HANDSOMELY BOUND 1851 BOSTON EDITION OF SHAKESPEARE'S WORKS
SHAKESPEARE. Shakespeare's Complete Works. Boston: Phillips, Sampson & Co., 1851-57. Eight volumes. Quarto, contemporary three-quarter tan calf, elaborately gilt-decorated spines, red and navy morocco spine labels, marbled boards, endpapers and edges . $4500.
Boston edition of Shakespeare's works, illustrated with engraved portrait and title page in Volume I and 37 engraved plates.
"Shakespeare is the Canon. He sets the standard and the limits of literature" (Harold Bloom). In addition to the plays, this set includes the sonnets, Venus and Adonis, The Rape of Lucrece, A Lover's Complaint and The Passionate Pilgrim (most of which is now attributed to other authors).
Interiors fresh, with one spot of foxing in Volume I and faint dampstaining to first few leaves in Volume VII; boards moderately rubbed, spines bright and fine. An exceptionally handsome set.