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THE TRAGEDIE OF ANTHONY AND CLEOPATRA.
(Hammersmith: Doves Press, 1912). 238 x 172 mm. (9 3/8 x 6 3/4"). 3 p.l., 7-140 pp., [2] leaves (colophon and errata). ONE OF 200 COPIES on paper (and 15 copies on vellum).
Original flexible vellum by the Doves Bindery, gilt spine titling, edges untrimmed. Printed in red and black. Tidcombe DP-29; Tomkinson, p. 57. A little natural variation (as always) in the grain of the vellum and covers tending to splay slightly, but in virtually pristine condition inside and out.
This is a splendid copy of one of the series of Shakespeare works issued by Cobden-Sanderson's Doves Press. Although he printed 16 items before turning to something written by Shakespeare, seven of the last 35 Doves Press productions were authored by the Stratford bard. Probably first performed in 1607, "Anthony and Cleopatra," the tragic, classic story of lust and politics in ancient Rome and Egypt, is the third of those seven ("Hamlet" and the "Sonnets" were printed previously, in 1909). The text here is based on the First Folio, with errata added at the end. The Doves Press was founded in 1900 by Thomas James Cobden-Sanderson and Emery Walker to produce their ideal of the "Book Beautiful." Over the next 16 years, they produced 51 titles in which they demonstrated that printing with plain type (designed by Walker) that is well set and with good margins could produce notable work. As Cave says, the Doves Press books, "completely without ornament or illustration, . . . depended for their beauty almost entirely on the clarity of the type, the excellence of the layout, and the perfection of the presswork." After the partnership ended acrimoniously, Cobden-Sanderson threw Walker's beautiful type into the Thames, so it could never be used by anyone else. Doves Press items appear regularly in the marketplace, but "Anthony and Cleopatra" shows up less frequently than expected. (ST17636)
Price: $3,600.00