Binding:  Period-style speckled calf framed and panelled in blind with blind-tooled corner fleurons and blind roll inside contrast panel of plain calf, front cover with gilt-stamped title and author, spine with raised bands. A pencilled note on a back fly-leaf reads, “Bound in Cambridge calf antique style by Bernard Middleton,” the famed bookbinder, collector, and historian.

•  Wing (rev. ed.) S2916; Pforzheimer 910; Greg, III, 1119–21; ESTC R202288. On the Fourth Folio, see: Black, Shakespeare's Seventeenth-Century Editors.   Binding as above, minor wear; front board slightly warped. First leaf with small portion of upper margin repaired, with loss on verso of latter part of header and tops of a handful of letters; several other leaves with tears or marginal chips repaired, touching text but virtually always without loss, in a few cases obscuring portions of a few letters. Lightly washed; pages clean. Clearly both read and cherished; an exciting, attractive, and relatively affordable item of Shakespeariana.   (27605)

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•  ESTC T22230. Rebound in quarter library cloth, front and back covers pressure-stamped by a now-defunct library, front cover with paper shelving label. Hinges (inside) starting. Title-page and p. 37 with perforation stamp, pp. 23 and 35 with rubber-stamp, title-page with paper remnants adhered at top margin, rear free endpaper with library charge pocket. Title-leaf separated and chipped, with loss of three letters from the title and several letters from the imprint. Pages 1–6 with tear in lower inner margin and slightly separating. Front free endpaper loose and chipped. Title-leaf browned, p. 1 soiled at top margin, light stain on p. 36, soiling on p. 38. Pages 29-30 soiled, missing some paper in fore-margin, and creased from folding of one corner. Final two leaves with very small dog-ears. Lacks the frontispiece. Toned. (10352)

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•  NSTC B758. Contemporary half calf with marbled paper–covered sides, spines with later gilt-stamped leather labels; spines slightly darkened, corners and spine extremities rubbed. Pencilled bracketing and marks of emphasis; some light to moderate foxing.

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•  Ex-defunct library with faint stamps. Sewn as issued; wrappers no longer present. A very few small chips. (1466)

•  Removed from a nonce volume and now in recent marbled paper wrappers. One page very faintly stamped by now-defunct library; author’s prologue (one page) shaved at bottom, losing one line.

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•  ESTC N2497. Recent marbled-paper wrappers, front wrapper with paper title label. Lacking half-title. Title-page with lower corner neatly off, otherwise in excellent, clean condition. (3247)

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•  ESTC T138271; Lowndes, II, 404; Allibone, 2036. Recent quarter morocco over marbled paper–covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped title and gilt-stamped decorations in compartments. Title-page and a few others stamped by a now-defunct institution; pages slightly age-toned, one with pencilled underlining/emphasis.

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•  ESTCT61515; Allibone, 2036; Lowndes, II, 404. Recent quarter morocco over marbled paper–covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped title and gilt-stamped decorations in compartments. Title-page and a few others stamped by a now-defunct institution; pages age-toned.

The play's length is that of a "filler" piece in a jam-packed 19th-century theatrical night of three or four plays (or parts thereof) and other "entertainments"—or, the length of a school or home production. The style is distinctly amateur/naive.  E.g., the euphonious exotic names are far from consistently Chinese and one character is "carried [from his 'chinese cottage'] to the ganges"; the author confuses exit and exeunt ("Exeunt Priest")—we wonder if this blithe vagueness as to geography and world cultures, and the seeming lack of even basic classical education, suggest a lively-minded and enthusiastically play-going but unrigorously schooled female writer?

Provenance: Gift inscription: "Horace W. Smith, Esq. to W.W., 1863." A pencil note says "By J. Howard Payne in his handwriting, W.W."—but the handwriting does not match that of Payne's MSS. at Yale and Brown Universities.

•  First leaf dust-soiled and now separated. Edges of some leaves chipped costing a few letters and, very rarely, an entire word; lost letters and words are easily supplied by context. Comfortable, for working with.

•  Disbound and now in a Mylar folder. Lacking title-page, opening with dedication. Repairs to inner margins of several pages occasionally touching text, with small tears remaining on first and last leaves.

T.M. Cleland illustrated the book with 16 hand-colored drawings of actors in period costume performing scenes from the play; he also designed it, choosing a monotype Janson font and a full maroon linen binding elaborately and charmingly blind-embossed on both covers. A contrastingly simple black leather spine label is stamped in gold with author and title.

This offering includes the monthly newsletter and mailing notice. T.M. Cleland signs the colophon.

•  Limited Editions Club, Bibliography of the Fine Books Published by The Limited Editions Club, 1929–1985, 301. A fine copy with the slipcase.

•  Contemporary calf. Gilt spines, rebacked and original spines reapplied. Spines very dry, chipped with some loss and lacking title labels, but with new volume labels.

surely-emblematic title vignette

•  Very good; disbound from a nonce volume with signatures starting to separate. One page faintly stamped by a now-defunct library.  (1478)