Bell's Edition of William Shakespeare's Plays, As they are now performed at the Theatres Royal in London. Published in London for John Bell between 1773 and 1774.
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Containing:
Vol 1: Introduction to Shakespeare's Plays with An Essay on Oratory; Macbeth; As You Like It; Othello; All's Well That Ends Well
Vol 2: Titus Andronicus; The Comedy of Errors; A Midsummer Night's Dream; Love's Labour's Lost
Vol 3: King Lear; Romeo and Juliet; The Merchant of Venice; Cymbeline; Much Ado About Nothing
Vol 4: King Richard III; The Merry Wives of Windsor; Hamlet; The Tempest; Measure for Measure
Vol 5: King John; King Henry IV; King Henry V; King Henry VIII
Vol 6: Julius Caesar; Timon of Athens; The Winter's Tale; Coriolanus; Twelfth Night
Vol 7: The Two Gentlemen of Verona; The Taming of the Shrew; Troilus and Cressida; Anthony and Cleopatra
Vol 8: King Richard II; King Henry VI Parts 1, 2, & 3
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Provenance:
From the collection of Flaxley Abbey, a 12th century Gloucestershire monastery, and their sale at Dreweatts in 2022.
Size: 11 x 18 cm (approx., each)
Condition:
8 volumes of 9, lacking volume 9 which would contain the poems and was potentially separately published (?). Wear to spines with some loss to the leather and some tooled labels, also with some discolouration. Wear to joints, many cracked, with all boards attached. Binding string exposed at right joint to first volume (only). Page edges dulled, some with some small ink stains but not affecting the text block. Boards rubbed and scuffed, all are present. Edge toning to endpapers as commensurate with the calf bindings. Some heavy foxing to first few leaves of King Richard III (Vol 4), else the text block is as the others, which is generally very clean, mildly toned throughout with very occasional minor staining not obscuring the legibility of any text. No shelf lean.
