The Works of William Shakespere; Containing His Plays and Poems from the Text of the Editions by Charles Knight: With Glossarial Notes and Facts Connected with His Life and Writings, Abridged From ‘William Shakespere, A Biography’. [Fore-edge Painting].

SHAKESPEARE, William.

Item Number: 121336

London: George Bell and Sons, 1887.

Finely bound example of this collection of Shakespeare’s plays and poems with a fore-edge painting. Octavo, bound in full red morocco with gilt titles and elaborate gilt tooling to the spine, elaborate gilt ruling and and fleuron cornerpieces to the front and rear panels, gilt turn-ins and inner dentelles, marbled endpapers, illustrated by W. Harvey. With a fore-edge painting of a portrait of Shakespeare with a scene from a Midsummer Night’s Dream. In near fine condition. Embossed stamp.

English poet, playwright, and actor, William Shakespeare is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. His extant works consist of approximately 38 plays and 154 sonnets. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright to this day. Shakespeare’s early plays were primarily comedies and histories and are regarded as some of the best work ever produced in these genres. He then wrote mainly tragedies including Hamlet, Othello, and Macbeth; and in his late phase wrote tragicomedies, also known as romances.