Fine Printed Books & Manuscripts, Including Americana

Folio in 6s (343 x 229 mm). 441 (of 458) leaves. Lacking portrait frontispiece, title-page, and 15 leaves of text (A4, A2, D6, M6, N-N6, O-O4, 4C2), all supplied in facsimile. (Scattered closed tears, mainly at lower margins, a few leaves supplied from a slightly shorter copy, a couple scattered repairs, some affecting letters, A1 remargined at gutter and at foot.) Contemporary paneled calf (rebacked, covers worn, new endpapers).

FOURTH FOLIO EDITION, issue unknown. The edition was set from the second issue of the Third Folio. The Fourth Folio is the last edition of Shakespeare's plays published in the 17th century, and was regarded by 18th-century editors, readers and collectors as textually the best edition, until Samuel Johnson and especially Edward Capell demonstrated the superiority of the First Folio. The most immediately striking aspect of the Fourth Folio is its height. Herringman and his co-publishers decided on a larger paper size to increase the number of lines per page and decrease the bulk of the book; thus, including the added plays, the number of sheets in the Fourth Folio is almost exactly the same as that in the First and Second. Greg III, 1119-21; Pforzheimer 910; Wing S-2916.