[IMPERIAL EDITION] Charles Knight - The Works of Shakspere [42 PLATES] - 1870

DESCRIPTION: I present at auction the monumental and coveted "IMPERIAL EDITION" (EDICIÓN IMPERIAL) in two imposing volumes of WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE'S COMPLETE WORKS, edited by the famous scholar Charles Knight and illustrated with a stunning gallery of full-page steel engravings.

Published in London by the prestigious Virtue & Co. at the end of the 19th century (circa 1875-1880), this edition is unanimously regarded as one of the pinnacles of Victorian luxury publishing.

Across its thousands of pages, the reader will immerse themselves in the literary universe of the greatest dramatic genius of all time. The two volumes contain his complete comedies, tragedies, histories, poems, and sonnets, in addition to the acclaimed and indispensable work "A Biography of William Shakespere" written by Knight himself. The Shakespeare works gathered in this edition include titles as LEGENDARY AND ICONIC as:

+ Hamlet and its existential sorrow.
+ Romeo and Juliet and their eternal and ill-fated love.
+ Macbeth and unbridled ambition.
+ Othello and his destructive jealousy.
+ A Midsummer Night's Dream and its magic of fantasy.
+ The Merchant of Venice and its dramatic wit.

The great appeal of this work lies in its beautiful full-page steel plates, with precious and detailed engravings protected by their original tissue paper. These illustrations recreate with unmatched technical virtuosity the peak scenes of the works, based on canvases by the most celebrated academic painters of the British Royal Academy (such as C. W. Cope, W. P. Frith, C. R. Leslie, D. Maclise, E. M. Ward, among others). The engravings show in incredible detail the texture of the costumes, the dramatic expressiveness of the faces, and the spectacular stage lighting, turning the work into a gallery on paper.

As an exceptional plus for bibliophiles, the free endpaper preserves an elegant period handwritten signature in ink.

PUBLICATION YEAR: London, circa 1870

LANGUAGE: English (Original Version).

SIZE AND PAGE COUNT: Dimensions: Two volumes in Grand Imperial Folio format, 40 x 30 cm. Weight: Extremely heavy work, with a weight of 12 kg. Pagination: VOLUME I: Engraved Cover + Typographic Title Page + [2] + 810 + 188 pp. VOLUME II: Engraved Cover + Typographic Title Page + [2] + 778 pp. COMPLETE WORK WITH 42 ENGRAVINGS (or 44 ENGRAVINGS if you count the engraved covers as such)

CONDITION: Beautiful original period binding in full dark purple-brown morocco with coarse grain, in good condition, with some wear, as shown in the photos. Spine richly decorated with bright gold vegetal motifs and 5 raised bands, with titles and volumes blind-stamped in gold ("THE IMPERIAL SHAKESPEARE"). Covers beautifully and richly edged with gold vegetal motifs and featuring a pretty house figure on the front covers of both volumes. The interior is in good condition, as shown in the photos. Yellow endpapers.

MYTHICAL AND MONUMENTAL IMPERIAL EDITION. THE SHAKESPEARE EDITION THE LIBRARY SHOULD NOT BE WITHOUT. DO NOT LET IT SLIP AWAY.

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