Shakespeare | The dramatic works, London, Boydell, 1802, 9 volumes, half leather

William Shakespeare

The dramatic works of Shakspeare revised by George Steevens. London: printed by W. Bulmer & Co. for John and Josiah Boydell, George and W. Nicol, 1802

9 volumes, large 4to (437 x 325mm.), half-titles, dedication to the king dated 1803, 96 engraved plates with guards (one plate in vol.6 bound upside down), contemporary half dark purple leather over marbled boards, spines gilt in compartments, top edge gilt, others uncut, purple silk page-markers, occasional light spotting (affecting the frontispiece to volume 1 in particular), repaired tear to margin of p.43 of Romeo and Juliet in vol.9, a few other small repaired tears in margins, slight staining to fore-edge of vol.8, a few small repairs to bindings

A finely printed edition of Shakespeare's plays. The prints, commissioned by John Boydell from various artists (in particular Robert Smirke, William Hamilton, Richard Westall and Francis Wheatley), were originally issued in 18 parts from 1791 onwards and here reissued as a set, together with the text of Shakespeare edited by Steevens.