COLLIER’S CONTROVERSIAL SHAKESPEAREAN SCHOLARSHIP, HANDSOMELY BOUND

(SHAKESPEARE) COLLIER, J[ohn] Payne. Shakespeare’s Library: A Collection of the Romances, Novels, Poems and Histories. WITH: Notes and Emendations to the Text of Shakespeare’s Plays… London: Thomas Rodd, (1843-53). Together, three volumes. Octavo, early 20th century full green morocco, elaborately gilt-decorated spines and boards, all edges gilt.

First editions of Collier’s two-volume compilation of the Bard’s literary sources, with an early edition of his critical (but ultimately discredited) revisions of the plays’ texts, uniformly and handsomely bound in full morocco-gilt.

When first published, Collier’s “valuable” compilation of the tales and histories from which Shakespeare drew some of his most enduring works—among them Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Othello and The Merchant of Venice—placed “in the hands of the reader, for a few shillings, matter that could before have been purchased only by an outlay of hundreds of pounds, and which was in many cases altogether inaccessible” (Allibone, 411). His volume of Notes and Emendations arose from his study of a copy of the Second Folio (1632) known as the “Perkins Folio,” after an owner’s signature. “According to Collier, his examination of the Perkins Folio revealed numerous manuscript notations, ranging from simple changes in punctuation to revised stage directions and entire new lines. Collier’s findings caused a sensation in Shakespeare circles and his contemporaries pleaded with him to allow a thorough examination of the volume, but he never granted anyone more than a cursory look at the book. As might be expected, his claims were questioned by a number of critics… [Ultimately, in] July, 1859, Nicholas S.E.A. Hamilton, Assistant Keeper of Manuscripts at the British Museum… declared that the manuscript annotations had been written in the 19th century, not the 17th. The implication was quite obvious: John Payne Collier had forged the emendations in the Perkins Folio. Although Collier had defenders, the evidence against him continued to mount… [In 1861, Clement Mansfield] Ingleby accused Collier outright of having forged the manuscript annotations… Collier never responded to this attack and his guilt was established” (University of Delaware). “The pity of it is that Collier was an excellent scholar whose genuine contributions to Shakespeare studies and English stage history would have assured him the fame and honor to which he aspired” (Schoenbaum, 333). Notes and Emendations first published 1852. Jaggard, 614; Lowndes, 497 (Library). See Jaggard, 56 (Notes and Emendations). Armorial bookplates.

Occasional light foxing. Gilt bright. A handsome set in about-fine condition.