Note
IMPRINT:
London : Printed for J. Tonson in the Strand, MDCCXXVIII [1728]
The imprints of volume title pages for volumes 4 and 5 read: "Printed for J. Tonson in the Strand, and for J. Darby, A. Bettesworth, and F. Clay, in trust for Richard, James, and Bethel Wellington, MDCCXXVIII"; variant copies of volume 4 volume title page with the imprint reading "Printed for J. Tonson in the Strand, MDCCXXVIII" (ESTC).
CONTENT:
v. 1. Tempest ; Midsummer night's dream ; Two gentlemen of Verona ; Merry wives of Windsor ; Measure for measure -- v. 2. Comedy of errors ; Much ado about nothing ; Merchant of Venice ; Love's labour's lost ; As you like it -- v. 3. Taming of the shrew ; All's well that ends well -- Twelfth-night ; Winter's tale ; King Lear -- v. 4. King John ; King Richard II ; King Henry IV ; Henry V -- v. 5. King Henry VI ; King Richard III -- v. 6. King Henry VIII ; Timon of Athens ; Coriolanus ; Julius Caesar -- v. 7. Antony and Cleopatra ; Titus Andronicus ; Macbeth ; Troilus and Cressida -- v. 8. Cymbeline ; Romeo and Juliet ; Hamlet ; Othello.
Contains the plays only.
Pope's second edition was published in 8 volumes in 1728, followed by a supplementary 9th volume, then reissued in 10 volumes, with cancel title pages. Pope's second edition may be considered complete in 8, 9, or 10 volumes, though no set is known with a general title page printed 'in nine volumes' (Ford).
FORMAT:
8 volumes : illustratins, portrait (engravings) ; 18 cm. (12mo)
Vol. 1. Signatures: A¹² ( -A12) B¹² C⁶ D-T¹². Pagination: [2], li, [5], 383, [1] pages, 7 unnumbered leaves of plates -- v. 2. Signatures: A-Q¹². Pagination: 384 pages, 5 unnumbered leaves of plates -- v. 3. Signatures: A-T¹²; T12 blank. Pagination: 454 pages, 5 unnumbered leaves of plates -- v. 4. Signatures: A-T¹² U¹² ( -U11,12). Pagination: 476 pages, 5 unnumbered leaves of plates -- v. 5. Signatures: A-R¹². Pagination: 408 pages, 4 unnumbered leaves of plates -- v. 6. Signatures: A-P¹². Pagination: 360 pages, 4 unnumbered leaves of plates -- v. 7. A-P¹² Q⁶. Pagination: 371, [1] pages, 4 unnumbered leaves of plates -- v. 8. Signatures: A-S¹² T-Z⁶ 2A⁶ ( -2A6). Pagination: 427, [75] pages, 4 unnumbered leaves of plates.
Includes the Life of Shakespeare by Nicholas Rowe in volume 1; volume 8 has an index and 'various readings.'
PROVENANCE:
Gift to Victoria University Library. Hoeniger, David. 2017/06/08.
Victoria University Library volumes have heraldic bookplate of Frederick H. Bennett.
ILLUSTRATIONS:
Engraved plates variously lettered: Lud. du Guernier or P. Fourdrinier.
CITATION/REFERENCE:
ESTC T138594
Ford, H.L. Shakespeare 1700-1740, p. 23-26
Jaggard, W. Shakespeare bibliography, p. 498-499