Hamlet by Shakespeare, William - 1985

Rome: Delfino, 1985. Moore, Henry. Folio. 106pp. According to the colophon, this is one of 1,200 copies. Illustrated with ten color lithographs after drawings by Henry Moore. The editor, Dr. Stanley Wells, notes in the Foreword that this work reveals an "unsuspected spiritual kinship between one of the greatest visual artists of the twentieth century and the enduring genius of Shakespeare," who shared a "mythical quality, shunning literalism," and connected with the collective unconscious in their art. Bound in brick red morocco over thick beveled boards, with a rectangular gilt-metal bas relief by Moore, titled "Hamlet's Dilemma," mounted to the front cover. The book fits into a vertical sculptural stand covered with red suede. Covers lightly sunned along the lines of the stand, else fine. Because only three institutional copies of this monumental work are recorded, and given the paucity of copies in commerce, it is not difficult to conclude that the edition was not completed.