Plays of William Shakespeare: In Eight Volumes, with the Corrections and Illustrations of Various Commentators; To Which are added Notes by Sam. Johnson.

London: Printed for J. and R. Tonson, H. Woodfall.., 1765. JOHNSON, Samuel. . The Plays of William Shakespeare. In Eight Volumes, with the Corrections and Illustrations of Various Commentators; To Which are added Notes by Sam. Johnson. London: Printed for J. and R. Tonson, H. Woodfall..., 1765.

Full Description:

SHAKESPEARE, William. [JOHNSON, Samuel, editor]. The Plays of William Shakespeare. In Eight Volumes, with the Corrections and Illustrations of Various Commentators; To Which is added Notes by Sam. Johnson. London: Printed for J. and R. Tonson, H. Woodfall..., 1765.

First Samuel Johnson variorum edition, first issue, with the unpaginated Johnson preface. Eight octavo volumes (8 x 4 3/4 inches; 204 x 122 mm). [78], ciii, [1, blank], [1]-488; [2], [1]-557, [1, blank]; [2], [1]-504; [2], [1]-589, [1, blank]; [2], [1]-493, [1, blank]; [2], [1]-627, [1, blank]; [2], [1]-547, [1, blank]; [2], [1]-473, [1, blank], [53, appendix], [1, blank] pp. Volume one with engraved frontispiece portrait. Bound without half-titles, except in volume IV, which is bound without general title.

Contemporary full calf, rebacked with spines laid down. Boards tooled in gilt. Spines elaborately stamped in gilt. Each spine with one red, one green and one black calf spine label, lettered in gilt. Dentelles tooled in blind. All edges speckled brown. Marbled endpapers. Previous owner's bookplate on front pastedown of each volume. Some offsetting to endpapers. Dampstaining to fore-edge of final 100 leaves and back board of Volume III, some just barely touching outermost margin. Volume VI with a small repair to title-page and leaf B1, with no loss. Volume VII with repair to bottom margin of title-page and tear to bottom margin of leaf B1, no loss to of text to either leaf. Leaf G8 with a tear to the fore-edge margin, not affecting text. A small repaired closed tear to final leaf Nn2, no loss. Back inner hinge of this volume reinforced. Still an overall handsome set of this important edition.

Johnson included the prefaces of Pope, Theobald, Warburton and Hanmer in this edition, along with Rowe's Life, and Shakespeare's Will, as well as his own sixty-eight page preface.

Ebisch and Schücking, p. 54. Jaggard, p. 501. Shaksperiana, Part III, 16.

HBS 69101.

$4,500.