The Works of Shakespeare

London: J. Tonson, 1735 . Leather. Good Only. 6.5" by 4". Not Stated. An exceedingly scarce early Tonson edition of the works of William Shakespeare, with six volumes out of eight. An extremely scarce, early Tonson edition of the works of William Shakespeare, comprised of six volumes out of eight. Lacking Volume the Second and Volume the Third. Each play carries its own pagination, with a title page and frontispiece, the title pages for the plays are dated from 1734 to 1736. Also present is an additional title page to each volume, with the incorrect date of 1635 printed, instead of 1735, as called for. Dated using Jisc, from copies held at the University of Oxford Libraries. Comprised of the following: Volume the First, containing 'The Tempest', 'The Two Gentlemen of Verona', 'The Merry Wives of Windsor', 'Measure for Measure', 'The Comedy of Errors' and 'Much Ado About Nothing'. With 'Some Account of the Life of William Shakespeare' to the front of the work, unpaginated. Volume the Fourth, containing 'King Henry IV Part the Second', 'King Henry V', 'King Henry VI Part the First', 'King Henry VI Part the Second' and 'King Henry VI Part the Third'. Volume the Fifth, containing 'King Richard III', 'King Henry VIII', 'Troilus and Cressida', 'Coriolanus' and 'Titus Andronicus'. Volume the Sixth, containing 'Romeo and Juliet', 'Timon of Athens', 'Julius Caesar', 'Macbeth' and 'Hamlet Prince of Denmark'. Volume the Seventh, containing 'King Lear', 'Othello', 'Antony and Cleopatra' and 'Cymbeline'.Volume the Eighth, containing 'Pericles Prince of Tyre', 'London Prodigal', 'Thomas Lord Cromwell', 'Sir John Oldcastle', 'The Puritan', 'A Yorkshire Tragedy' and 'Locrine'.With ink inscriptions from previous owners to the title pages and endpapers.Bound in full calf. In a full calf binding. Externally, worn, with rubbing and bumping to the leather. Front board has detached to the first, fourth, sixth and eighth, with the rear board detached to the seventh volume. Other hinges are strained, with the boards holding on by one cord to the first, fourth and seventh volumes. Loss to leather, particularly to the backstrip of the fourth, sixth and eighth volumes. Loss to the front board of volume four. Ink inscriptions to title pages and endpapers, with the occasional ink annotation. Internally, binding is tender in places, with binding split to the sixth volume. Pages are a little age toned, with slight offsetting from text. The occasional tear or chip to pages. Good Only