A COLLECTION OF POEMS, VIZ. I. VENUS AND ADONIS. II. THE RAPE OF LUCRECE. III. THE PASSIONATE PILGRIM. IV. SONNETS TO SUNDRY NOTES OF MUSICK by SHAKESPEARE, William - [1709]

London: Bernard Lintot, [1709]. First Edition. Hardcover. At some point the volume suffered some water damage which is now most visible on the endpapers and first and last few pages of the text as well as slight damage to the portrait of Shakespeare. Still a beautiful binding on a rare and important book in overall Very Good condition. The first issue, having the four sub-titles dated 1630, 1632, 1599, and 1599 respectively, of the Second Edition of Shakespeare's Poems after the very scarce 1640 edition and the first to include VENUS AND ADONIS and THE RAPE OF LUCRECE. Small octavo (4" x 6-3/4") bound by Riviere and Son in a full gilt-decorated early 20th century brown morocco original Cosway binding with recessed panels on front and rear with inset oval watercolor miniatures on ivory by C.B. Currie under glass (signed on the front pastedown) with the Henry Sotheran imprint at the bottom of the verso of the front free endpaper; (4), 155 pages. Inserted is a page with the following printed information: "This is No. 893 of the Cosway Bindings invented by J. H. Stonehouse, with Miniatures on Ivory by Miss Currie." Both Stonehouse and Currie have SIGNED the page at the bottom. The book was beautifully rebacked in the past decade or so with a new spine that blends quite well with the covers. The Currie miniature at the front is after the Droeshout Portrait (1622) of Shakespeare used as the frontispiece to the First Folio. The rear miniature is a depiction of Venus and Adonis. Cosway bindings--named after the leading miniaturist of the Regency period, Richard Cosway (1742-1821)--were introduced in the early 1900s by John H.Stonehouse of Henry Sotheran & Company who conceived embedding miniature paintings in the covers of elaborately-tooled bindings. Harrison teamed with the Riviere bindery to create the bindings after his designs. Riviere hired Miss C. B. Currie to create the delicate miniature paintings on ivory inset into the covers and protected by thin panes of glass. Much imitated since, original Cosway bindings such as this, particularly when on a book of some importance, are highly desired.