrations after drawings by William Mulready, attractively bound in twentieth-century burgundy calf, all edges gilt, marbled endpapers. First edition. The first attempt to make Shakespeare accessible to a young audience. Mary Lamb, whose name was omitted from the earliest editions, was responsible for the comedies, while Charles wrote the tragedies. A mixed issue, without the T. Davison imprint on page [236] of volume one, and the earlier Hanway Street address on the first page of advertisements of volume two. A lovely copy. (#160991)
Seller: Currey, L.W. Inc. ABAA/ILAB, Elizabethtown, NY, U.S.A.
Price: US$4770.09 + shipping
Description: First edition, first issue. Two volumes. 12mo. 165x100mm. Vol. I. ix [i.bl], [2], 235, [1 with T. Davison imprint]. 10 engravings. Vol. II. [4], 261, [3pp. adverts with the Hanway Street address]. 10 engravings. Contemporary calf, spines with red morocco labels lettered in gilt and small round black labels numbered in gilt. At head of spine, in gilt, is the Pelican of Mercy and the motto, "Pandite Coelestes Fortae". This is the crest of James Gibson of Ingliston, Writer to the Signet whose armorial bookplate is on the front pastedowns. Also with the label of Donald and Mary Hyde, who formed one of the great libraries of eighteenth-century literature and whose Samuel Johnson collection was donated to the Houghton Library at Harvard. Slight split to the head of joint with upper boards and corners a little bumped. Housed in a custom-made box. Internally very good but with some foxing, heavy to a few leaves in volume two. The illustrations (although unsigned and unattributed, they are almost certainly by the Irish artist William Mulready). An extremely nice copy of the rare first issue in a smart contemporary binding. With Mary providing the adaptations of the comedies and Charles the tragedies (the history plays and Roman plays were not adapted), Tales from Shakespear was one of the most popular books of the nineteenth century and the first to present Shakespeare's plays in a form suitable for children. Its popularity did much to broaden Shakespeare's appeal and ensure the flowering of his Victorian cult. The title page shows Charles Lamb as the sole author, Mary's contribution going unacknowledged until the seventh edition in 1838. A strange omission given that the book was published by William Godwin (Thomas Hodgkins was employed to run The Juvenile Library) whose strong-minded wife must, one would imagine, have lobbied for Mary's work to have been recognised.
Seller: Voewood Rare Books. ABA. ILAB. PBFA, Holt, United Kingdom
Price: US$4770.09 + shipping
Description: First edition, first issue, with the T. Davison imprint on the verso of p.235 of volume 1, and the earlier address of Hanway Street on the advertisements in volume two. Two volumes. 12mo. Superbly bound in full blue morocco by Lortic of Paris with extensive gilt decoration including gilt vignettes of Puck to each corner of the boards. The spines with five raised bands and compartments with decoration and titles in gilt. Gilt dentelles. All edges gilt. Marbled endpapers. Illustrated with 20 engraved plates after drawings by William Mulready. A near fine set, the bindings firm and bright with a slight split to the head of the upper joint of the first volume and minor rubbing to the extremities of each. The contents with the bookplates of Robert Hoe and Robert J. Collier to the front pastedowns of each volume and a little scattered foxing are otherwise clean throughout. A beautiful set of the first edition of this important work, which formed the first attempt to make Shakespeare accessible to a young audience. The Tales were chiefly the work of Charles's sister Mary Lamb, who produced 14 of the 20 adaptations, with the rest by Charles, under the suggestion and encouragement of William Godwin, who had hired Thomas Hodgkins to run The Juvenile Library on his behalf. "Originally the Tales were to be anonymous, but Godwin persuaded the unreluctant Charles to have his name printed on the title-page", Mary's name did not appear until the seventh edition in 1838 (St Clair, The Godwins and the Shelleys). It was "the first book which, appealing to a general audience and to a rising generation, made Shakespeare a familiar and popular author", and went on to become a perennial favourite, remaining in print ever since (Cambridge History of English Literature). [Ashley III.42; Gumuchian 3614; Muir, English Childrens' Books 102-3, Grolier Club, One Hundred Books Famous in Children's Literature, 24]. Provenance: from the library of Robert Hoe (1839-1909; first president of the Grolier Club); the library of Robert J. Collier (1876-1918). Further details and images for any of the items listed are available on request. Lucius Books welcomes direct contact with our customers.
Seller: LUCIUS BOOKS (ABA, ILAB, PBFA), York, United Kingdom
Price: US$6042.11 + shipping
Description: First edition, in a contemporary binding. Charles and Mary Lamb's retellings of Shakespeare's plays for children stand as "the first work for children of British authorship never to have been out of print. Its success established the retelling of classics of English literature to children as a worthy task" (Grolier). Shakespeare's stories were adapted for a young audience from at least the 1790s, but this work was the first to enjoy a great commercial success, establishing "children's Shakespeare" as a subgenre. Though only Charles is credited as the author on the title page, the collection was the result of a collaboration, with Mary contributing fourteen adaptations and Charles the remaining six. The Tales are beautifully illustrated with engravings generally attributed to the Irish painter William Mulready (1786-1863). This was the copy of Angoulême Moira Forbes (1796-1810), the fourth son of George Forbes, 6th Earl of Ganard, with both title pages inscribed with his name and the date 1807. Angoulême Moira was 11 at the time and it seems likely that he received the books as a gift; the confident handwriting suggests that they were inscribed on his behalf. On the front pastedown of volume II is the later inscription of another member of the family, one C. S. Forbes. This copy has Wise's points of first issue, with the imprint of the printer T. Davison on the verso of p. 235 in volume and with the Hanway Street address in the final adverts. Ashley III, pp. 42-3; Grolier Children's 100, 24. 2 volumes, duodecimo (160 x 99 mm). Contemporary black straight-grain half roan, smooth spines divided by gilt fillets and lettered in gilt, marbled sides and edges, vol. II only retaining red silk bookmarker loosely inserted. With 20 engraved plates. Bound without last leaf of advertisements in vol. II. Shelf wear to board edges, front inner hinge of vol. II partially cracked at foot, the binding firm, light foxing and marks to endpapers and occasionally to contents, else clean. A very good set.
Seller: Peter Harrington. ABA/ ILAB., London, United Kingdom