Shakespeare's Poems 1640. SHAKESPEARE, William. BINDINGS & SETS,ENGLISH LITERATURE

FIRST EDITION THUS. LIMITED EDITION (72/250). 8vo. (18.5 x 12 cm). Handsomely bound in contemporary polished calf, corners with gilt foliate designs, spine with raised bands and richly gilt-decorated compartments, green morocco label, marbled endpapers, red edges. Engraved portrait frontispiece, title-page printed in black and with red border. Some light rubbing to boards, generally an excellent copy of this rare facsimile here presented in a most handsome binding. A faithful facsimile of Shakespeare's Poems, originally printed by John Benson in 1640. This collection was important for containing Shakespeare's sonnets and other poems. 'The reproduction is printed letter for letter, line for line, and page for page, as near the original as modern type will permit. The Portrait has been specially engraved on steel in facsimile of the original in the British Museum. The Initial letters, Head-pieces and Cuts on the Titles have also been reproduced by me for this edition. Two hundred and fifty copies are printed on small paper, of which this is No.72. Twenty five copies are printed on large paper. This edition of Shakespeare's Poems will not be republished by me in any form or shape whatever'. Signed Alfred Russell Smith.