"Hungry man, reach for the book: it is a weapon. "
— Bertolt Brecht
William Shakespeare | First Editions
1564 - 1616
See below our stock of William Shakespeare First Editions, fine bindings, sets and other collectible material.
Tales From Shakespeare. [writings/plays including Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, The Tempest, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Macbeth, King Lear, The Merchant of Venice, etc.]
London: J.M. Dent and Co., 1909. First Rackham Illustrated Edition. Quarto, with 12 colour plates and other black and white drawings. Publisher's red cloth with titles and decoration in gilt to spine and upper, top edge gilt, others tinted green, illustrated endpapers, in original dust-wrapper. Book is near fine, jacket... More about Tales From Shakespeare. [writings/plays including Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, The Tempest, A...
Tales From Shakespeare [writings/plays including Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, The Tempest, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Macbeth, King Lear, The Merchant of Venice, etc.] By Charles and Mary Lamb. Illustrated by Arthur Rackham.
London: J.M. Dent and Co. 1909. First Rackham Illustrated Edition. Quarto, with 12 colour plates and other black and white drawings. Publisher's green cloth with titles and decoration in gilt to spine and upper, top edge gilt, illustrated end papers, original printed dust-wrapper. Lightly rubbed to extremities, edges toned, offset... More about Tales From Shakespeare [writings/plays including Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, The Tempest, A...
A Midsummer-Night's Dream. With Illustrations by W. Heath Robinson
Constable and Co. Ltd., London, 1914. FIRST HEATH ROBINSON EDITION, trade issue, in the first of three publisher's bindings. Quarto, pp. 185. With twelve mounted coloured plates and thirty-two black & white illustrations. All tissue guards intact. Mid-green cloth blocked in gilt and colours. Some light edge-spotting, Constable's catalogue insert... More about A Midsummer-Night's Dream. With Illustrations by W. Heath Robinson
Songs From the Plays of Shakespeare
London: Aldine House 1898. FIRST EDITION, Illustrated by Paul Woodroffe. Pp.85. With 12 full-page plates with tissue guards. Bound in half dark blue morocco over original gilt-stamped cloth sides, t.e.g., others untrimmed. Tissues lightly spotted else clean within; externally near fine. A handsome copy in a suitable recent leather binding. More about Songs From the Plays of Shakespeare
The Winter's Tale.
London: J. M. Dent and sons, no date [circa1922]. [Illustrated] FIRST ARMFIELD ILLUSTRATED EDITION. Quarto (28 x 22cm), pp.[10]; 99; [1]. With 12 chromolithographic plates, including a frontispiece. Publisher's grey cloth with gilt titles to spine and upper board. Pencil gift inscription to flyleaf; light spotting to title page. Lightly... More about The Winter's Tale
Stockdale's Edition of Shakespeare: Including, in one volume, the Whole of his Dramatic Works; with Explanatory Notes compiled from Various Commentators. Embellished with a Striking Likeness of the Author.
London: Printed for John Stockdale, 1784. [Shakespeare's Plays]. FIRST ONE-VOLUME OCTAVO SHAKESPEARE, the first one-volume edition of Shakespeare since the Fourth Folio of 1685. Octavo (24 x 15cm), pp.[20]; 1079 [1]. With a copper engraved frontispiece portrait of the author. With original tan calf boards, recently re-backed to style with... More about Stockdale's Edition of Shakespeare: Including, in one volume, the Whole of his Dramatic Works;...
The Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare: with Explanatory Notes. To Which is Added, a Copious Index to the Remarkable Passages and Words, by Samuel Ayscough.
London: Printed for John Stockdale [etc.], 1807. [Shakespeare's Works]. STOCKDALE EDITION, the Fourth Edition thus. In three volumes. Octavo (24 x 16cm), pp.[26]; 542; [2]; pp.[6]; 543-1080; [4]; pp.[4]; 1752; [12]. With a frontispiece copper engraving of the Bard to volume I. The plays over two volumes, and the Index... More about The Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare: with Explanatory Notes. To Which is Added, a Copious...
The Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare, With a Biographical Introduction by Henry Glassford Bell.
Glasgow, Edinburgh and London: William Collins, 1864. [Shakespeare's Plays]. ONE-VOLUME EDITION. Small quarto (24 x 17cm), pp.li; [1] 952 [2]. With 15 etched plates including a frontispiece, and a steel-engraved vignette title page. In contemporary black full morocco with raised bands, gilt titles to spine and extensive gilt decoration to... More about The Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare, With a Biographical Introduction by Henry Glassford Bell
The Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare. With Remarks on his Life and Writings by Thomas Campbell.
London: Routledge, Warne, and Routledge, 1863. [Works of Shakespeare] FINE PRIZE BINDING, a New Edition. Large octavo (25 x 18cm), pp.lxxx; 960. With an engraved frontispiece and vignette title page, as well as an engraved title page to each play, by various artists. Fairly small type printed in two columns... More about The Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare. With Remarks on his Life and Writings by Thomas Campbell
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare.
Oxford: at the Clarendon Press, no date [circa 1900]. [Poetry and Drama] SMARTLY BOUND. Octavo (20 x 14cm), pp.viii; 1350; [2]. With a frontispiece of the statue in Stratford-on-Avon. Recent burgundy full leatherette with gilt titles to spine and upper board. All edges gilt, with rounded corners. Black ink ownership... More about The Complete Works of William Shakespeare
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare.
London: Henry Frowde Oxford University Press, 1912. [Literature] FINELY BOUND. Octavo (19 x 14cm), pp.1350. Portrait frontispiece. The text printed in double column. Fine contemporary marbled calf by Riviere and Son, gilt titles on a red morocco label to spine, extra gilt, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. Internally fine. Binding... More about The Complete Works of William Shakespeare
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare.
Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, no date [circa 1905]. [Literature] FINELY BOUND. Octavo (20 x 15cm), pp.viii; 1350; [2]. Finely bound in contemporary green crushed morocco, extra gilt, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. Frontispiece portrait, text printed in double column. Neat gift inscription to reverse of flyleaf, some spotting to... More about The Complete Works of William Shakespeare
The Tragedies of Shakespeare.
London: Henry Frowde, Oxford University Press, 1912. [Shakespeare's plays] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (19 x 14cm), pp.[viii]; 1315; [1]. Oxford binding of quarter vellum over blue cloth boards, gilt decoration and titles to spine, top-edge gilt, housed in the original card slipcase. Frontispiece from a drawing by Sir George Scharf. Ownership... More about The Tragedies of Shakespeare
Shakespeare's Comedy of The Tempest, with illustrations by Edmund Dulac.
London: Hodder and Stoughton, no date [circa 1908]. [Children's Illustrated] EARLY THUS. Quarto (29 x 23cm), pp.xxiv; 144. With 40 tipped-in chromolithographic plates, including a frontispiece, each with a captioned tissue guard. Publisher's blue cloth with gilt titles to spine and upper board. A little shaken, slightly toned to edges;... More about Shakespeare's Comedy of The Tempest, with illustrations by Edmund Dulac
The Works of William Shakespeare. The Text revised by the Rev. Alexander Dyce.
London: Bickers and Son, 1880. FINELY BOUND, fourth edition thus. In ten volumes. Octavo. With a steel engraved frontispiece portrait of the Bard and a facsimile plate of signatures and seals to vol. I. The final volume consists of an extensive glossary. Finely bound in contemporary dark brown full calf... More about The Works of William Shakespeare. The Text revised by the Rev. Alexander Dyce
The Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare, with notes, critical, historical, and explanatory, selected from the most eminent commentators: to which is prefixed a life of the author.
London: Saunders and Otley, 1825. Eight volumes. Octavo. Bound in contemporary brown calf, with gilt ruling and blind tooling to boards, rebacked to style, with original black labels, raised bands and gilt decoration; all edges marbled, original grey endpapers with bookplate. Bindings show well, boards show some rubbing, with occasional... More about The Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare, with notes, critical, historical, and explanatory,...
The Dramatic Works of Shakespeare. With Biographical Introduction by Henry Glassford Bell.
London: William Collins, Sons & Co. 1864. Finely bound 6 volume collection. Small Octavo. pp. cviii, 309; 532; 476; 482; 464; 440. Frontispiece to vols. 1 and 2. In half magenta calf with raised bands and gilt titles and details to spines. Top edges gilt. Red and gold marbled boards... More about The Dramatic Works of Shakespeare. With Biographical Introduction by Henry Glassford Bell
Works of Shakespeare. Edited with an Introduction and Notes by C. H. Herford.
London: Macmillan and Co., 1901-1912. FINELY BOUND. In ten volumes. Crown octavo (18 x 13cm), pp.[2] xxii, 389 [2]; pp.[2] vi, 572 [2]; pp.[2] vi, 500 [2]; pp.[2] vi, 494 [2]; pp.[2] viii, 542 [2]; pp.[2] iv, 515 [3]; pp.[2] vi, 521 [3]; pp.[2] vi, 417 [3]; pp.[2] vi, 398... More about Works of Shakespeare. Edited with an Introduction and Notes by C. H. Herford
The Works of William Shakespeare. Knight's Cabinet Edition.
London: Charles Knight and Co., 1843-1847. [Drama] FINELY BOUND COMPLETE WORKS. Twelve volumes. Small octavo (14 x 9 x 28cm). Each volume with a wood engraved title page, and a wood engraved title page for each play. Ten volumes of plays, with two additional volumes containing poems, biography and criticism... More about The Works of William Shakespeare. Knight's Cabinet Edition
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare.
New York, NY: Thomas Y. Crowell and Co., 1903. [Complete Works] FINELY BOUND SET. Complete in 12 volumes. Octavo (22 x 15 x 47cm). Each volume with a frontispiece, and with a number of black and white plates interleaved. Contemporary maroon half morocco with gilt titles to spines and marbled... More about The Complete Works of William Shakespeare
The Works of Shakespeare;
London: Routledge, Warne and Routledge, 1862. [Complete Works] FINELY BOUND AND ILLUSTRATED. Three volumes. Quarto (26 x 19 x 17cm). Liberally illustrated with in-text engravings by the Dalziel brothers, after Gilbert. Contemporary red half morocco with raised bands, gilt titles and decoration to spines, and red leather-grain-effect cloth over boards... More about The Works of Shakespeare
The Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare From Text Of Johnson, Stevens, And Reed, With Glossarial Notes, Life, Etc. A New Edition By William Hazlitt, ESQ.
London: Routledge, Warne, and Routledge 1860. Octavo. Four volumes. Pp.xix; 526. Pp;528. Pp;560. Pp;553. Green half calf binding with green cloth boards, marbled endpapers. Gilt top edges and gilt lettering and centre tooling to spine with plain raised bands. Occassional pencil underlining and some very light spotting to the prelims... More about The Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare From Text Of Johnson, Stevens, And Reed, With...
The Works of William Shakespeare.
London: Archibald Constable, n.d [c.1910]. FINELY BOUND EDITION. 12 volumes. Crown octavo (19 x 14 x 40cm). Half scarlet calf by The Times Bindery, with green morocco title labels, gilt to spine, matching buckram sides, top edge gilt, marbled endpapers. Contents a little thumbed, bindings with the odd mark or... More about The Works of William Shakespeare
Cassell's Illustrated Shakespeare: The Plays of Shakespeare. Edited and Annotated by Charles and Mary Cowden Clarke. Illustrated by H.C. Selous.
London: Cassell, Petter, and Galpin. n.d. (c.1870). FINELY BOUND. In three volumes. Quarto. Illustrated with wood engravings throughout. Superb contemporary full calf with gilt raised bands, twin, red and green, title labels, and gilt theatrical-themed tooling to spines; gilt rule to boards with "Second Year's Prize / St. Thomas's Hospital... More about Cassell's Illustrated Shakespeare: The Plays of Shakespeare. Edited and Annotated by Charles and...
The Works of Shakespeare. Edited by Israel Gollancz. With many illustrations, antiquarian and topographical.
London: J.M. Dent and Co., 1899. 12 volumes; 8vo. Contemporary binding by Riviere in half red calf with gilt titles and gilt to spines, red cloth boards, top edges gilt, marbled end papers. Illustrated with full page and in text drawings. Frontispiece portrait in colour. A lovely set, very lightly... More about The Works of Shakespeare. Edited by Israel Gollancz. With many illustrations, antiquarian and...