Shakespeare, William | Three tragedies from the 1632 Second Folio

Shakespeare, William

Troylus and Cresida [with:] The Tragedy of Coriolanus, with one page from Titus Andronicus, extracted from The Second Folio. London: Thomas Cotes, 1632

Folio (300 x 210 mm). Together pages 1-60; a few leaves toned, with occasional spotting and damp staining, pages 54-59 trimmed close to upper margin. Later quarter morocco, spine gilt-lettered.

From the Second Folio. Shakespeare's famed four folios comprise the first four editions of his collected plays, all printed in the 17th century. The second folio of 1632, like the first folio of 1623, contains 36 plays. It is estimated that fewer than 1,000 copies of the second folio were printed and fewer than 200 copies are in existence today.

Troylus and Cresida and Coriolanus are the first two plays in the Tragedies section of the Folio. Coriolanus follows the titular protagonist as he betrays his native Romans by siding with the Volscian tribe. Troylus (Troilus) and Cressida is set during the Trojan War where the two eponymous lovers are separated when Cressida is forced to join the Greek camp.

The Shakespeare Folios have "an aura of book magic about them. For a bibliophile it is a volume devoutly to be wished for and rarely attained; to a library it is a crowning jewel of a collection. Shakespeare, indeed, is a name to conjure with. No lengthy explanations are needed; he is simply the most distinguished author in the English language" (Wolf).

Patterns in damp staining have identified these plays as coming from the same folio as lots 1094 and 1095.

REFERENCES:

STC 22274a; Greg III:1113-1116; Jaggard, 496; Pforzheimer 906