(The) Tempest ... Printed Complete from the Text of Sam. Johnson and Geo. Stephens and Revised from the Last Editions. (Bell's Edition)
Shakespeare, William
London. Printed for, and Under the Direction of John Bell. 1785
Sold
An exceptional contemporary mosaic binding with slipcase, undoubtedly for presentation, on one of Shakespeare's best-loved plays.
The elaborate mosaic binding and the presence of a matching slipcase for the volume suggest that this copy of The Tempest was removed from a set of Bell's Edition of the Dramatick Writings of WIll. Shakespeare, lavishly bound, and presented to an important recipient. The use of initials for the presentation and the self-evident anonymity it provided, is, perhaps, suggestive of a gift of love, particularly given the lavish binding of a text which must have been of some importance to both donor and recipient.
Bell's Edition of Shakespeare was one of the best of the eighteenth century with the text taken from Dr. Johnson's edition of 1773 (produced in conjunction with Stephens) which made use of the First Folio as an important contemporary source.
[PROVENANCE: Contemporary pencil presentation on first blank leaf: 'H. G. from [illegible]', contemporary ink inscription at head of first leaf of text: 'W. M. He. to H. G. 1787'].
The elaborate mosaic binding and the presence of a matching slipcase for the volume suggest that this copy of The Tempest was removed from a set of Bell's Edition of the Dramatick Writings of WIll. Shakespeare, lavishly bound, and presented to an important recipient. The use of initials for the presentation and the self-evident anonymity it provided, is, perhaps, suggestive of a gift of love, particularly given the lavish binding of a text which must have been of some importance to both donor and recipient.
Bell's Edition of Shakespeare was one of the best of the eighteenth century with the text taken from Dr. Johnson's edition of 1773 (produced in conjunction with Stephens) which made use of the First Folio as an important contemporary source.
[PROVENANCE: Contemporary pencil presentation on first blank leaf: 'H. G. from [illegible]', contemporary ink inscription at head of first leaf of text: 'W. M. He. to H. G. 1787'].
pp. iv, 92. 12mo. Engraved frontispiece ('Miss Phillips in Miranda'), engraved title (with scene from Act 3, Scene 1), printed title, leaf with 'Observations on the Fable and Composition of The Tempest', text, woodcut head- and tail-piece to the text. Full contemporary morocco mosaic cutout binding, boards with elaborate onlaid sections of blue, green and citron morocco, elaborately tooled in gilt, in a panel design with gilt tooling in a star and floral pattern surrounding gilt urn in the central green morocco medallion, spine with elaborate decorative tooling in gilt, marbled endpapers, a.e.g., housed in pull-off slipcase with matching morocco and gilt decoration.
#41202
