1445300 1734 Shakespeare. Hamlet. 12mo.

 

SHAKESPEAR [SHAKESPEARE], William. Hamlet, or Prince of Denmark; A Tragedy, As it is now Acted by his Majesty’s Servants. London: Printed for J. Tonson, and the rest of the Proprietors. 1734. 12mo. 107, (1) pp. Recent speckled half calf over marbled boards, marbled endpapers, all edges yellow, the ownership inscription of one John Barnsby dated 1792 to the last page. Frontispiece designed and engraved by Du Guernier. A very good copy.  Jaggard, p. 308. One of three similar issues of the play recorded on ESTC, this one with Tonson’s name in the imprint and Chetwood’s advertisement on the final page decrying the editions of Shakespeare’s works published by R. Walker. This copy collates as per one of the five copies held by the Folger Library, with the frontispiece called for as A1. Franklin, p. 17, describes this printing of Shakespeare’s plays as the first set… issued separately for performance and that they were probably prepared for or commissioned by the company of actors of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.