SHAKESPEARE, William (1564-1616). The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. [London: Printed by Thomas Cotes, 1632.]

A finely bound copy of the famous, tragic romance between two star-crossed lovers kept apart by their feuding families, extracted from Shakespeare's Second Folio. The fourth edition overall. Shakespeare's iconic play was first published in standalone quarto editions prior to being collected in the First Folio of 1623. These earlier quartos are virtually unobtainable—the only auction record in RBH is more than 100 years ago in 1918, and the only record for a copy extracted from the First Folio is from 1933.

Shakespeare's famed four Folios comprise the first four editions of his collected plays, all printed in the 17th century—1623, 1632, 1664, and 1685. The Second Folio of 1632, from which the present play was extracted, contains 36 plays (identical to the First Folio), and it is estimated that fewer than 1,000 copies were printed, with fewer than 200 copies in existence today. The Shakespeare Folios have "an aura of book magic about them. For a bibliophile it is a volume devoutly to be wished for and rarely attained; to a library it is a crowning jewel of a collection. Shakespeare, indeed, is a name to conjure with. No lengthy explanations are needed; he is simply the most distinguished author in the English language" (Wolf). STC 22274a; Greg III:1113-1116; Jaggard 496; Pforzheimer 906; Wolf, Legacies of Genuis 36.

Folio (301 x 205mm). 82-106 pp. (A few margins trimmed to ruled border, minute repair to leaf ii affecting one letter, some browning.) Modern blue quarter morocco, gilt-stamped spine. Provenance: Bonhams, 5 December 2018, lot 126.