Shakespeare`s Second Folio - photo 1
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Shakespeare`s Second Folio

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$ 201 600
Auction dateClassic
26.05.2022 10:00UTC -04:00
Auctioneer
CHRISTIE'S
Event location
USA, New York
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ID 753065
Lot 325 | Shakespeare's Second Folio
Shakespeare's Second FolioWilliam Shakespeare, 1632SHAKESPEARE, William (1564-1616). Comedies, Histories and Tragedies. Published according to the true Originall Copies. The second Impression. Edited by John Heminge (d. 1630) and Henry Condell (d. 1627). London: Printed by Thomas Cotes, for Robert Allot and others, 1632.The Second Folio. First issue. From the Collections of James Guild, William Augustus White, and Adrian Van Sinderen. The second edition, first issue, of Shakespeare’s collected plays, the most important work in the English language, described by Samuel Johnson as “the mirrour of life” and by his contemporary Ben Jonson as “not of an age but for all time.” The urge to read, rather than just see, Shakespeare’s plays surfaced in his own lifetime, with about half of his works appearing as single quarto editions. The First Folio, collecting Shakespeare’s plays for the first time and dividing them into the thematic categories of Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies was issued in 1623; this Second Folio, appearing nine years later, is a page-for-page reprint of the First Folio. While errors were introduced during the course of reprinting, “the text of the present edition shows signs of careful, if unauthoritative, revision” (Greg). Its publication was shared by the five publishers listed in the colophon, all of whom held the copyright to one or more of the plays. The Second Folio contains John Milton’s first appearance in print, his anonymous epitaph to Shakespeare in 16 verses: “What neede my Shakespeare for his honour'd bones.” It appears on the same page as the eight-line “Upon the Effigies.” The typesetting of this poem conforms to Todd's Ib, with corrections of spelling. This was reset again in later issues of the Second Folio, and provides the simplest way to distinguish the first issue from the later "remainder" issues. The title page appears in variant issues, each naming one of the five booksellers who were shareholders in the publishing venture. This copy names Richard Allot, who had the largest share, and conforms to Todd's issue Ia. The present copy has been in many important collections, including that of Shakespeare collector William Augustus White, who hailed from the prominent Brooklyn family. After the donation of his collection of 115 quarto editions to the Widener Library at Harvard, A.S.W. Rosenbach would comment that White "was among the earliest of our collectors to gather the choice and alluring volumes of the great Elizabethans. His judgment was excellent and he had a vivid understanding of this golden period, equalled by few scholars" (Harvard Crimson, 11 June 1928). White's brother was philanthropist Alfred Tredway White (1846-1921), whose daughter Annie Jean (1888-1968) married Adrian Van Sinderen in 1911. Pforzheimer 906; W.B. Todd, “The Issues and States of the Second Folio and Milton's Epitaph,” in Studies in Bibliography 5 (1952-53), pp. 81-108. Median folio (316 x 215mm). 454 leaves. Roman and italic types. Double column, 66 lines, headlines and catchwords, pages box-ruled, woodcut head- and tailpieces and initials, engraved portrait of Shakespeare by Martin Droeshout (title and final leaf trimmed and inlaid, title with imprint just shaved, first six leaves re-hinged; occasional soiling and spotting, A1 with soiling and an erased partially erased pen scrawls, some leaves shaved closed to rule, rust-hole on S3 touching one letter). Early 19th-century red morocco gilt, silk endleaves, all edges gilt (upper joint tender, corners showing). Custom red morocco pull-off case. Provenance: Janet Roberton, Countess of Kincardine, d.1772 (ownership inscription to first page of the first play) – James Wyllie Guild, 1797-1844, 19th-century collector (bookplate; his sale, T. Chapman & Son, Edinburgh, 16-27 April 1888, lot 2883) (sold to): – Edward G. Allen, American Library Agency, London (sold to): – William Augustus White, 1843-1927, merchant and collector (receipt dated 28 April 1888) – Adrian Van Sinderen, 1887-1963, collector who established Yale's book collecting prize – D. W. Henry (pencil note that it was acquired from Van Sinderen's library in 1964) (by descent to): – Paul W. Henry.
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