print;
book;
book-illustration
- Museum number
- 1992,0406.355
- Description
-
Shakespeare, William, The most excellent historie of the Merchant of Venice. [Illustrated by Birket Foster [i.e. Myles Birket Foster]and G. H. Thomas [i.e. George Housman Thomas] and H. Brandling [i.e. probably Henry Charles Brandling].] London: Sampson Low, Son & Co., 47 Ludgate Hill, 1860. London: Richard Clay, Bread Street Hill. vii, 95p. The monogram of Joseph Cundall is printed on the title page verso. On page vii: ‘The Emblematical Devices and Ornaments were designed by Harry Rogers [i.e. William Harry Rogers] and engraved by Edmund Evans.’ In the list of illustrations, the artists are: Birket Foster [i.e. Myles Birket Foster] and G. H. Thomas [i.e. George Housman Thomas] and H. Brandling [i.e. probably Henry Charles Brandling]; the engravers are: William Thomas [i.e. probably William Luson Thomas], Horace Harral, W. Palmer [i.e. possibly William James Palmer]. The frontispiece is after Thomas, with the caption: ‘ / Portia. Tarry a little: – there is something else. - / This bond does give thee here no jot of blood./ Act IV. Sc. I./’ The illustration on page 26 is after Thomas, with the caption in the ‘Illustrations’ of Launcelot saying: ‘O heavens, this is my true-begotten father? I will try conclusions with him’. The bookplate of John Robert Orlando Bridgeman is on the upper pastedown. Robin de Beaumont’s note regarding the price of this copy are on the front endpaper verso. The bookplate of Robin de Beaumont is on the upper pastedown.
Binding: The upper cover vignette design is by William Harry Rogers. Bevelled boards. Gilt edges. Yellow endpapers and pastedowns. Binder’s ticket on lower pastedown: “/ Bound/ by/ Leighton/ son and/ Hodge/”. Blue morocco horizontal-grain cloth. Both covers blocked identically in blind and in relief. Two fillets are blocked on the borders, with a leaf border blocked in relief between the two fillets. Larger leaf patterns and flower heads are blocked in relief on the corners. The upper cover has a central vignette blocked in gold, with the title: "/The/ Merchant/ of/ Venice/" blocked in fanciful letters. Signed "WHR" in gold as a monogram at the base of the vignette. The spine is blocked in gold and blind and in relief. At the head and at the tail, plant decoration is blocked between two fillets - all in relief. Near the head, the title words: "/ The/ Merchant/ of/ Venice/" are blocked in gold, surrounded by a tracery of stems and of leaves.
- Production date
- 1860
- Dimensions
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Height: 230 millimetres
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Thickness: 20 millimetres
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Width: 172 millimetres
- $Inscriptions
-
- Curator's comments
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A note on the upper endpaper verso reads: ‘John Robert Orlando Bridgeman was son of the 2nd Earl of Bradford and father of the 1st Viscount Bridgeman.’
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The BL copy at shelf mark 1347f6 See:
http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/bookbindings/LargeImage.aspx?RecordId=020-000015591&ImageId=ImageId=58366&Copyright=BL
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For descriptive details of the binder’s ticket, see: Ball, Douglas. Victorian publishers’ bindings. London, Library Association, 1985, Appendix E, Nineteenth Century Edition Binders’ Signatures.
- Location
- Not on display
- Associated titles
Associated Title: The most excellent historie of the Merchant of Venice.
- Acquisition date
- 1992
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Registration number
- 1992,0406.355
