1449900 1911 Shakespeare. Works. E. Taylor to Richard Burton.

 

BURTON (RICHARD)  The Works [Comedies, Histories, Tragedies and Poems]. SHAKESPEARE, William [Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, association]. London: J.M. Dent, Everyman's Library, 1911. 3 volumes. India paper. Formely the gift of Hollywood siren Elizabeth Taylor to her then-husband Richard Burton, CBE, the formidable Shakespearean actor renowned for his portrayal of Hamlet in 1964, with his two ms. Corrections to that play (p.489). This set specially bound in a bespoke full mid-green suede with wood-grain endpapers and all edges gilt. Some minor wear and sunning; a fine set. Burton's first major Shakesperian role was Hamlet in the Old Vic production of 1953-4, having turned down the role of Mark Antony in MGM's Julius Caesar (1953), which was subsequently played by Marlon Brando in a Bafta-winning and Oscar-nominated performance. Mark Antony was a role Burton would famously revisit in the Oscar-winning Cleopatra (1963) opposite Liz Taylor. Burton's Hamlet run was followed by a well-reviewed Coriolanus, and leading roles in Twelfth Night, The Tempest, King John, Henry V and Othello. His first film experience of Shakespeare was as the narrator in a European animated production of A Midsummer Nights' Dream (1959) which was shown at that year's Film Festival in Cannes. His fresh take on Hamlet in 1964, directed by John Guilgud and filmed for cinema release, was a great commercial success, achieving the longest run for the play in Broadway history at 137 performances; it's popularity was aided by media coverage of the tempestuous romance of Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, Hollywood's golden couple who were married during rehearsals. Richard Burton was an avid reader and a great fan of Everyman's Library; Taylor arranged for a complete collection of Everymans to be bound in a suede-like leather, with endpapers to her design and gilding on all edges. At least four colors of leather were used: pink, royal blue, forest green, and mustard yellow… Liz presented this gift to Richard for his 40th birthday (in 1965). Burton kept this library of books for the remainder of his life. The Taylor-Burton copy of Nicholas Nickleby was shown at the Everyman's Library exhibit, Wilson Library, North Carolina in 2008; the present volumes have a closer affinity to their owner given his status as a renowned practitioner of Shakespeare. According to biographer Sam Kashner, in "A Love Too Big To Last", Burton wrote his final letter to Liz on the night he died, surrounded by his thousand treasured volumes of the Everyman's Library she had bound for him. Item #48008 Provenance: form the Libray of Richard Burton, previously sold by Phillips Auctioneers, London, Sale 30510. with printed card to each volume.