Othello. The Moor of Venice.

London: Gilbert Whitehead & Co.. First Edition Thus. Half Calf over Marbled Boards. Very Good. Folio, 42 pp. A combination of chromolithographic and non-color illustrations decorate virtually every page. The Marchetti color illustrations, based on watercolors, are a highly literal representation that typify academic painting of the late nineteenth century. The black and white illustrations, on the other hand, are more varied, containing often a few telling objects and/or more loosely rendered. In the era before modern film, these kind of illustrations surely provided satisfaction to the reader as a counterpoint and a prod to their own imagination. While these illustrations may not suit the strict modernist taste, they do realize the spirit of the histrionics of the era -- say, a David Belasco, or Henry Irving, type of production on the theatrical stage, and a Verdian performance in the first decade of the great opera's life. The large size of the leaves, all made of heavy card, simultaneously gives the work the import that is its due while reminding us that it is a work of theater that should not have the thickness that a smaller book format tends to require. The half modern calf is lightly scuffed but quite handsome. Light occasional foxing within. A few of the final leaves jut out slightly.