Shakespeare, William | Two comedies from the 1632 Second Folio

Shakespeare, William

Much Ado About Nothing [with:] Love's Labour Lost, extracted from The Second Folio. London: Printed by Tho. Cotes, 1632

Folio (300 x 210 mm). Together pages 101-144; marginal tears expertly repaired, a few leaves toned, with occasional ink blots and damp staining. 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.

Much Ado About Nothing and Love's Labour Lost are consecutive plays in Shakespeare's comedies section. The former centres on the lovers Count Claudio and Hero during the frantic preparations for their wedding. The latter on four young men that vow to abstain from contact with women, that is, until the Princess of France and her ladies visit the King of Navarre's court.

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 1095 and 1096.

REFERENCES:

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