Shakespeare, William
The Fourth Folio, 1685
£10,080
Rare Books, Manuscripts, Maps & Photographs
Auction: 21 September 2023 at 10:00 BST
Description
[Mr William Shakespear's Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies. Published according to the true Original Copies. Unto which is added, Seven Plays, never before Printed in Folio... The Fourth Edition. London: printed for H. Herringman, E. Brewster, and R. Bentley, 1685.] Folio in sixes, lacking portrait, title-page, all comedies and "Pericles and six other plays added by the publisher", comprising plays: King John (lacking pp.1-2, i.e. Bb1); Henry IV; Henry V; Henry VI; Richard III; Henry VIII; Troilius & Cressida; Coriolanus; Titus Andronicus; Romeo & Juliet; Timon of Athens; Julius Caesar; Macbeth; Hamlet; King Lear; Othello; Anthony & Cleopatra (lacking pp.146-156, i.e. quire Mmm); and Cymbeline (up to p.188 - i.e. Qqq4 - only); this copy collates: 3-328; 145, 157-188 [ESTC R24524 offers a complete collation for the work as: [12], 96, 99-160, 163-254, 243 [i.e. 253]-272, [2], 328, 303, [1] p. : port. (engraving)], contemporary calf spine over later marbled boards, some edge-wear and slight soiling to initial leaves, a few small tears to text with little or no significant loss to text, Ss5 torn with loss to text of around 1/8 of the leaf, some occasional internal staining, small, neat ownership signature to front free-endpaper
Footnote
Note: The final 17th century collection of Shakespeare’s works to be published, the “Fourth Folio” can also be considered the most comprehensive and widely obtainable edition, although copies are still unusual. The publishers added Pericles and a further six plays to Shakespeare's works for both the third and fourth folios. However, having been published in London between 1663 and 1664, a large amount of the stock of the third folio was lost to the Great Fire of London in 1666. The additional plays comprised: Pericles, The London Prodigal; Thomas Lord Cromwell; The History of Sir John Oldcastle; The Puritan; A Yorkshire Tragedy; The Tragedy of Lochrine. Only Pericles has since been found to have been (partly) written by Shakespeare (all seven of these works are missing from this copy.)