1 088 résultats
1956106796Small 4to. Northampton Mass.: Gehenna Press 1956. Small 4to 11 inc. the first blankpp. 18 b/w plates printed on Japan vellum with a title-sheet printed in red on plain paper preceding each image. Stapled into wrappers very good. § “Fifty copies of this book have been printed by Esther and Leonard Baskin at the Gehenna Press in Northampton Mass." This is copy number “X†which indicates a proof copy since the edition was issued in a quarter morocco binding and this copy is unbound. Six copies are recorded on WorldCat to which add Toronto Fisher Library and Essick CA. Leonard Baskin’s note from the Bibliography: “This was the last book which was made with my hands that cessation a benefaction since I was a compositor & pressman of no distinction. This book is an homage to Blake & the dear youths who plied him with honour in his late age. My increased skill in woodengraving is here made manifest & a pattern for a kind of Gehenna Press book makes its beginning here; an introduction succeeded by a series of prints. The title-page reveals the novice’s poking into historical sources & exemplars.†Gehenna Press hardcover books
18931226213 vols. London: Quaritch 1893. 3 vols. large 8vo profusely illustrated. In original green cloth with extensive gilt stampings of Blake designs to covers in bright condition. The finest copy we have ever seen. § First edition of one of the most influential works on Blake. The Doheny copy with book plate in all three volumes. “The enthusiasm and comprehensiveness of this work are of considerable historical importance†Bentley 369 who cautions that the scholarly value of the work is at best uneven. The book is also treasured by devotees of gilt-stamped bindings of which this is a striking example. Quaritch hardcover books
1963110688Folio. London: Trianon Press 1963. Folio 18 color facsimile leaves 8 pages commentary. Full blue morocco contents a bit foxed slipcase. § Edition de luxe #19 of an edition limited to 20 copies with additional proof sheets progressive plates original stencil etc. “America was the first of Blake’s books to name a place Lambeth in the imprint. which was an act of defiant courage. for the first time he designated one of his books as “a prophecyâ€. he concentrated particularly on the dramatic events in Boston. Blake continued his tale in Europe and then to make the cycle of continents complete he wrote “Africa†and “Asiaâ€giving a general title of all four: The Song of Los.†Damon Blake Dictionary. One of the rarest Trianon Press publications and the first de luxe edition we’ve seen in many years. Bentley Blake Books A9. Trianon Press unknown books
1885302990Edmonton 1885. No. 49 of 50 copies signed by Muir on upper wrapper. William Muir facsimile. Preface leaf and 11 hand colored plates. 1 vols. 4to. Original printed wrappers. Some external soiling and chipping to edges internally fine. Brown morocco backed folding case. No. 49 of 50 copies signed by Muir on upper wrapper. William Muir facsimile. Preface leaf and 11 hand colored plates. 1 vols. 4to. Blake's Daughters of Albion. Keynes 217c; Bentley 249e unknown books
1955122595Small 8vo. London: Trianon Press 1955. Small 8vo 54 color plates 3 pp. printed text at end. Full teal morocco slipcase backstrip faded as usual and lightly rubbed at crown a very good copy with the book plate of the California physician K. Garth Huston. § Limited to 526 copies this being number 9; the superb color facsimile of the Rosenwald-LC copy Z. One of the scarcest and the most desirable of all the magnificent Trianon Press Blake facsimiles which have been hailed as the finest examples of color collotype facsimile printing of the 20th century. The colophon notes that as many as thirty stencils were used to create each plate. Bentley Blake Books 187. Blake and his wife Catherine hand-printed and bound fewer than forty copies of the Songs of Innocence and the combined Songs of Innocence and of Experience and yet they have become his most popular and enduring work. Trianon Press unknown books
1880WRCLIT82179London: Macmillan and Co. 1880. Two volumes. Large thick octavos. Original navy blue cloth elaborately stamped in gilt after a pictorial design by Rossetti. Portraits plates and illustrations. Two bookplates in each volume otherwise a fine bright partially unopened set in the rare pictorial dust wrappers that for volume one split up the upper joint with small chips at toe and crown of upper joint and another about half- way up the joint not affecting design and that for volume two with a shallow loss along the lower edge of the front panel and a small chip from the blank area of the toe of the upper joint. Preserved in a fleece lined folding cloth slipcase. Second and best edition enlarged with additional letters and a memoir of the author. The earlier of the bookplates are tipped to each free endsheet; the later bookplates are those of the Garden Library affixed to each pastedown. One of the great late 19th century pictorial bindings very seldom encountered in the pictorial dust jackets which replicate the binding design. Macmillan and Co. hardcover books
18631048982 vols. London: Macmillan 1863. 2 vols 8vo i-v vi-xv 1-389; i-v vi-vii 1-3 4-268 pp. In addition to the portrait frontispiece in vol. 1 the folding frontispiece of the Canterbury Pilgrims in vol. 2 and numerous illustrations from Job and Songs this is an extra-illustrated copy with 34 bound tipped-in or loosely inserted engravings from The Grave Triumphs of Temper Aphorisms on Man Life and Posthumous Writings of William Cowper Botanic Garden and Gay’s Fables. 19th-century full tan-colored calf rebacked surely to accommodate the extra-illustrations triple gilt fillet borders on covers fleurons at corners gilt backstrip with red-colored morocco labels gilt turn-ins all edges gilt marbled endpapers. The front flyleaf in vol. I with a chip at the upper-right corner. Occasional spotting or foxing. See below for complete list of extra material. Very good. § First edition. This copy is unusual and desirable for the extra material from many of Blake’s most famous commercial engravings as follows: Volume I: Originally bound in opposite pp. 1 but now detached ‘Guillermo Blake’ T Phillips Pinx t L Schiavonetti V.A. Sculpt. Frontispiece from the very rare Meditaciones Poeticas 1826 folded three times 8-1/2 x 13-1/2 inches; and 11 additional engravings from the same edition are bound in after the text all folded in order of original appearance and fairly tightly cropped; and a single engraving from The Triumphs of Temper: Flaxman/ Blake Canto I Verse 29 1803 Cadell and Davies.Volume II: After pp. 268 we find the cropped title page from the quarto issue of The Grave 8-6/8 x 13 inches. After the text in vol. 2 resumption of grangerized material from the1803 Triumphs of Temper continues as follows: Canto II Verse 471; Canto III Verse 201; Canto VI Verse 294; Canto V Verse 43; and Canto IV Verse 328. The frontispiece from Lavater’s Aphorisms on Man showing William Cowper looking up measuring 8 x 9-1/2 inches. Four engravings from Life and Posthumous Writings Cowper: A View of St Edmunds Chapel; William Cowper Author of The Task; William Cowper Carmine Nobilem; and Mrs Cowper. From the 1799 J. Johnson 8vo edition of Darwin’s Botanic Garden: The Fertilization of Egypt London Dec 1st 1791 St Pauls Church Yard. 9 engravings from Gay’s Fables Vol I 1793: The Goat without a Beard; The Shepherd and the Philosopher; The Pin and the Needle; The Tame Stage; The Miser and Plutus; The Persian the Sun and the Cloud; The Butterfly and the Snail; The Setting Dog and the Patridge; and The Owl and the Farmer.Also of interest are the prints found in all copies - three from electrotypes of the Virgil prints and 17 from electrotypes of the Songs of Innocence and of Experience. Gilchrist was Blake’s first full-scale biographer. The work was unfinished when he died and largely completed by Dante Gabriel Rossetti who wrote the final chapter from Gilchrist’s notes with help from his brother William Michael and also Swinburne whose own book on Blake was the result of his researches when reviewing Gilchrist’s book. Bentley Blake Books 1680A. Macmillan unknown books
107769London: Boydell and Company c.1795. Oblong large folio on wove paper plate mark 583 x 455 mm on sheet 650 x 490 mm. An exceptionally fine dark impression on bright paper with the original wide margins untrimmed. § Third and best state of seven see below of the single plate Blake engraved for Hogarth’s Works first published by Boydell in 1790 this state appearing in the second undated edition c. 1795. It was the last state of the plate before hands other than Blake touched up the plate. A remarkably crisp and brilliant impression of Blake’s richly detailed rendition of Hogarth’s painting showing the famous scene in which Macheath the highwayman stands chained under sentence of death between his two lovers the jailer’s daughter Lucy Lockit and the lawyer’s daughter Polly Peachum. The plate was next used for an 1822 edition by which time several small changes had been made by another engraver. Bentley Blake Books 475 I. Essick William Blake’s Commercial Book Illustrations XX. Boydell and Company unknown books
1930310071San Francisco: Book Club of California 1930. No 10 of 300 copies printed at the Windsor Press. Decoration by Julian A. Links. 22 pp. 12mo. Original full vellum lettered in gilt paper slipcase with label. Vellum and slipcase a touch toned faint browning to folds of letter. Housed with letter in quarter morocco clamshell box. Links Julian A. No 10 of 300 copies printed at the Windsor Press. Decoration by Julian A. Links. 22 pp. 12mo. With TLS of Rockwell Kent charging plagarism. With a typed letter signed of Rockwell Kent to Oscar Lewis secretary of the Book Club of California voicing his strong displeasure with the illustrations by Julian Links for this edition. Dated May 13 1930 the letter reads in part: "I am glad that I took the trouble to call the matter to your attention for my complaint does put you in the position of calling the printers to account for what is unquestionably a breach of professional ethics. I am sorry that it is not the policy of the Book Club to supervise more carefully the production of the books that appear within its imprint. I feel the book of Thel irrespective of the plagiarism involved in the illustrations has been very badly illustrated Book Club of California unknown books
1825104648Proof on India paper mounted on handmade paper. London: March 8 1825 but published 1826. Proof on India paper mounted on handmade paper some leaves watermarked J. Whatman Turkey Mill 1825. A fine impression. Matted. § Single plate from the first edition one of 150 proof sets on India paper. Bentley Blake Books 421A. Bindman Complete Graphic Works of Blake 625–641C. March 8 unknown books
1809108741Large 4to. Chichester: W. Mason 1809. Large 4to 8 416 7 pp with a portrait frontispiece and 11 engraved plates including one by Blake after Romney. Large paper copy in red half calf over marbled paper boards with gilt rules and titling. A very good copy with clean pages and prints throughout : just traces of ageing on the first few pages. § First edition large-paper copy. Although not substantially bigger than uncut copies of the regular issue the large-paper copies are on heavier paper and the impressions are stronger. The 1-page advertisment at the end for “Epistles to Romney†is not found in the small-paper copies. Blake’s plate of the shipwreck incorporates a number of familiar figures from his iconography and is a strong and vivid illustration. Bentley Blake Books 469 Essick William Blake's Commercial Book Illustrations XLIX: large-paper issue has an “1807†watermark without a maker’s name; the small paper is watermarked “Rye Mill / 1807â€. W. Mason hardcover books
72110An archive of family letters written to Gratia Turnbull Fuller Blake during the mid-19th century covering a wide range of historic topics including the U.S. Civil War slavery yellow fever and a legal dispute over land in New York City. Born in Lawrence Ohio Gratia married Cincinnattus Blake 1830-1918 a farmer Union soldier and Sheriff of Gallipolis Ohio in 1857. Together they raised six sons. This archive contains a six-page letter Gratia received from her sister-in-law Mary B Fuller. Mary's husband Gratia's brother was Captain Emilius Fuller 1815-63 a Confederate Army officer commander of the St. Martin Rangers Company Infantry in Louisiana and captain of a boat called the Queen of the West. He was seriously wounded and taken prisoner when his boat was destroyed in Bayou Teche on April 14 1863. He was transferred to Johnson's Island Ohio where he died on July 25. In her letter dated December 15 1867 Mary's bitter feelings about slavery and the war are still fresh. "I have the most of my work to do myself. I prefer doing it rather than have a free trifling negress around me. Their impudence I cannot ensure" she wrote from her home in St. Martinsville Louisiana. "They are free as they may stave with their freedom for all I care. I can have a woman by feeding her of giving her a cabin or a room to sleep in and that would cost me less than when I owned them for then we had to clothe feed and take care of them when sick. Many of them are getting their eyes opened and say they have had no good times since the Yankees came among them." Along with their personal losses Mary's family is concerned about an outbreak of yellow fever. Her son James wrote to his Aunt Gratia on October 26 1867 about "yellow jack" which caused 1/3 of the St. Martinsville population to flee: "133 names are published of the victims and except for one or two - they all died since September 11 and about 2/3 of the names only are given which would swell the mortuary list to about 200." An undated letter from her sister-in-law Julia Blake Eaton 1836-1927 includes a negative report of her visit to Cincinnati: "I saw too much suffering while there to feel very happy. I saw a great many of the poor fellows that were wounded at Pittsburgh carried off the steamboats. Poor fellows. God help them." This collection contains 15 letters written in 1856-58 by Cincinnatis to Gratia before they were married. In October 1856 he wrote about all he is doing to yield a living from his Ohio farmlands in order tomake a home for his future bride: "If I do not buy a house I shall have to build such as my means will allow. I shall have to earn part of the money if not raise my wagon cover and live under it. If my hut is of cornstalks and brush I shall be happy if Gratia will share it with me." Another group of nine letters was written by Cincinnatis to Gratia in 1877-78 when he was running a steamboat operation taking potatoes from his farm in Ohio to market in New Orleans along with other goods such as coal picked up along the way. "No good news to speak of and a great deal of bad news" he wrote on November 10 1878. "Lost the big boat Trowbridge have only the small boat Blake left us. We can only run a part of a day or night at a time the wind is blowing now . the wind blew so hard that the waves came over the side splashboards . I think this is my last March trip forever and if we get this one down safe I think it a miracle." The collection includes three other letters written to his "boys" and the family during this period. Another group of letters in this archive are related to the ongoing dispute over property in New York with a branch of Cincinnatus Blake's family known as the "Brower heirs". His sister Visalia wrote on March 4 1867 urging him to join other members of the family to cooperatively hire an attorney to pursue their rights: "We will proceed to enter into a contract with the lawyer whom we have selected as our council by which he will be bound to proceed to collect the necessary evidence to prove our heirship and title to the property in question as take such proceedings as may be necessary to enforce that title against the Trinity Church Corporation." Cincinnatus Blake was apparently distantly related to Anneke or Annetje Jans who purchased a 62-acre piece of land in Manhattan which her living children sold upon her death in 1671. A great-grandson of Jans Cornelius Bogardus later claimed his branch of the family had not legally given up its right to the property since his grandfather one of Anneke's six children had been dead at the time of the sale and were owed one-sixth of the sale. After a century of legal dispute the court rejected the claims. This collection includes a dozen other brief notes and letters from friends during the period. The latest letter in this collection is dated 1884 written to Gratia by her son Charles O. Blake 1860-1924 who asks for money as he is stuck in Fairplay Colorado likely trying to cash in on the gold rush: "I am still a prisoner in this dammed town and see no prospect of getting out of it until I borrow money of you." The collection also includes about a dozen mailing envelopes. The materials are housed in mylar sleeves. Most were folded for mailing with some edgewear and occasional soiling. All are legible and in very good condition. A fascinating archive rich in content. unknown books
1935321293Honolulu: Paradise of the Pacific Press 1935. First Edition. Illustrated with 46 Illustrations. 16 iv 5- 95; 32 photographic plates plus other illus. in text. 1 vols. 8vo. Original blue cloth with surfers on upper cover no priority to binding variants cited by DeLa Vega. Very Good. First Edition. Illustrated with 46 Illustrations. 16 iv 5- 95; 32 photographic plates plus other illus. in text. 1 vols. 8vo. First edition of the first title devoted to surfing. Blake was an early 20th century surfing and health food pioneer who conceived and developed the hollow surf board . The first definitive book on surfing by the sport's greatest innovator and the first person to surf Malibu Point along with Sam Reid in September of 1926. "The most important publication in the surfing canon." Dela Vega 200 Years of Surfing Literature. DeLa Vega B28 Paradise of the Pacific Press unknown books
1920302999London: Wm. Muir 1920. No. 21 of 50 i.e. 32 copies signed by Muir. William Muir facsimile 8 leaves with lithographic illustrations colored by hand. 1 vols. 4to. Original printed wrappers. Fine. Brown morocco backed folding case. No. 21 of 50 i.e. 32 copies signed by Muir. William Muir facsimile 8 leaves with lithographic illustrations colored by hand. 1 vols. 4to. Muir Facsimile. Bentley Blake Books 249 Wm. Muir unknown books
1920303032London: Wm. Muir 1920. No. 16 of 50 i.e. 32 copies signed by Muir. William Muir facsimile 8 leaves with lithographic illustrations colored by hand. 1 vols. 4to. Original printed wrappers light chipping to edges else fine. No. 16 of 50 i.e. 32 copies signed by Muir. William Muir facsimile 8 leaves with lithographic illustrations colored by hand. 1 vols. 4to. Muir Facsimile. Bentley Blake Books 249 Wm. Muir unknown books
1893WRCLIT68725London: Bernard Quaritch 1893. Three volumes. Large thick octavo. Original green cloth spines and upper covers elaborately decorated in pictorial gilt after designs by Blake t.e.g. others untrimmed. Portrait facsimiles and plates. Some modest rubbing at extremities but a quite bright sound very good or better set. First edition. One of five hundred sets comprising the regular paper issue. Controversial in its interpretation of Blake's texts this work nonetheless remains in this issue and binding something of a landmark of 1890s book production. "The enthusiasm and comprehensiveness of this work are of considerable historical importance" - Bentley. Wade quotes Yeats's inscription in his own copy about the nature of this collaboration: "The writing of this book is mainly Ellis's the thinking is as much mine as his. The biography is by him. He re-wrote and trebled in size a biography of mine. The greater part of the 'symbolic system' is my writing; the rest of the book was written by Ellis working over short accounts of the books by me except in the case of the 'literary period' the account of the minor poems & the account of Blake's art theories which are all his own except in so far as we discussed everything together." WADE 218. BENTLEY 369. Bernard Quaritch hardcover books
19271088114to. London: William Muir 1927. 4to 27 4 plates hand-colored and one uncolored. Original printed gray wrappers brown paper backstrip as issued. § No. 23 of about 50 copies printed. The second Muir facsimile of this title inscribed by Muir “Made in Great Britain Copy No. 23†and signed by him on the front inside wrapper and the same information printed and filled in by hand at the end. The coloring is exceptionally bright and clear in these early copies. They were “facsimiled by Joseph Patrick Trumble Sophia Elizabeth Muir and William Muir from the Beaconsfield Originals in the British Museum with in Experience as an appendix 4 plates from the other British Museum copy. Also one plate for which no colouring is known 'A Divine Image’ which seems to belong to the Songs although not included in them by Blake.†Bentley 144. William Muir unknown books
17911073126 copperplate engraving plates complete. London: Printed for J. Johnson 1791. 6 copperplate engraving plates complete 133 x 74 mm. or so trimmed retaining the top edge text but lacking the imprint below the footer title. Cleaned in very good condition. § First edition second state of plates 1 and 2; a very attractive set of these plates designed and engraved by Blake for Johnson. William Blake’s characteristic illustrations reminiscent in iconography to his designs for his own Songs of Innocence 1789. This collection of didactic tales for youth in part reinforcing the lessons of Wollstonecraft’s first book Thoughts on the Education of Daughters proved her most popular book going through five editions by 1800. Windle Bibliography of Mary Wollstonecraft A3b. Bentley Blake Books 514A. Easson and Essick vol. I no. III. Printed for J. Johnson unknown books
2009107743Folio. N. P.: The William Blake Trust 2009. Folio 95pp. Original quarter-maroon calf with black moiré silk-covered boards with gilt lettered maroon-morocco label to top board backstrip likewise stamped in gilt; portfolio in full maroon calf containing 17 of 19 watercolors and one duplicate reproduced in facsimile mounted within framing lines on heavy beige paper black moiré silk-covered double slipcase; illustrated throughout with color reproductions of watercolor drawings as well as engravings. § Out of series trial copy of the de luxe edition limited to 36 copies. The entire edition is out of print. From the announcement: “These watercolor designs which disappeared from the public eye from 1836-2001 came to light in a Glasgow bookshop and were later offered as an entity to institutions and collectors at a price which as it turned out none could afford or at least was prepared to pay. Eventually in the face of much protest the portfolio and the 19 designs were offered for sale in 20 separate lots at Sotheby’s New York in 2006. The drawings are now widely dispersed and it is most unlikely that they will ever again be seen together.†The sale was roundly condemned at the time as an act of cultural crime. This book and the facsimile portfolio are now the only record we will ever have of the original series. Happily the Blake Trust created a superb book which is and will surely remain the single most valuable reference work on these remarkable Blake drawings. The William Blake Trust hardcover books
107255N.p.; n.d.: Probably USA: c. 1932-33. 4to 19 manuscript ff. numbered. Enclosed in a blue cloth box bookplates of Kenneth A. Lohf. § An interesting unpublished manuscript written out for Binyon by his wife Cicily probably being the text of an essay or talk given by Binyon while in the US in 1932/33 for the Norton lectures. Hatcher in his biography of Binyon notes a lecture with the exact title as given here. It has never been published. It was last sold at Christie's East Dec 2 1994 lot 20 $550. Probably USA c. 1932-33]. 4to hardcover books
1233531826. Folio single sheet 16 1/4 x 11 image inc. platemark 8 1/4 x 6 1/2 ins. Fine. § First edition from the printing of 65 sets with the word “Proof†on French wove paper. The plate depicts Job lamenting his unfortunate existence while his friends bear witness to his grief in silence Job 3:3. Bentley Blake Books 421A. Bindman Complete Graphic Works of Blake 625–641C. Provenance: Sotheby’s May 4& 5 1983. 3). Bentley unknown books
1935140940411Honolulu: Paradise of the Pacific Press 1935. First Edition. Very Good. First edition first printing. Bound in original hand-painted tapa-cloth with titles in black on upper board. Very Good with boards lightly splayed nick to spine near foot. Binding lightly shaken with some hinges slightly visible. Pages toned with erased pencil scribble to front free endpaper; small label remnant to rear pastedown with offsetting to adjacent free endsheet. An early book by Tom Blake who is often considered to be one of the most influential surfers in the history of the sport. He is largely credited with transforming surfing from a regional Hawaiian sport to one with national popularity as well as founding California surf culture. Paradise of the Pacific Press unknown books
18861092194to. Edmonton: William Muir 1886. 4to 1 blank 2 Preface 3-23 text 24 On Homer’s Poetry 25 blank. Original wrappers upper wrapper titled in manuscript lower wrapper blank stitched as issued. Bookplate of Templeton Crocker. § Copy #50 of 50 copies numbered and signed by Muir. Includes “All Religions are One†and Muir's own version of the missing plate b5 as in other copies and also the separate plate “On Homer’s Poetry†not found in the other copies above but present in copy #40 for sale at James Cummins. Essick notes: There is No Natural Religion. The "Preface" dated 1886 indicates that the facsimile is based on plates "in the British Museum copy A and from some papers in my own possession copy L." However the printed front wrapper of Muir's Europe facsimile 1887 indicates that "Mr. Burt's copy H--which according to Joseph Viscomi is a forgery" was also used. This would seem to be correct since copies A and L are printed in olive and green whereas plates a1 a2 and b1 in the facsimile are in brown as in copy H. Also includes plate 2 of All Religions are One the original of which is bound into There is No Natural Religion copy M and Muir's own version of the missing plate b5. Delivered to Quaritch 8 Sept. 1886. Note: There is No Natural Religion copy M also printed in brown but it seems unlikely that this was "Mr. Burt's copy" since copy M was in the Tulk family collection until 1956.†BB#249g. Bentley Blake Books 249 G. The Templeton Crocker/Herbert M. Evans copy with the Crocker bookplate at the front and Howell’s note “HME†at the back priced $100. William Muir unknown books
1886302993London: Quaritch 1886. No. 40 of 50 copies signed by Muir. William Muir facsimile. 23 plates including Preface and title all hand colored save for the final plate On Homer's Poetry. 1 vols. 4to. Printed wrappers. Some splitting and marginal chipping internally fine. Brown morocco backed folding case. No. 40 of 50 copies signed by Muir. William Muir facsimile. 23 plates including Preface and title all hand colored save for the final plate On Homer's Poetry. 1 vols. 4to. Muir Facsimile. Includes the title-page and All Religions are One and Muir's own version of the missing plate b5. The "Preface" dated 1886 indicates that the facsimile is based on plates "in the British Museum copy A and from some papers in my own possession copy L."<br/>The last leaf of the facsimile is the single page On Homer's Poetry. Bentley Blake Books 249g Quaritch unknown books
180510791510 volumes. London: C and J. Rivington 1805. 10 volumes royal 8vo with a portrait frontispiece of Shakespeare and 37 separate engravings after drawings by Fuseli by Neagle Cromek Rhodes Dodley and two by William Blake. Original calf rather worn with some hinges cracked. Gilt on raised backstrip also rather worn. Volume 1 has some cracking to spine. Some spotting. Volume 1 has one minor worm hole on the lower margin the goes through a number of pages to the rear pastedown. Volume 3 has a small worm hole that goes through the entire lower margin of the book and becomes two holes that continues to the back pastedown. Volume 9 has some minimal worming at the rear pastedown. The text in all volumes is unaffected. Volumes 1 and 3 have a few untrimmed pages. Each volume has a bookplate from the previous owner Henry Frederick Thistlethwayte at front. Volume 1 is inscribed with with a note from Thistlethwayte to his son Alfred. The plates are fine impressions. § Large-paper issue of the best illustrated collection of Shakespeare’s plays save only the elephant-folio Boydell. This was one of Fuseli’s major projects as a book-illustrator and it succeeds brilliantly; the engravings are dramatic and rich and in this edition well printed. Blake engraved two plates after Fuseli for the book his only illustrations of Shakespeare. Vol. VII for King Henry VIII and vol. X for Romeo and Juliet. There was a nine-volume small-paper issue with greatly inferior printing of text and plates but as Bentley observed “the ten-volume edition is considerably more elegantâ€. Bentley 498. Essick William Blake’s Commercial Book Illustrations XLVII. C and J. Rivington unknown books
