Plays of William Shakespeare in Thirty Seven Volumes by William Shakespeare - 1939-1940

This set has often been called one of the masterpieces of Bruce Rogers' career. It certainly was a monumental project; he was responsible for all design aspects of the set and for the overall coordination of its production. This included the design of the binding, including the Elizabethan "wallpaper" design used for the sides of each volume, the design of the type (Monotype Shakespeare), and the overall typographical design, the design of the title page for the set, as well as the individual title page for each play. Each of the thirty seven plays is in its own volume and with a single artist illustrating each of the five acts of each play. Thirty seven world-famous artists, including Eric Gill, Arthur Rackham, John Austen, Edy Legrand, Barnett Friedman, Edward Bawden, Frans Masereel, Valenti Angelo, Fritz Eichenberg, Gordon Craig, Fritz Kredel, Robet Gibbings, Agnes Miller Parker, and more, were selected to create the illustrations, and they were printed by the foremost printers in the United States, Great Britain, and France. A. Colish of New York was responsible for the complete printing of all the texts and Russell-Rutter bound the books. Worthy Paper made the boxcars of fine paper custom designed to reflect the historical period when the plays were written. Herbert Farjeon, who edited the Shakespeare set for the Nonesuch Press, was resposible for the massive job of editing the texts of the plays for historical accuracy and continuity. The edited texts as well as the illustrations were shipped from Great Britain and France across the North Atlantic as the individual volumes' components were completed, dodging U-boats after World War II broke out. Five years elapsed from publisher George Macy's initial conception for the set and the beginning of printing of the books. That mammoth printing job took almost two years while the world was at war!

Number 1269 of 1950 sets, each volume is about 9 x 13 inches, the binding is quarter buckram with the paper covered boards, and top eges gilt. As usual, the set is unsigned--the sheer number of books involved (37 x 1950=72,150!) and the logistics of coordination across the Atlantic in war time precluded obtaining signatures. Overall, the set is in very nearly fine condition, with interiors crisp and clear, the boards are fine, and there are only faint and minute spots of foxing on the buckram backs of the volumes. Quarto-Millenary Number 118, 1-37, Bibliography Number 118, 1-37 .

In addition to the thirty-seven volumes of the plays, this set also includes all of the 37 Commentaries describing each of the Plays, comparable to the Monthly Letters that accompanied other LEC productions.

For more details on the contents of the set and its making, see The History of the Limited Editions Club, Chapter 6, pages 122-130.