The Works of Mr. William Shakespear;.  in Six Volumes. Adorn’d with Cuts. Revis’d and Corrected, with an Account of the Life and Writings of the Author. By N. Rowe, Esq. London: Printed for Jacob Tonson, 1709. (together with) SHAKESPEAR[E], William; [GILDON, Charles] The Works of Mr. William Shakespear. Volume the Seventh.  London: Printed for Jacob Tonson, within Grays-Inn Gate; Printed for E. Curll at the Dial and Bible, 1709;1710.

FIRST EDITION, FIRST ISSUE of Rowe's Shakespeare, the first edition to appear after the four folios, as well as the first illustrated edition and the first edition to contain The Poems since 1640.

Seven octavo volumes. [viii], xl, 463, [1]; [465]-975, [1]; [977]-1535, [1]; [ii], [1537]-2072; [ii], [2073]-2647, [1]; [2651]-3324; [xvi], lxxii, 45, [7], 51-472, [6] pp., including 2 pages publisher’s advertisements. With elaborate allegorical frontispiece by M. Vander Gucht incorporating a portrait of Shakespeare in volumes I, V & VI, engraved frontispiece of Venus and Adonis in volume VII, complete with the copperplate of the Stratford Monument (p. xxxvii) and 43 finely engraved copperplates (one for each play). Volume I with general title for entire work, each volume with separate volume title, dedication of volume I with fine engraved vignette of the arms of the Duke of Somerset, dedication in volume VII with engraved vignette of the arms of the Earl of Peterborow, woodcut chapter initials (some historiated), head- and tail-pieces. First five volumes uniformly bound in early nineteenth-century half calf and paste-boards (190 x 115 mm.); spines gilt with elaborate Greek-key pattern, morocco spine labels. Some light wear to extremities (primarily corners) as expected, some light occasional age-toning, and a few minor paper repairs, but overall a beautiful set with contemporary ownership inscriptions and text corrections. Last two volumes expertly bound to match, both beautiful large paper copies (222 x 135 mm.).

One of the most significant contributions to Shakespearian scholarship, Rowe's Shakespeare is based upon the text of the fourth folio, and set the standard for the modernization of orthography and punctuation for all subsequent editions. It is widely accepted as having the most influence on how we understand Shakespeare today. Rowe (1674-1718), an English dramatist and Poet Laureate, was the first to divide the plays into acts and scenes, state the locations, and include a complete listing of the characters for each play. Rowe’s biography of Shakespeare, which appears in volume I, was the first attempt at an authoritative account of the life of Shakespeare.

Jaggard, Shakespeare's biographer, held this edition in particularly high esteem, stating that "In Importance and interest, this edition ranks second perhaps to the editio princeps. It is the first manual text, the first to present a biography of the poet, the first to bear an editor's name, the first to possess illustrations, and the first of the endless army of editions in octavo. . . . and the plates are of no small value because of their contemporary costume. In this issue will also be found the earliest effort to trace parallels between Shakespeare and other classics."

The rarely found seventh volume was the production of Tonson’s rival publisher Edmund Curll (c. 1675-1747). Curll, seeing that Tonson failed to purchase the copyright to Shakespeare’s poems, decided to publish them himself, passing the resulting work off as the seventh volume of Tonson’s production, and thus saving himself the cost of any advertising. Curll was known for his unscrupulous practices, including the publication of pornography and forgeries, and the piracy of the works of rival publishing houses (most notably those of Tonson). Curll hired the equally disreputable biographer, essayist and hired pen Charles Gildon (c. 1665-1724) to edit the volume. While Gildon is now considered to be the epitome of the “hack writer” and literary opportunist, it must be admitted that his editing is an important addition to Rowe’s edition.

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ESTC, 006405177 & 006405178; Ford, Shakespeare 1700-1740. A Collation of the Editions and Separate Plays, pp. 9-10;Holland, “Modernizing Shakespeare: Nicholas Rowe and The Tempest” In: Shakespeare Quarterly, Vol. 51, No. 1, pp. 24-32; Jaggard, p. 497; Sawyer & Darton, English Books 1475-1900, a Signpost for Collectors, I, 169

ID: 3635

$ 32,500