1439500 1623 Shakespeare. Twelfth Night. First Five Leaves.
9390.
Twelfth Night. From the First Folio. 1623
First Printing. First Ten Pages. (255-264)
Twelfth Night. [London: Isaac Jaggard and Ed. Blount, 1623]. Folio, five leaves (measuring 8 by 12-1/2 inches), disbound. The first ten pages of "one of the most irresistible of Shakespeare’s comedies" (New York Times), extracted from the First Folio (1623), "the most valuable volume in the whole range of English literature" (Grolier 100 19). "An improbable world of hair’s-breadth rescues at sea, romantic disguises, idealistic friendships and sudden, irrational loves. This is not quite the country behind the North Wind, but it approaches those latitudes" (Anne Barton). These are leaves Y2-[Y6] from the First Folio. The First Folio was prepared by Shakespeare’s associates John Heminges and Henry Condell, and published by William and Isaac Jaggard along with the bookseller Edward Blount in 1623. Of Shakespeare’s thirty-nine undisputed plays, eighteen survive solely because they appear in the 1623 Folio, making the book "intrinsically the most valuable volume in the whole range of English Literature" (Grolier 100 19). Fewer than 250 copies of the First Folio survive, and most of those copies are incomplete. First performed in 1602. "So far as can be gleaned, it remained unprinted until the Jaggard canon presented it in 1623" (Jaggard, 478). Light dampstaining to outer margins. Minor restoration to extremities. Excellent condition.
The fragment comprises the first 10 pages of this, among the most delightful of Shakespeare’s comedies.
At the very first line of the play we know we are in for some fun as we hear Duke Orsino bemoaning his fate "If music be the food of love play on". We learn that he is in love with the Countess Olivia who does not - at least for the moment - requite him as she is in seven years mourning for her brother. Viola, recently shipwrecked, washes ashore and goes to meet the Duke. She decides ahead of time to disguise herself as a young man (Cesario) so she might seek employment with him. The basic premise of the plot then unfolds as the Duke employs Viola/Cesario as his servant and sends him to try to win the favors of the Countess. Viola in the meantime has fallen in love with the Duke. The Countess Olivia falls in love with what she thinks is the young man Cesario but is actually Viola.
Further complicating the plot is the fact that Malvolio, servant to Olivia, is also smitten with the Countess and jealous of anyone trying to curry her favor. The fragment contains one of the funniest scenes in all of Shakespeare when Malvolio discovers a letter which has been planted for him and which is supposedly from the countess. The hapless but impossibly vain Malvolio interprets the letter as an indication of Olivia’s being in love with him though he is merely her servant. He is convinced by a passage in the letter “Some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon ‘em.” He then follow’s the letter’s exhortation to dress with crossed garters if he is to woo her.
The fragment ends with the opening of act three where we see-Feste the clown asking for a handout from Viola/Cesario.
Very Good