1788 The Dramatick Writings Of Will. Shakespeare

Description

Leather Binding

The collection includes all of his major dramatic works, with plates throughout. The first two volumes here are a remarkably comprehensive and broad prolegomena to his works, and offer interesting analysis of Shakespeare from an era where many of his plays were often interpreted differently, both in their production and in their critical reception. They include Mr Pope's Preface, Mr Theobald's Preface, Sir T. Hanmer's Preface, Dr Warburton's Preface, Dr Johnson's Preface, Mr Stevens's Advertisement to the Second Edition, the unattributed essay On The Origin of The English Stage, the text of the Globe's company's License for Acting, a list of the original actors, and extracts from entries of the Stationer's Company, Mr Malone's Chronology, Rowe's Life of Shakespeare, and other fascinating arcana. The subsequent eighteen volumes contain on the plays themselves, along with annotations by Samuel Johnson and George Stevens. These annotations are one of the joys of this particular work, preserving as they do the learned comments of two of 18th century England's foremost scholars in their reading of the plays. From Copac: The general title pages are dated 1788, but the plays have separate pagination and title-pages, with dates 1785, 1786, and 1788. The annotations at the ends of the plays also have separate title-pages all with the date 1787. A landmark in the cultural and critical reception of England's greatest author. The full set comprises of: Volume I: Prolegomena To The Dramatick Writings of Will. Shakespeare Volume II: Prolegomena To The Dramatick Writings of Will. Shakespeare Part II Volume III: The Tempest and Two Gentlemen of Verona Volume IV: The Merry Wives of Windsor and Much Ado About Nothing Volume V: Measure for Measure and A Comedy of Errors Volume VI: Love's Labour's Lost and A Midsummer Night's Dream Volume VII: The Merchant of Venice and As You Like It Volume VIII: The Taming of The Shrew and All's Well That End's Well Volume IX: Twelfth Night and Winter's Tale Volume X: Macbeth and King John Volume XI: King Richard The Second and King Henry IV. Part I Volume XII: King Henry IV. Part II and King Henry V Volume XIII: King Henry VI and King Henry VI. Part II Volume XIV: King Henry VI. Part III and King Richard III Volume XV: King Henry VIII and Coriolanus Volume XVI: Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra Volume XVII: Timon of Athens and King Lear Volume XVIII: Hamlet and Titus Andronicus Volume XIX: Othello and Troilus and Cressida Volume XX: Cymbeline and Othello Collated: complete