A New Variorum Edition of Shakespeare.
Philadelphia & London: J.B. Lippincott & Co, 1871-1913. Hardcover. A scarce set of this important edition of Shakespeare, known as the "Furness Variorum", after the editor Horace Howard Furness, the foremost American Shakespearean scholar of the 19th century. The set was assembled over the years for Edward Prime as Christmas gifts from his wife Rhodie, and most volumes bear his armorial bookplate. The set runs continuously from 1871 to 1913, totaling 20 volumes. The volumes include: Vol. I. Romeo and Juliet (1871); II. MacBeth (1873); III. Hamlet I (1877); IV. Hamlet II (1877); V. King Lear (1880); VI. Othello (1886); VII. Merchant of Venice (1888); VIII. As You Like It (1890); IX. The Tempest (1892); X. Midsummer Nights Dream (1895); XI. Winter's Tale (1898); XII. Much Ado About Nothing (1899); XIII. Twelfth Night (1901); XIV. Love's Labour's Lost (1904); XV. Antony and Cleopatra (1907); XVI. Richard the Third (1908); XVII. Cymbeline (1913); XVIII. The Tragedie of Julius Caesar (1913). Also includes Macbeth (1903 revised edition); and The Concordance to Shakespeare's Poems (1874, 2nd edition). Large octavo, (10"), each volume approx. 500pp, top edge gilt, original reddish brown gilt pebbled cloth, a few inconsequential marks on spines otherwise in fine condition.
"As editor of the "New Variorum" editions of Shakespeare...he collected in a single source 300 years of references, antecedent works, influences and commentaries. He devoted more than 40 years to the series, completing the annotation of 15 plays. With his wife, Helen Kate Furness (1837–1883), he authored A Concordance to Shakespeare's Poems (1874). His son, Horace Howard Furness, Jr. (1865–1930), joined as coeditor of the Variorum's later volumes, and continued the project after the father's death, annotating 5 additional plays." (Wikipedia)
A lovely complete run, mostly from one library (bar one volume in matching binding). Item #17560
Sold