Songs From the Plays of Shakespeare; Illustrated by Paul Woodroffe by Shakespeare, William - 1899

Portland, Me: Thomas B. Mosher, 1904. Hardcover. Near Fine/fair. xiii, [1], 336, [1] p.: frontispiece portrait of Swinburne from the portrait by D.G. Rossetti; 23 cm. Original white paper spine with six spine compartments between raised bands. Spine label printed in black and red; blue paper over boards. Title page printed in red and black. Fore-edges and lower edges untrimmed. Green ribbon bookmark. Original plain white dust jacket with black spine title. Original slipcase in blue paper matching boards with red and black spine label matching book spine. "450 copies of this book have been printed on Van Gelder hand-made paper and the type distributed." Former owner's name on front free endpaper: C. Demrick, Lancaster, Pa. Book is in Near Fine Condition: faint stain at spine ends; otherwise clean and crisp. A beautiful copy. Dust jacket is Fair Condition: browned and stained; split along front joint. Slipcase is in Poor Condition: one section detached and other splitting… Read More

Paris: Presso Baudry, Libreria Europea, 1836. Hardcover. Very Good -. 4 volumes: frontispiece portrait of the author in vol. 1; 21 cm. Half black morocco with marbled paper over boards. Five spine compartments between raised bands with "Ariosto" in the second compartment and the volume number in the fourth. All page edges speckled red. Marbled endpapers matching that on the boards. Frontispiece engraving is signed: "Geoffroy sc." The fourth volume includes additional short poems by the author. Text is entirely in Italian. In Very Good- Condition: bindings archivally repaired; covers are lightly rubbed, with some loss of leather at spine ends; the frontispiece engraving has left a shadow on the title page of vol. 1; frontispiece and facing title page, as well as parts of vol. 3 also lightly foxed; otherwise pages are clean and tight.

Old Castle, County Meath, Ireland: Gallery Books, 2000. Paperback. Fine. 42 p. ; 22 cm. Paperback; cover illustration is the wood collage 'Winter' by Tony O'Malley. Photograph of the author and translator on the back cover by Karen O'Brien. Small label on back cover: U.S. distributor, Dufour Editions, Chester Springs, Pa. ISBN: 1852352825. Based on translations of Ovid's Metamorphoses and Brian Merriman's Cúirt an Mheán Oíche. Contents: Orpheus and Eurydice -- The Midnight Verdict -- The Death of Orpheus. Signed by the author on the half title page. In Fine Condition.

London: Thomas Davison, 1820. Hardcover. Very Good. xiii, [3], 111, [1] p.; 23 cm. Contemporary binding with spine rebacked, retaining much of original red leather; plain pink paper over boards. Pages are untrimmed. In attractive modern slipcase covered in red and black paper; gilt-tooled title on slipcase spine: Battle of Waterloo. List of 274 subscribers, (pp. 107-111) with the number of copies each ordered (where more than one), includes Czar Alexander I of Russia; King William I of the Netherlands; King Frederick William III of Prussia; Commander-in-chief of British forces, Field Marshal Frederick, Duke of York and Albany; and the Duke of Wellington. Inscription dated 1833 on front fixed endpaper. Although this poem is frequently attributed to the Poet Laureate William Whitehead, he died in 1785, 30 years before the Battle of Waterloo. No information about the author of this poem has been located. This is the very scarce original edition of this work -- not a reprint and not a POD. In… Read More

London: Baker and Galabin, 1782. Hardcover. Good -. And sold by B. White; C. Dilly; J. Robson; J. Walter; P. Elmsly, J. Bew, D. Prince and J. Cook, J. Deighton, W. Creech, and J. Dickson. xxxviii, 574, [2] p.; 28 cm. Signatures: a-c4 d4(-d4) e4 B-4D4 (4to). Early 19th-century binding?: calf spine with six spine compartments between raised bands; marbled paper over boards. Pp.xxxi-xxxviii contain a list of subscribers (Samuel Johnson was one of the subscribers). Errata: p. 573-574. One page of booksellers' advertisements follows text. ESTC, T094260. All page edges red. Engraved bookplate on front fixed endpaper of Donald Fuller Torrey (on top of another bookplate). This is a heavy book -- for international shipping, it will have to be sent by international priority. In Good- Condition: lacking frontispiece portrait; spine is very worn; joints are split, but stitching is solid; lacking leather spine label; faint remains of gilt tooling on spine; very occasional foxing; otherwise pages are clean and bright.

Naples, Italy: Giuseppe-Maria Porcelli, 1786. Hard Cover. Near Fine. One volume containing both books with separate title pages and pagination. 260, 254 p.; 16 cm. 20th-century polished calf spine with five spine compartments between raised bands. Black morocco spine label in second compartment with gilt-tooled title; blind-tooled decoration in remaining compartments. Marbled paper over boards. Small white oval label in upper right-hand corner of title page of book one with an embossed image of a bird holding a branch. Stamped at head of book one title page: Discarded Sold. The two books of Gierosalemme Libberata make up volumes 13 and 14 of Collezione di Tutti i Poemi in Lingua Napoletana. Torquato Tasso's epic poem Jerusalem Delivered translated into the Neapolitan dialect by Gabriele Fasano. The poem tells a romantically fictionalized story of the First Crusade with Christian knights, led by Godfrey of Bouillon, fighting to liberate Jerusalem from the Muslims. In Near Fine… Read More

Portland, Me: Thomas B. Mosher, 1904. Hardcover. Near Fine/fair. xiii, [1], 336, [1] p.: frontispiece portrait of Swinburne from the portrait by D.G. Rossetti; 23 cm. Original white paper spine with six spine compartments between raised bands. Spine label printed in black and red; blue paper over boards. Title page printed in red and black. Fore-edges and lower edges untrimmed. Green ribbon bookmark. Original plain white dust jacket with black spine title. Original slipcase in blue paper matching boards with red and black spine label matching book spine. "450 copies of this book have been printed on Van Gelder hand-made paper and the type distributed." Former owner's name on front free endpaper: C. Demrick, Lancaster, Pa. Book is in Near Fine Condition: faint stain at spine ends; otherwise clean and crisp. A beautiful copy. Dust jacket is Fair Condition: browned and stained; split along front joint. Slipcase is in Poor Condition: one section detached and other splitting… Read More

London: Jombert, Libraire, 1819. Very Good -. Seconde Édition. Imprint lists London and Paris. 3 volumes ([2], xxxvi, 356 p.; [2], 464 p.; [2], 363, [1] p.): frontispiece portrait of the author in vol. 1, and 14 additional plates (part folded); 17 cm. Contemporary half dark green morocco; white paper with green and gilt pattern over boards. Gilt-tooled red morocco labels at head of spine reading: "Butler's Hudibras -- Towneley" with volume numbers. Gilt- and blind-ruled borders on remaining part of spines. All page edge marbled; marbled endpapers. Printed with English and French texts facing one another. Includes errata. Inscription on blank leaf following front endpapers in vol. 1: "John B. Ingles to Mr. Durham 22 June 1861." A very popular translation into French of Samuel Butler's poem Hudibras by John Towneley (1697-1782), who was said to have begun his translation in response to Voltaire's declaration of it as untranslatable. In Very Good-… Read More

London: T. Tickler & Co, 1837. Paperback. Very Good -. 52 p.; 14 cm. Brown wrapper with wrapper title in black. American poet Fitz-Greene Halleck first published "Fanny," his satirical look at social mobility and New York society, in 1819. Its popularity led him to publish a version with 50 additional sections in 1821. This edition is of the longer version, running through section CLXXI. "T. Tickler & Co." was presumably a false imprint, as it produced no other works. A copy of this edition was presented to the author by his friend, the London bookseller Robert Triphook; it seems likely that Triphook himself published it as T. Tickler & Co. [see Wilson, Life and Letters of Fitz-Greene Halleck (1869), 405.] Satire aside, the poem provides a fascinating glimpse of New York City in the 1810s. A very scarce edition of this American poem. In Very Good- Condition: some loss of wrapper along spine; front wrapper has chip out of fore-edge and minor loss at corners; wrapper slightly soiled; light foxing… Read More

Amsterdam: Marc-Michel Rey, 1788. Hardcover. Very Good. "Nouvelle Edition, plus complette que toutes les précédentes." 405, [3] p.; 18 cm. Contemporary calf; modern spine repair with japanese tissue and gilt-tooled leather spine label. All page edges red. Woodcut tailpieces. Voltaire's satire about the life of Joan of Arc was banned in much of Europe and, hence, very popular. In Very Good Condition: leather is rubbed; spine repaired with japanese tissue; edges of first and last leaves darkened from glue used on fixed endpapers; some pages lightly browning; otherwise, clean and tight.