FINELY PRINTED AND DECORATED PRIVATE PRESS EDITION OF SHAKESPEARE’S SONNETS, 1895
SHAKESPEARE, William. The Sonnets of William Shakespeare. (Birmingham: G. Napier, 1895). Small quarto, modern full blue-grey morocco gilt, marbled endpapers, top edge gilt, uncut. $4800.
Beautifully printed edition from the press of the Birmingham Guild of Handicraft, very handsomely bound by Bayntun-Riviere.
First published in 1609, the Sonnets explore pure love and devotion, infatuation, sexual attraction and conquest—and betrayal. They are "an incomparable series of poems which has no equal in world literature" (Oxquarry). With ornamental woodcut initials and borders by Ernest G. Treglown, engraved on wood by Charles Carr. The Birmingham Guild of Handicraft was a "combination of craft classes and commercial printing, with high standards maintained throughout its existence" (Ransom, Private Presses, 215). Jaggard, 454. A beautifully printed and bound production in fine condition.