Such poor neglected books!

[mirrorshard]

I've been collecting copies of a particular Shakespeare set, one of the early mass-market paperback editions -


EACH NUMBER SOLD SEPARATELY
AT THE RATE OF M0,30

THE PLAYS
OF
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
IN
37 PARTS.

---

No. 21.
KING HENRY VIII.

LEIPZIG
BERNHARD TAUCHNITZ
1868.


The problem is, this one had uncut pages. The poor thing's been around so long, and nobody's wanted to read it... that really appals me. It may not be the most popular of plays, but still, it deserves a careful cherishing. And got it, taking full advantage of the lovely acoustics in my kitchen. Though the fact that its first experience had to involve a sharp knife is possibly not ideal.

Comments

[ceirseach.livejournal.com]

What text is it based on? Quarto or Folio? Does it say? (And is there a Quarto version of that play, given we haven't ascertained which play it is yet? ;))

Feel like making a digital image of the first few pages and putting them up? I'd be interested to see how they did it.

[mirrorshard.livejournal.com]

It's "From the text of the Rev. Alexander Dyce's Second Edition". My replica-replica Fourth Folio has it in, under the title of "The famous History of the Life of King Henry the 8".

I'd be delighted to make a digital image, but I don't have the equipment; I may be able to arrange some, and if so I shall.

[angevin2.livejournal.com]

Henry VIII first appears in print in the 1623 First Folio. Which is why it's always been accepted as part of the canon despite its probable status as Shakespeare/Fletcher joint; their other collaboration, The Two Noble Kinsmen, is not in the Folio and has only fairly recently appeared in complete editions.