The Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare in 10 volumes published by Bell and Daldy in London in 1856. Revised and with notes by Samuel Weller Singer, FSA, and with vignettes engraved on wood by John Thompson from drawings by Stothard.
10 beautifully uniformly bound volumes in half morocco with fantastic bright gilt. Truly an estate quality set reminiscent of Bayntun-Rivière fine bindings, but without any binders signatures.
Some rubbing to spines mostly to raised bands, but the gilt is very bright and the books show very well. Extremely minor rubbing to hinges on some volumes with all joints fine with all boards securely attached and bindings firm. Boards VG+/near fine with bright gilt and sharp corners. Some edge wear and shelf wear but not significant. Rear and back page edges with some foxing but top edges fine. Pastedowns fine without bookplates or any inscriptions. All pages called for are present including half-titles, frontis, title pages, dedication, editor’s preface, and all Chiswick press titles for each play. Foxing to endpapers and title page toned, but otherwise without foxing throughout the text blocks and internally near fine. A highly attractive set of the works of the most famous writer in English Literature history.
