TWENTY ETCHINGS BY GEORGE CRUIKSHANK ILLUSTRATING THE LIFE OF SIR JOHN FALSTAFF AS DRAWN BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE.

London: Longmans, Green, Reader, & Dyer, [1857]., [1857].. Good. - A suite of 20 etchings measuring 10 inches high by 7 inches wide issued as a separate suite of the plates illustrating Robert B. Brough's "The Life of Sir John Falstaff" (1858). The 20 etchings, each of which measures approximately 4-3/4 inches high by 6-7/8 inches wide, are published on 7 inch by 10 inch thick card stock. Each etching is titled under the image. The margins of the card stock are dampstained and foxed and the corners bumped, though the images themselves are nearly unaffected. The suite of plates is lacking the pictorial title envelope in which they were originally issued. Good. <p>The suite includes a title plate entitled "Sir John Falstaff Knight; Drawn by William Shakspeare; Etched by Geo. Cruikshank" followed by the following plates illustrating scenes from Henry IV, parts 1 and 2, and the Merry Wives of Windsor: "Sir John Falstaff on a visit to his friend Page, at Windsor", "Sir John Falstaff in the Buck-basket", "Sir John Falstaff, thrown into 'the muddy ditch close by the Thames side'", "Sir John Falstaff , disguised as 'Mother Prat', cudgled and driven out by Mr. Ford", "Sir John Falstaff and the Fairies, at Herne's Oak", "Sir John Falstaff, dicovering that Mrs. Ford and Mrs. Page, have been making a fool of him", "Sir John Falstaff receiving a most unexpected rebuke from King Henry the Fifth", "Pistol informing Sir John Falstaff of the Death of Henry the Fourth", "Sir John Falstaff at Justice Shallows, exercising his wit & his judgment in selecting men to serve the King","Sir John Falstaff by his extraordinary powers of persuasion not only induces Mrs. Quickly to withdraw her Action but also to lend him more money!!!", "Sir John Falstaff driving Pistol from his presence", "Sir John Falstaff's grand manoeuvre, at the Battle of Shrewsbury!", "Sir John Falstaff arrested at the suit of Mrs Quickly!", "Falstaff giving his account of the affair at Gadshill", "Falstaff's Ragged Regiment", "Jack Falstaff, when Page to Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk, breaking Skogans head, at the Court gate", "Falstaff, enacting the part of the King", "The Prince & Poins driving Falstaff, Gadshill, Peto & Bardolph, from their Plunder at Gadshill", and "The last Scene, in the life of, Sir John Falstaff"