Bell's edition of Shakespeare's Plays, As they are now performed at the Theatres Royal in London; Regulated from the Prompt Books of each House, By Permission; with Notes Critical and Illustrative; By the Authors of the Dramatic Censor de Shakespeare, William - 1774

London: Printed for John Bell, 1774 Ten volumes. Illustrated with 74 engravings and a frontispiece portrait of the author. Vols. I-VIII containing the text of Shakespeare's 36 plays, each accompanied by one plate depicting a scene from the corresponding play; Vol. IX containing a selection of Shakespeare's poetry, with an engraved title page and one plate illustrating the poem "Venus and Adonis"; Vol. X with 36 additional plates, each depicting an actor at the Theatre Royal as a character from each play, bound in the order that the plays appear in the first eight volumes and with matching title pages bound to indicate in which volume the play appears. Finely bound in 19th century three-quarter dark brown morocco and brown marbled paper, ruled in gilt, five raised bands to each spine, compartments decorated and lettered in gilt, matching brown marbled endpapers. A near fine set with some rubbing to extremities, a few scattered spots and some toning to pages, Vol. I with the spine cracked internally but holding, Vol. VIII with heavy foxing to a portion of the text including one plate, Vol. X with tissue repairs to page edges. Overall, a beautiful set, scarce with the tenth volume. This set, printed 1773-76, includes the text of 36 Shakespeare plays as they were performed at the Theatre Royal in London. Notably, the 1774 performance of Shakespeare's Macbeth marked the reopening of the Theatre Royal after major renovations to expand the building. Volume X contains engravings depicting a scene and main character actor from each play in costume. As these engravings were printed last (most dated 1776), they are seldom found in most bound sets, which instead only include the plays, poems, and engravings printed until 1775. A complete set of 10 volumes is indeed rare. Shakespeare's plays are known as some of the greatest ever written, and continue to be performed regularly more than 400 years since the author's death.. Hard Cover. Near Fine.